Photoshop Elements 8 for Windows: The Missing Manual

Changing an Object's Color

In Chapter 4, you saw one way to change the color of an object—select it and use the Hue and Saturation sliders in Quick Fix. Elements also gives you a few other ways to do this: You can use an Adjustment layer, the Replace Color command, or the Color Replacement tool. And the Smart Brush tools (Correcting Part of an Image) have a whole menu full of color changes, too.

The method you choose depends on your photo and your preference. Using an Adjustment layer gives you the most flexibility if you want to make other changes later on. Replace Color is the fastest way to change one color that's widely scattered throughout your whole image, and the Color Replacement tool lets you quickly brush a replacement color over the color you want to change. Whichever method you choose, Figure 9-18 shows the kind of complex color change you can make in a jiffy using any one of these methods.

Figure 9-18. What if you have a green-and-white vase, but you really want a red-and-white one? Just call up the Replace Color tool. (Elements gives you several ways to make complicated color substitutions like this one, all of which are covered in this section.)

Note

The Smart Brush lets you target the area you want to change and make a quick color adjustment, but the color presets are pretty limited (and pretty ugly). Also, the Smart Brush doesn't just apply a single color, but uses gradient ...