Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
When you're finished, you can flatten the layers, if you want. But by keeping them separate,
you have the option of going back and erasing more of the top layer later on, or starting over
by trashing the layer you erased.
Removing Color from Selections
If you don't want your image to have multiple layers, you can make a selection and then use
the “Convert to Black and White” or Remove Color command. Just make sure you perform
this technique on a copy,
not
the original image—you don't want to risk wrecking the origin-
al photo.
While the Smart Brush is the handiest tool for uncoloring small areas, as explained above,
the method described here is best if you don't like any of the Smart Brush's presets or if
you're dead set against adding a new layer. Here's what you do:
1.
Mask out the area of the image where you want to keep the color
.
Use the Selection Brush in Mask mode (see
The Selection Brush
) to paint over the
area where you want to
keep
the color, to protect it from being changed in step 2. In
other words, you'll make everything black and white
except
where you paint with the
Selection Brush.
If you want to keep the color in most of your photo and remove it from only one or
two objects, then paint over them with the Selection Brush in Selection mode instead,
or use the Quick Selection tool.
2.
Remove the color from the selected area
.
Go to Enhance→“Convert to Black and White,” or to Enhance→Adjust Color→Re-
move Color. Either way, Elements removes the color from the areas not protected by
the mask but leaves the part under the mask untouched. (You can also do this by going
to Enhance→Adjust Color→Adjust Hue/Saturation, and then moving the Saturation
slider all the way to the left.)
If you have trouble seeing what you've done, temporarily switch from Mask mode to
Selection mode, or just click another tool and then click back to the Selection Brush
to make any changes.
You should now see color only in the areas you didn't select. This method is the least flexible
of all the ones described in this chapter because, once you close your image, the change is
permanent. That's why you definitely don't want to use this method on the original photo.
