How to Change the Color on a Car in Photoshop

The latest versions of Adobe's Photoshop software make certain photo-editing tasks like extractions and working with colors much easier. The focus of this article is on one way you can change the color of a car (or any object with a defined shape for that matter) in a photo.

Things You'll Need

• PC or Mac with at least Photoshop Elements 6 installed
• JPEG photo of a car

Instructions

Changing Colors in Photoshop

1. 

   Open the photo of the car in Photoshop. Enlarge the car to a point where all of its body is still visible on the canvas.

2. Click "ENHANCE" on the toolbox. In the dropdown box select "ADJUST COLOR" and then "REPLACE COLOR."

3. Select "IMAGE" under the preview image to give you the color version of the photo.

4. Choose the first eyedropper tool and click in the color on the car body that you want to replace. The hue will show up on the top sample box.

5. Click on the color swatch box in the replacement section. Slide the points along the swatch spectrum to find your replacement color. You can tweak the shade of the color in the larger gradient field to the left of the sliding color selector.

6. Use the eyedropper and brush tool to clean up around the edges. For example, some of the car's body color may bleed over onto a piece of chrome and you will need to remove it.

7. 

   Repeat the above process for different body panels on the car. Even though the entire body may be one color, the hue or shade will vary depending on how much light is falling on a particular section of the car.

8. Work at it. Changing colors and retouching photos is a tedious process. But, time and practice is the only way to fully appreciate how Photoshop tools function to make changes.