Make part of a photo black and white in photoshop?

Question

I have a picture and I want to make the background in black and white but keep my boyfriend and I in color

how do i do that?

Answer 1

You have to use the lasso tool and "cut" you and your boyfriend out of the background image by pressing CTRL-C. Then press CTRL-V to make a new layer with the stuff you just cut out.

In the Layers toolbox, select the background layer again, and make it black and white. Anything you do to a layer does not affect the others. After you make the background layer black and white, you should have the image you desire. The only problem is trying to cut you and your boyfriend out just right so it turns out well. You can use the "feather" feature available while using the lasso tool, and that will help you cut out more accurately. Set it to 1 or 2.

You have to use the freehand lasso or magnetic lasso, not the square lasso. To get it, hold the mouse button down a little longer than usual when you click on the lasso tool, and select the freehand or magnetic lasso icon in the pop-up.

Good luck! It would be neat to see the finished product.

Answer 2

Simplest method

Open the Picture twice
Reduce 1st image to B+W
Then Increase colors to match source
Picture will still be B+W but pallette will be normal

The use the CLONE brush to Paint over the areas
you want to be Color by using the color image as source
and B+W as the destination