As a wedding photographer, one of my most favorite post-editing techniques is using spot color on photos to spotlight a certain aspect of a photograph.

The thing is, spot color isn’t just amazing for wedding portraits… it can be used on just about any photograph and is actually quite simple to create.

In Photoshop, open the photo you want to use:

To make this originally color photograph into a black-and-white, we have to create a background layer by pressing Ctrl+J, and then Ctrl+Shift+U. This desaturates the photo, turning it into a black-and-white.

Now that the photo is black-and-white, we have to add a layer; we do so by clicking on the “Add Layer Mask” button on the bottom of the Layers panel as seen below:

Next, select the Brush tool by clicking ‘B’ on your keyboards.

You have to make sure that the Foreground is set to black as seen below. (If not, then click the arrow once to make to switch the black and white.)

Finally, we’re about to see some color.

Take your brush (your mouse) and start painting over only the areas you want color to show up. (You can hold down the left-click on your mouse or click-click-click as you go.)

This can be a little tedious, but the outcome is worth it. To make your job easier, you can use the bracket keys to make your brush larger ( ] ) or smaller ( [ ).

Yay! Color at last!

Be especially careful around the edges of where you want the color to end and the black-and-white to begin. Use the brackets to make your brush smaller in these areas and also zoom in (Ctrl +) and zoom out (Ctrl -)to make the photo larger and easier to “paint.”

If you make a mistake, accidentally bring color through where you meant to leave it black-and-white, simply press “X” on your keyboard and paint back over your mistake. When done fixing your mistake, press “X” again to bring color through again.

Wa-laa!

Another before and after example of spot color:

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Megan is a mother to three boys and one grown man, a photographer and writer who is just doing the best that she can… when she feels like it. Permanently banned from play-dates, Megan writes about life on her blog at www.undomesticdiva.com