Changing Hair Color in Photoshop

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Changing Hair Color in Photoshop

By Joel Monilla
http://www.rushpostcardprinting.com

Changing hair color doesn't mean soaking your head into a container of coloring chemicals. Lighten up locks using adjustment layers in Photoshop. Changing hair color digitally is frequently simply a matter of adding a hue or saturation adjustment layer. However, when the hair needs substantial lightening, such as when converting from brunette to blond, the Selective Color command may be more effective.


Start by selecting a picture of a woman preferably with straight hair. Curly hair can be slightly difficult.

When you choose a blond subject, a simple dye job can be provided with a hue or saturation adjustment layer. Check the Colorize box and adjust the sliders for the look you want.

Going from dark hair to light presents some additional challenges. Sometimes the lightness slider of the hue or saturation adjustment is suitable. Other times you may have good luck with a Curves adjustment. But your best bet may be to head straight for a Selective Color adjustment layer.

When the Selective Color dialog box opens, click the radio button "Absolute" at the bottom, then at the top, switch the pop-up menu from Reds to Neutrals. Reduce the Cyan and Magenta content proportionally and then balance the appearance with the Yellow and Black sliders. Switch from Neutrals to Blacks and repeat.

The correct values depend both on your original image and your intent. The same original dark hair can produce a variety of lighter looks with this technique.

You can choose from an infinite variety of colors. Using Photoshop unique hair coloring selection tools, you can even do hair simulations on your current hairstyle. You can test a hair color in your photo and see if it suits you. If it does then you can try in on. Have fun. Experiment. And see the overwhelming results without any fuss!

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