Colorizing Black and White Photos (Paint Shop Pro 8, 9 and Studio)

Here are two methods that give the same final result: Method A has fewer steps, but Method B is more versatile because it allows you to quickly change the colors of each section. Method C is for coloring-book black-and-white line drawings.

Method A. The Manual Painting method

1. Open an image that you want to colorize (for example, 1Photo.jpg in the "Photos to colorize" folder). 

2. Go to Image --> Increase Color Depth --> 16 Million Colors. (If that menu item is grayed out, the image is already in 16 million colors).

3. If desired, adjust the contrast and brightness of the image (Adjust --> Brightness and Contrast --> Automatic Contrast Enhancement).

4. Go to Layers --> New Raster Layer.... From the Blend Mode pop-up menu, select Color (Legacy), set the transparency to about 50%, and click OK.  (If Color is not on the menu, you did not do step 2).

5. Select the Paint Brush tool  (7th tool group) and open the Tool Options palette.  (If  the Tool Options palette is not visible, right-click anywhere on the tool bar and select Palettes --> Tool Options). Adjust the Size of the tool as desired.  

6. Right-click on the white patch in the lower right corner of the Materials palette.  (If the Materials palette is not visible, right-click anywhere on the tool bar and select Palettes --> Materials). 

7. Click on the color you want to paint with in the big multi-color patch in the Materials palette. 

8. Now use the Paint Brush tool to paint those parts of the image that you want to have that color. Zoom in and out (use the mouse wheel or left- or right-click with the  tool) so that you can work more precisely.  Change the size of the tool if desired. If you color too much, you can "un-color" by painting with the right mouse button. 

9. Click on another color in the Materials palette and continue painting.  If you mess up, use the undo command.

10. Once you are happy with the result, select File --> Save As... and select "Paint Shop Pro Image (.psp)" from the "Save as type..." pop-up menu.  Saving in this format will preserve the separate layers, so you can modify the colors at a later time. On the other hand, if you want to send the image via email or put it on a Web page, save it in JPEG format (.jpg) instead.  JPEG format does not preserve the separate layers but is compatable with email and the Web.

Method B. The Outline-and-Fill method

1. Open an image that you want to colorize (for example, 1Photo.jpg in the "Photos to colorize" folder). 

2. Go to Image --> Increase Color Depth --> 16 Million Colors. (If that menu item is grayed out, the image is already in 16 million colors).

3. If desired, adjust the contrast and brightness of the image (Adjust --> Brightness and Contrast --> Automatic Contrast Enhancement).

4. Select the  tool (5th tool group) and set to the "Point-to-Point" selection mode in the Tool Options palette and use the little up and down arrows to set Feather to 0.  (If  the Tool Options palette is not visible, right-click anywhere on the tool bar and select Palettes --> Tool Options). 

5.  Trace carefully by clicking all around the edges of the portion of the image that you want to color. Be careful not to double-click. When you get back to your starting point, right-click to end the trace. Zoom in and out (use the mouse wheel or left- or right-click with the  tool in the 1st tool group) so that you can work more precisely.

6. Go to Selections --> Promote Selection to Layer.

7. Select Layers --> Properties. From the Blend Mode pop-up menu, select Color (Legacy) from the Blend Mode pop-up menu. Type in the name of the outlined object in place of "Promoted Selection" (for example, "face", "eyes", or whatever). Click OK.

8. Select the Flood Fill tool , open the Tool Options palette, and make sure the "Blend mode" is set to Normal and the "Match mode" to Opacity.   (If  the Tool Options palette is not visible, right-click anywhere on the tool bar and select Palettes --> Tool Options). 

 9. Click on the Materials Palette to pick up a color and then click in the outlined region of the image to apply the color.  (If the Materials palette is not visible, right-click anywhere on the tool bar and select Palettes --> Materials). Don't worry if the color is too strong; you can open the Layer Palette (press F8) and adjust the Layer Opacity slider from 0% to 100% to get the desired effect.+

10. Go to Selections --> Select None. Repeat steps 4 - 9 for each colored region, giving each layer an appropriate name. 

11. Note: If you want to change one of the colors completely, select that layer in the Layers palette (to display the Layers palette, right-click anywhere on the tool bar and select Palettes --> Layers), then repeat steps 8 and 9.  You can add more layers, delete layers, change the colors, or adjust the opacity of each layer at any time. You can also use the Paint Brush tool  to paint additional color directly onto any of the layers or the Eraser tool  to erase unwanted bits from any layer.

12. Once you are happy with the result, select File --> Save As... and select "Paint Shop Pro Image (.psp)" from the "Save as type..." pop-up menu.  Saving in this format will preserve the separate layers, so you can modify the colors at a later time. On the other hand, if you want to send the image via email or put it on a Web page, save it in JPEG format (.jpg) instead.  JPEG format does not preserve the separate layers but is compatable with email and the Web.

Note 1: If you get confused about which layer you are on, open the Layer Palette ( (right-click anywhere on the tool bar and select Palettes --> Layers).  This lists all the layers in the picture and shows the currently active layer.  To make any layer active, select it from this list (click on it). 

Method C. Coloring Black-and-White Line Drawings

Black-and-white line drawings, such as those in the the "FreeClipArt" folder, can be colored like a coloring book, using the Flood Fill tool to color enclosed regions of the drawing.

1. Open a drawing that you want to color (for example, BOY.TIF in the "FreeClipArt" folder). 

2. Use the Paint Brush tool  to draw over any gaps in the lines between the regions that will have different colors. Zoom in and out (use the mouse wheel or left- or right-click with the  tool) so that you can work more precisely. 

3. Go to Image --> Increase Color Depth --> 16 Million Colors. 

4. Select the Flood Fill tool , and set the "Blend mode" to Normal and the "Match mode" to RGB Value.  (If  the Tool Options palette is not visible, right-click anywhere on the tool bar and select Palettes --> Tool Options). 

5. Click on the Materials Palette to pick up a color and then in an enclosed white region in the drawing to fill that region with color.  Repeat for each colored region. To remove a color, fill it with white. If the color leaks out to other regions, click the undo button , use the Paint Brush tool  to draw over the gaps in that region, then try again. .

7. Save completed pictures in "CompuServe Graphics Interchange (.gif)" or "Tagged Image File" (.tif)" formats.

 (c) Tom O'Haver (toh@umd.edu), February 2005