Replace Color

Photoshop’s Replace Color adjustment is a quick and efficient way to swap one color for another. In this tutorial, we’ll change the blue of the sky and the Aloha logo on these skateboards for a sunny yellow.

Step 1

Start by going to Image > Adjustments > Replace Color. Tap in the image to select the color to replace– I always begin with the purest part of the color. Fuzziness sets the tolerance of the Replace Color mask. Set the hue you’re changing to with the Hue, Saturation and Lightness sliders.

Step 2

Next, choose the eyedropper with the plus sign to add to the selection. Tap on any areas of blue remaining to change them to yellow. (If you accidentally click in a spot you don’t want to change, hit command/control-Z to undo.)

Step 3

When you’re finished selecting all the blue that needs to be changed, hit the OK button. Save under a different name (yellow_aloha.psd) to keep both the original and the replaced color boards.

lilly said on — May 13, 2008 @ 6:55 pm

thank you so much for this.
mc said on — June 4, 2008 @ 3:46 am

Thanks
I can’t get this to work with black.
How can you change black to another color?
Gman said on — July 15, 2008 @ 4:11 pm

Thanks!!! Never used this tool before. Always tried to correct manually. This was quick and to the point and worked perfectly! Great job!
Kal Hoone - PS, AI, ID Guru said on — October 2, 2008 @ 8:00 am

Simple tutorial. One thing is missing – where exactly to find the tool in photoshop for the beginners. Image > Adjustments > Replace color.
Kal Hoone - PS, AI, ID Guru said on — October 2, 2008 @ 8:02 am

lol………my applogies, only NOW read tutorial in entirety.
orion said on — October 2, 2008 @ 8:11 am

It’s okay dude, we all make mistakes. I like the tutorial.
Tanzanite said on — May 5, 2009 @ 10:23 am

Excellent tutorial – I have struggled with this for ages and always ebded up with a big mess. It really is simple when you know how!
James said on — May 14, 2009 @ 1:08 am

In my experience the color replaced will allow you to change from blue to a slightly darker blue or perhaps a greenish hue, but never a full range of colors let alone all the way to yellow.
pam said on — October 12, 2009 @ 11:03 am

Everything is changing except what I want to change…My sky is slightly blown out and I want to put blue back into it..its not working. e
Everything else is changing.
help!
Jeff said on — October 16, 2009 @ 6:35 pm

Also had trouble with black, then realized you don’t have to use the sliders. Just click on the color box at the bottom and pick any replacement color you want.
Tate said on — March 22, 2010 @ 4:09 pm

I also can not get this to work at all with black even when I click in the bottom color box. It seems like it will only do a gray scale.
Rush said on — March 23, 2010 @ 12:34 am

But Jeff, even with your tips,.. I u try to replace black with blue for example, it wont let you.
It Only allows a few limited shades, mostly greys, hmm.
Richard said on — April 4, 2010 @ 3:22 am

Nice short, but fast tutorial on the replace color tool. Thanks for putting this online for the rest of us. I am a website designer over at WebYabber.com and this is something that is very handy when you are working on graphics for websites.
Acupuncture NYC said on — April 22, 2010 @ 9:07 pm

Thanks for this. I am also having trouble with black. It turns out there is much more white in the image than I first noticed and trying to change a black background to white resulted in no definition for a lot of the picture, totally washed out the image
Nicola Jameson said on — May 28, 2010 @ 8:57 am

Very useful tutorial. However, I agree with Rush – trying to replace black with blue is a problem. The tool falls short here.
tanzanite
Digitalcowgirl said on — June 11, 2010 @ 8:50 am

This is nicely explained! I have one problem-my image is RGB but the replacement color, no matter how vibrant, looks like it’s applying in a greyscale format. Does this only work in CMYK? Are my settings wrong? Any help would be great…
Ronnie Clayton said on — November 10, 2010 @ 4:47 pm

like the others, can not get it to work with black
Newb said on — November 28, 2010 @ 12:54 am

I’m trying to replace a white area in a picture with black so the screen blending effect will work everywhere I want it too.

