Photoshop Dress Color Change Tutorial

I guess that my method is nothing for those Photoshop masters but I decide to share this anyway.

First of all, open dear Photoshop.  Still using 6.0 huh while CS5 has been available for a while? Honestly, I don't care which version as long as it has basic features for me.

Just realized a problem about writing photo editing tutorial blog like this: all the screenshots are taken from my office monitor (PrintScreen) with size 1024 by 768; but those shots look too large on my blog so that I had to adjust each of them to width 625 pixels to fit my blog layout.  Also, I had to add a link on each picture for those who want to see the original 1024 size of the picture.

Still using XP in my office comp.

I will use VS9151, a new season bridesmaid dress, as an example.

I usually hide the toolbars on the lower-right side because I don't like them to block the view.

Cut unnecessary parts on the top & the bottom.  Move the arrow to the ruler, hold the mouse's left button & take a blue line, move the line to the proper position, press C to open cutting tool and cut the photo.

Before

After


Do the same for the left & the right side.


Compress the photo.  Since the original TIF file is too big (6.5MB), I need to compress & make it become a small one with 800x600.



Size (before compression)

Change Resolution to 72 because it's enough for web use; and then change Height to 800.  About Width, it will be automatically changed to 600 something.

Size (after compression)


Next, correct the width.


Change the width to 600.


Then you've got a picture with resolution 72 & size 800x600.

Save as PNG.

Make sure that PNG-24 is selected on the right side (should be default setting); and then save.

If you want to save as JPG,


Make sure that you select the right one on Format.


I always select 12 for Quality because it's acceptable under 200K.


My preference is PNG.  Although it's 2.5 times larger than a JPG, it gives me more decent quality; besides, compared to ten years ago today's PCs & network techonologies are powerful enough to handle a 400K PNG file.

Lasso time! Press L to open it.  I prefer Polygonal Lasso, which takes more time to highlight the object but more accurate.  Magnetic Lasso is not a proper one; yes it's fast to do the job but will give you lousy quality on the edge of the object.



Finished highlighting the edge.


Press Ctrl+C (copy) & Ctrl+V (paste) to duplicate a dress layer.  After using computers over ten years, I think that the best invention for computer instruction are Ctrl+C & Ctrl+V, the shortcut of copy & paste! Because they do save me plenty of time.



Move the arrow to the dress layer & right-click to duplicate another one.  By doing so, you can always use the original layer to start if the future editing is not doing well.



Next, lasso the sash.


Then copy & paste to get a sash layer.


Based on my experiences of doing over 150 different dresses, a black dress is the worst one.  In order to do the color change, you must increase the brightness; however it will make the dress look over-bleached; therefore, I must replace the black surface of the sash with proper texture from another dress.



To the first dress, the dark area is on the right side but the other one is opposite, so give it a 180 degree rotate.



Drag the sash layer to the other dress.


Move the sash to the best position, then move the arrow to the sash layer, hold Ctrl & press the mouse's right button to highlight the sash.



Select the dress layer, then use Ctrl+C & Ctrl+V to duplicate; then you'll get a new sash with same shape & proper texture.

But the shadow on the lower-left side of the sashmust be erased .  Use the same method to highlight the sash; then press S for clone tool; hold Alt, when the arrow becomes a cross, click near area; release Alt, then you'll be able to use right clicks to fix the shadow.



Done fixing.


Drag back the fixed sash & move it to the right position.


I always use white for testing.  To desaturate, select Image>Adjustment>desaturate.



Select Image>Adjustment>Brightness/Contrast.  Give the dress proper brightness & contrast for different colors.



For white, just increase the brightness until you think enough; then do the same for the sash.



Next, save the dress & the sash with different PNG files.  Make sure you select PNG-24 & Transparency is checked before saving.





Upload both to the website. Well, there's a problem. The white ones doesn't fully cover on the original.  I don't know why; but it always happens to PNG files; there is uncovered area on the top & the left sides.



This is my solution: Highlight the dress layer, press Up (your keyboard) twice, then press S to clone the extended area on the top; then do the same for the left side of the dress (press Left twice); then do the same for the sash.



