Making my picture black and white with some colour

[Lakitu]

I'm sorry if this is really simple, I'm new to photoshop )

I have a picture that I would like to make black and white but with some colour. From what I can gather, I've to make the picture black and white and then add the colour to the bits I need after, however, the bit I want to remain in colour is a flower and the way the light hits it, the red is in different shades, making it impossible for me to colour it back exactly how it is.

Is there a simpler way...like select the parts I want to go black and white?

Many thanks

)

 

[66stang66]

Duplicate the background layer. Erase everything but the flower on that layer. Desaturate the background.

Of course, it's not as simple as that sounds. Erasing all but the flower, is the most difficult part. But "how difficult" depends on the image. There are several methods for "cutting out" a part of an image.

Have a look at these tutorials.

A Comprehensive Introduction to Photoshop Selection Techniques - PSDTUTS

Photoshop’s Pen Tool: The Comprehensive Guide - PSDTUTS

 

[bluelobster]

Here's how I would do it, and it would allow you to go back and change what's colored and what's b&w later:

1. Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Hue/Saturation
2. Bring the Saturation slider all the way to the left.
3. Make sure the white layer mask is still selected for this adjustment layer (in the Layers panel)
4. Select a brush and set black as your foreground color (press the D key for Default colors)
5. Paint on the image where you want the original color to show through.

You are making a "hole" through the mask. You can paint with white to bring back gray areas, and black again to reveal the colored areas.

 

[MarkBorg]

Yep, bluelobster hit it in the head - was just about to write pretty much those exact steps