How to change the dark color of a photo ?

Hi everyone,

1) I am using Xara designer pro x11, after watching many tutorials on changing colors, i need to change the leather color of this chair to a light brown or whatever, i tried to use the select colors to enhance button then using the set photo hue button but the color very slightly changed not what i exactly desire even when setting to red and adjusting strength to maximum , the chair didnt turn to red!
any help please?

2) Once possible is there any way that Xara allows us to select colors from the color palette to get the desired color ?

Thank you for your support !

I did the following: Made a copy of the picture and, using the same tool as you did to select the blues of the chair, I desaturated them completely. Next I drew a brown rectangle, placed it over the picture and, in the Transparency Tool, selected 'Flat' and 'Overlay'. You can adjust the brown color of the rectangle until you like the effect. Select both the image and the rectangle, right-click and select 'Create bitmap copy' and crop to size.

Attachment 123290

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Boy

..... in the Transparency Tool, selected 'Flat' and 'Overlay'....

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Or use 'Flat' and 'Color'

Thank you for your answers!

I got confused ! what do you mean by selecting the blues? the leather color? and how do you desaturate them?
what about other different shapes in case of other pictures?
Now i found another button called color select/erase, found in button palette rather than the select color to enhance button and they both behave differently !!!:rolleyes:

So no way to use those buttons as in these tutorials
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBLq5PpXnTE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVv7WAFeRwI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDtN0xci9MA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1vlkYD2GBc

It is the same tool you used, the 'Select colors to enhance' button. Click on various shades of the blue of the chair. This time, don't use the ' Photo hue' slider but the 'Photo saturation' button that's the second button to the left of the hue button. Because the blues have a lot of black in them, the hue slider doesn't work too well in this case.

Yes, there are different tools that give different results. Try them both and use the one that gives you the best result.

Alright the chair is done using your transparency method.

What about this bench case where sunlight couldnt be adjusted using shadows brightness and other enhancing buttons, i tried then to apply the transparency method as you suggested, the sunlight remained as an uncolored spot! how to fix that please?

Should be another way to do that !

Thank you.

Alright the chair is done using your transparency method.

What about this bench case where sunlight couldnt be adjusted using shadows brightness and other enhancing buttons, i tried then to apply the transparency method as you suggested, the sunlight remained as an uncolored spot! how to fix that please?

Should be another way to do that !

Thank you.

Well, with a washed-out image there is very little color correction you can do.

But you could do the following: trace over the bench shape, add some highlights (corners and flat surfaces) and use Named Colors. I did it quick and dirty so you can improve it as much as you want. I added the file for you to take a look at.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Boy

But you could do the following:

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This is one of those times where I'm quite proud of myself. That's the way I thought of doing it but wasn't confident enough to suggest it. Then Boy, with 10 years and 3000+ posts under their belt does the same thing..."yeah, Chris, welcome to the Jedi inner circle."

gaftalik - You show Xara Photo & Graphic Designer 10 as your software so I am not sure if this works in 10 (I did this in Designer Pro X 16), but if it is available, you can use Levels in the Photo Tool flyout and reduce the Output Levels as shown in my screen shot. This makes the lights a bit darker and the darks a bit lighter. Then create a shape for the colored areas, apply a color then apply Color transparency.

You can play with the percent of transparency as well as adjust the color in the Color Editor. This preserves some of the light and shadow while making it easier to add color.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Chris M

This is one of those times where I'm quite proud of myself. That's the way I thought of doing it but wasn't confident enough to suggest it. Then Boy, with 10 years and 3000+ posts under their belt does the same thing..."yeah, Chris, welcome to the Jedi inner circle."

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You're doing great, Chris, and should feel proud of all the quality contributions you have already made! By the way, I have such moments as you describe quite often when I feel intimidated or can't be bothered because it is too much work to explain it all.

Thank you all for your support and time !

It depends on whether you are recolouring an original photograph, or reusing elements to use in a new composition. If you are recolouring, then the way that Gary suggests also preserves the correct shading in the picture as well, so it still looks natural.

There are many ways to change the colour of a dark or light photo and all shown in this thread work quite well. In my examples I changed the tan chair to grey using photo hue tools and brightness levels. There are to many ways to explain them all here.

Stygg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by stygg2003

There are many ways to change the colour of a dark or light photo and all shown in this thread work quite well. In my examples I changed the tan chair to grey using photo hue tools and brightness levels. There are to many ways to explain them all here.

Stygg

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And so we go round and round. I changed the blue chair into grey and tan and you change the tan one into grey. :rolleyes:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Boy

And so we go round and round. I changed the blue chair into grey and tan and you change the tan one into grey. :rolleyes:

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Sorry if I offended your colour scheme :)

Stygg

No, you're quite welcome to it, Stygg, it's like a dance. :)

hi
your operation is so useful, it has helped me.
I did it as your operated and reached the effect I wanted
Attachment 123383
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