A GUIDE TO HAND-TINTING
WITH PHOTOSHOP Versions 5 & 5.5
Clive R. Haynes FRPS
Since the dawn of photography, artists and photographers alike have sought to instil their own interpretation of colour and tone into the scene. Perhaps, originally, economy and the relative difficulty of colour photography were the motivation for hand-tinting. Whatever the reason, the fact is that hand-tinting can lead to many satisfying and subtly different pictures. No one need by enslaved by the colour existing in the original scene, for the whole picture or a section of it may be altered to present a more satisfactory representation of the subject.
With the advent of DI many more possibilities are made available.
Monochrome pictures can be tinted and toned to give a wide variety of subtle nuances and moods. One can combine a whole range of tinting and toning techniques to weave a blend of hue and wash of colour across the scene. Remember that if you are tinting a monochrome image, you will need to either scan as RGB or change the mode from Greyscale to RGB. (Do this via Image > Mode > RGB Color).
For those just beginning to experiment with hand-tinting using Photoshop, I begin with some general notes about brushes and their selection.
SOME INFORMATION ABOUT BRUSHES
Mouse or Pen & Tablet?
Without doubt the best and most natural method of working is with the pen and tablet – it’s just like working with a natural brush and is both easy and intuitive. Unlike the mouse, the pen is pressure sensitive – which means the harder one presses upon the pad, the broader or denser the paint upon the ‘page’. The pen can also be sensitive to the angle of use and so perform just like a real airbrush. As 'Wacom' is probably the most widely used pen & tablet combination, I'll refer to this throughout.
Which brush tool to choose – ‘Airbrush, Paintbrush or Pencil?
Each tool presents different opportunities.
Airbrush
This performs something like a real airbrush, however the important thing to remember is that with successive coverings, performed without removing the tool from the image (so it’s all one long stroke) the intensity of the colour will build as the same area is covered more than once.
The pressure related sensitivity may be turned on and off in the 'Options' palette by ticking or not ticking the Stylus: 'Pressure' box.
By ticking the Stylus: 'Color' box in the same palette, the brush can be made to paint between the chosen foreground and background colours with some interesting results.
Paintbrush
This tool is similar to the Airbrush and edges may be soft or hard. However, the pressure sensitivity of the pen/tablet is related to the width of the brush stroke and not the intensity. Repeated coverings over the same area without releasing the tool do not result in increased saturation. However, successive brush strokes will increase the covering/saturation - just like a real brush.
Ticking the 'Wet Edges' box in the Options Palette will give a wet-defined edge to the brush strokes you make should you require it.
Pencil
A little less subtle than the two brushes mentioned above. The edges are hard. It performs similarly to 'Paintbrush'. However options of pressure, stylus size and colour are available performing as in 'Paintbrush'. For 'Auto Erase' see below.
Common Options related to the three brushes above
Airbrush
Stylus Pressure ticked - the stroke from Wacom pen is pressure sensitive
Stylus Pressure not ticked - the stroke from Wacom pen is not pressure sensitive
Color ticked - Stylus Pressure not ticked, colour changes between F/G and B/G colours
Color not ticked- Stylus Pressure ticked, colour changes more subtly between F/G and B/G
The Pressure Scale sets the maximum for the stroke rated in %
Paintbrush
Stylus ticked - Brush size changes with pressure from the Wacom pen between a thin line and that selected
Stylus not ticked - Brush size constant to that selected
Opacity ticked - depending on pressure, the intensity changes to the maximum as set in the 'Opacity box', rated in %
Opacity not ticked - set to the Opacity chosen in the Opacity box rated in %
Color ticked - colour changes between F/G and B/G colours with pressure
Pencil
Functions are similar to Paintbrush but with hard edges. It does however have the 'Auto Erase' option, which if ticked, paints F/G colour over B/G colour. This only works if you begin the stroke within an area where there is paint already.
'Fade' / 'Steps' Option
This is available for all three of the above and if selected, determines the fade-out / comet-trail-like appearance of the stroke you make over the image area. To use, enter a value in the Fade/Steps box. In actual practice, for hand-tinting, I rarely use this function. The 'normal' setting for this box is 0 (zero). If you discover your brush tool is not functioning, it could be that the 'steps' have been inadvertently set to 1 or some other very low figure.
Brush size
It's essential to have knowledge of how large an area is covered by the brush tool in use, therefore ensure that both 'Brush Size' and 'Precise' options are selected in the Display & Cursors preference. This is found under File > Preferences > Display & Cursors. Set Painting Cursors to 'Brush Size' and Other Cursors to 'Precise'.
Making Your Own Brush
Remember that you can make a brush shape and size to your own specification that includes such things as 'Hardness' and 'Angle'.
Click on the top right arrow in Brush Options and follow the simple dialogue box.
Deleting a Brush or Brushes
A quick method is to select the brush you wish to delete and by holding down the 'Alt Gr' key to the right of the space bar, scissors appear and this will cut-out / delete the brush. Repeated clicks will delete a whole series - so watch out!
Alternatively you can choose the 'Delete Brush' option, by clicking on the4 arrow again in the Brush Options box and choosing 'Delete Brush'.
Extra Ranges and Fancy Shaped Brushes
These can be loaded from within Photoshop.