Finished Fixing? Then remake the white ones, resave & reupload them.  There is one thing you need to know: after you are finished uploading, select Tools>Internet Option to delete old temp files before you refresh (press F5) the webpage; otherwise, the page might still show you wrong ones (old files).



Looks fully covered with 200% zoom-in, good.


Both the dress & the sash layers are no problems, so now I can start to do the color changes!  The following charts are the formula for each color with different fabrics.  Luxe Taffeta & Poly Chiffon are the most popular ones.

Luxe Taffeta




Poly Chiffon




Don't know what I write on the charts? Then I am going to use BI (Blackish Green) as an example.

First, press Ctrl+B to open Color Balance window.  According to the charts, S means Shadows, M for Midtones & H for Highlights; for BI, therefore, "M 69 72 0" means entering 69 72 0 for Midtones.



"H 0 0 -20" means entering the values for Highlights.


BC means Brightness/Contrast.


Based on the charts, I should enter -60 30; but sometimes it depends how the dress looks and which angle the dress is taken a picture; in other words, it's impossible to say that the formula is 100% fit to all the dresses.  This is what I do: 80% follow the formula and 20% is gray area that I should know how to change based on my experiences; therefore, I give the dress different values like -44 27, which I think the best look for the dress.



Do the same for the sash; remember its brightness & contrast should match the dress.



According to the charts, HSL means hue, saturation & lightness.  Using GD (Gold) as an example, I should enter -3 18 0.  To open Hue/Saturation window, just press Ctrl+U.



Done changing the color? Then save it.  First, turn off the eye icons but leave the one of the dress layer; then select File>Save for Web; make sure it's PNG-24 on the right side, check Transparency box, then save.

This is the way I name each file:

Style Number-Dress Direction-Dress Part-Color Abbreviation

Style Number: VS9151
Dress Direction: F for Front or B for Back
Dress Part: A for the dress & B for the sash
Color Abbrevation: Two letters of color name

Using the following photo as an example, it will be VS9151-F-A-BI.


For the sash, it will be VS9151-F-B-BI.


Then do the same for each color.  For this dress made by luxe taffeta, there will be 144 different images.  How? 72 for the dress (the front & the back) and 72 for the sash (the front & back).  It takes lots of time & energy to finish the job, doesn't it?

Finished creating all the color images? Then upload them.  I prefer to open four pages with the same link for upload use because I can prepare others while the previous ones are processing.



Done posting? Then press F5 to refresh the page.  Move the arrow to each color icon to make sure it's right image with right color.

If an image has decent quality, then it will be easier for me to do color changes & I will be happy to see the performance; for a bad quality image (a pure black dress, for example), on the other hand, it will look ugly no matter how hard I try; if the image is too terrible to fix, then I won't even bother because it will be the worst to show the audience bad-looking color images.

The following screenshots are my favorite color combinations. Click the images to enter the page & try to find your favorite combinations!

Latte/Cocoa


Gold/Blackish Green (feel like autumn for me)


After trying different combinations, I think that this dress looks great with dark colors.

By the way, I like to introduce other dresses picked from my portfolio of 150 dresses. (Click the image to enter the page)

VS9040  with White/Crystal Blue, elegant and quiet combination.


VS9155 with rose petal.  She looks like a Korean for me but she's actually a latino.


VS8928 , Orange makes the dress look impressive.


This is the first time for me to write a photo-editing blog, which took me four days to prepare and I finally made it! However do I use too many screenshots? Also, 1024 is too big for each image?

There must be different ways to do color changes but this one is the only way I know and it's not perfect because few colors like light pink is difficult to do; it will make the dress look fake if the brightness level is over-increased; but it will be hard to show the color with low brightness.

To be honest, how a dress looks depends on my mood.  with a flat mood, I will be conservative on brightness & contrast; however, if I am moody or emotional, it will be highly possible for me to make the dress with high saturation & contrast.

For VS9151, is it just me or the back images look better than the fronts?

By the way, I am curious about how to capture footage of desktop activities like those who know how to do and post theirs on Youtube?