No matter how you change white it’s still white…
Any help would be appreciated… I’m sick of pixel by pixel changing the color white to black… Its taken me hours and I’m not even 1/4 done.
Newb said on — November 28, 2010 @ 12:57 am

Nevermind.. Problem solved xD
bob said on — December 2, 2010 @ 9:31 pm

Will no one answer the question about changing black to another color?
I also have this problem. No matter what colour you choose as the result, it still ends up being different shades of grey/white/black
Teri said on — January 8, 2011 @ 4:56 pm

The way to change the black to another color is to click on the result color at the bottom and then change the color in the tool panel box that pops up. I hope this helps.
nick rhyan said on — January 26, 2011 @ 3:19 am

In order to replace black colored areas with a color not on the gray scale, you must do this—–>

Image-> adjustments->selective color

here you are able to adjust the CMYB levels(Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black)

I found this to be my solution at least, however, it seemed my problem was too easy to solve so.. idk

RAOK(Random act of kindness) (. . )
(_)
Michael said on — February 2, 2011 @ 4:35 pm

THis works fine for photo, but when I bring in a black and white object or a black object with no background, I don’t get the ful Replacement window. I only get a slider for lightness, which appears to do nothing.

How do I change a solid black logo to another color?

THanks,

Michael
Julie W said on — February 7, 2011 @ 9:51 am

Michael,

Don’t know if this is the best way but it works for me. Use the sliders to set your foreground color. Use the paint bucket tool, on the side tool bar, to click on the black image you want to change. The black should change to your new foreground color.
Let me know if this works for you.

Julie
Amy Lear said on — February 21, 2011 @ 12:50 am

Another great tool for changing black to other colors is to set your foreground color to what you want, then go to Image > Adjustments > Gradient Map.

This is especially helpful if you have a B&W image and want to see it in another color.
bemused said on — March 1, 2011 @ 2:13 pm

Thanks Amy Lear, you are the ONE person who’s answered this helpfully.

Julie W, wtf is “Paint Bucket Tool”?? Are you sure you’re not using MS Paint??
Try this said on — March 14, 2011 @ 10:57 am

The black problem – I think the replace color tool has a problem working in 16 bit mode. Try 8 bit mode – it sort of worked for me
Ric Faust said on — March 29, 2011 @ 2:39 pm

@bemused…

The “Paint Bucket Tool” is paired up with the “Gradient Tool” in your toolbar. You probably see the gradient tool, just whole your mouse button down on that image and it will expand giving you the option to use the paint bucket. Another way is to hold the Shift down and press “G” (at least in Windows).
Mark said on — May 9, 2011 @ 5:58 am

Excellent tutorial!!! Thank you so much for this. Very useful…
adrian said on — May 28, 2011 @ 2:37 pm

For the greyscale / black replace issue.

Solution:

1. Make a selection for the area you wish to replace the color – select, color range
2. Layer -> Layer Style -> Color overlay

done
drbeasley30 said on — July 8, 2011 @ 2:22 pm

Thank you about changing the foreground…Ive been trying to do this for almost an hour
Harps said on — July 26, 2011 @ 1:02 pm

Amy Lear, you are a lifesaver! Thank you
Adam said on — August 24, 2011 @ 12:38 am

Thank you so much. Super easy…I thought simply replacing the main image color was going to be far more complicated! Cheers.
JeffOYB said on — September 23, 2011 @ 12:56 pm

Wow, Amy Lear saves the day! I have been googling and studying this problem for TWO HOURS despite having many other urgent tasks to do.

All I wanted to do was change a black lineart scan I had made into a color.

Amy’s solution is the ONLY ONE THAT WORKS and THIS IS THE ONLY PLACE THAT MENTIONS IT! How can we, the public, get this solution more prominence? I think it is very common that people want to change the black of scans of black lineart into various colors.

Wow, thanks again! Saved my day. I had zero other leads.

I’m helping my kids launch a Cafepress shop for their sketches — to put them onto t-shirts and such. I wanted to make the art into various colors. Now I can! …And now I can get back to real work!!! (And, heck, I’ve used Photoshop since it was invented! I get behind a few years because I keep using the same good ol’ versions that I get familiar with. When I finally update I’m LOST LOST!
Ron said on — October 11, 2011 @ 2:54 am

Thanks! There are so many ways to accomplish a task in PS… it’s baffling to someone who’s not a frequent user. And the Adobe site assumes too much prior knowledge.

You hit my problem right on the head.