V5 / 5.5 In the Brush Options palette, click on the top right arrow again and choose 'Load Brushes', then go to Adobe > Photoshop > Goodies > Brushes. Successively select and load the ones you want - all sorts to choose from.
V6 Click on the drop down arrow to the right of the Brush Size icon at the top left of the Options Bar. From the Brush Size menu that appears click on the top right 'fly-out' arrow, from the list that now appears, choose 'Load Brushes' and a list will be shown. Successively select and load the ones you want - all sorts to choose from.
Preserving Transparency
This option is useful if you do not wish to apply 'paint' to an area of the image that is 'transparent'. This can only apply to a layer that is not Background. To retain transparency, simply click in the tick box to the left of the little chequered square towards the top of the Layers palette (V6) or click / tick the box towards the top of the Layers palette, labelled 'Preserve Transparency (V5 / V5.5). See more about the use of this function, when painting on a layer below.
HAND-TINTING
GETTING DOWN TO IT
The secret of success is to be subtle in your application of colour and to gradually build up the depth of saturation you require.
When starting, most people choose a colour and a convenient brush and begin painting with the Brush Options 'Blend Mode' set at Normal. This will undoubtedly work, however, for better results choose either Color or Overlay as the blend mode. To make this choice click on the downward arrow near the top left-hand corner of the Brush Options palette (it'll probably have 'Normal' in the small box) and from the list choose 'color' - it's near the bottom or Overlay - a few down from the top. (These are blend modes by the way and you can have lots of interesting explorations with these).
Color or Overlay modes are much more appropriate for our use as they retain the luminance (black & white) information from the image and do not paint-out either full black or full white. In this way, a good sense of grey scale is preserved together with crisp whites and full blacks.
Which to choose - Color or Overlay Blend mode?
One is not better than the other. They are not the same either as each will render the colour slightly differently. Experiment with your chosen image to discover which is the most appropitae to use. You can have different layers set to different blend modes.
Remember - Painting in Normal mode will paint over and obscure the black & white component of the image.
New Layers for Painting
Having scanned in the image, create a New Layer upon which to apply the paint. This has the advantage of not corrupting the original and enables the Opacity of the paint layer to be altered if necessary. This new Layer needs to be set to 'Color' or 'Overlay' (blend mode), just like the brush (see above). However, once painting on a layer, the brush mode can remain set to 'normal' - the layer mode is making the blend work. Note: leaving the brush set to 'Color' or 'Overlay' is OK should you do so.
About Preserving transparency .......... This is Important
For 'normal painting' using a separate layer for the colour, keep the 'Preserve Transparency' box unticked in the Layers Options palette.
NB Should 'Preserve Transparency' be ticked, on your colour tinting layer, then your brush will be inoperative. However should you wish to paint only on an area already painted, then ticking the 'Preserve Transparency' box will only allow you paint where a previous paint stroke has been made. This has implications where precision is required.
Want to Paint in Dead Straight Lines?
Should you need to do this, hold down the Shift Key as you paint.
OK So Far?
When you are satisfied with a stage in your work, create another layer for the next session/area of paint and so on. In this way subtle changes of layer opacity between layers can be made. And a whole layer may be deleted if a particular effect is not pleasing (we all make mistakes!).
The layers can also be individually adjusted by the application of Layer Masks/Adjustment Layers/Clipping Groups etc allowing yet more variations and artistry. The blend mode of each layer can also be set to give yet more options as the layers interact with one another.
Selecting Your Colour.
When clicking on either Foreground or Backround colour to reveal the Colour Picker dialogue box one is presented with several choices about display. The dialogue box presents a square with the cursor at the selected colour, however it can be displayed in the following ways. H = Hue, S = Saturation, B = Brightness, R = Red, G = Green and B = Blue. Don't be surprised if either R, G or B gives an unlikely range of colours as it all depends upon where the colour cursor has been positioned. I find the two most useful options to be either H or B but it depends upon how you prefer to work.
Making Your Very Own Palette of Colours
Either increase the canvas size with a white background chosen to give a white border or open a new (blank) image file, again ensuring the background is white. Paint sweeps of different colours into the area, overlapping and mingling them with different pressures/opacities. Use the Smudge Tool too to mix and blend the colours. This creates your own mixing palette. Use the Eyedropper tool to select the colours you need and paint away. This is quicker than choosing the F/G or B/G route or Colour / Swatches palettes etc - and you get to use your own special blends.
If you need a specific colour reference from another image, simply open it and use the Eyedropper tool to sample it.
Working the Paint on the Image
Build up large blocks of colour - don't worry if you overpaint the limits of the area - as the paint has its own layer(s), this can be corrected later (by using a layer mask).
Remember that rarely are whole areas of colour simply one colour, each will have nuances of brightness, saturation and hue. Mingle other colours very subtly in amongst the initial set you've chosen. Take bricks and stone as examples, these contain a wealth of small changes in hue - so echo this and include overlays of other colours to render the work more convincing.
Knowing when to stop is important, one brushstroke too many can ruin a fine image - if you're uncertain, save different versions of the image as you near conclusion.
Hand-tinting is often even more effective when combined with a background wash of gentle tone. Go to Toning and Duotones for more info.
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