Palm

Question: How can i take a black picture of a palm tree and make it a gradient tree?

(Posted by: simplysweet88 on 2009-12-21 13:46:49)

I have a picture of a palm tree (it's a silhouette, so it's all black), and I need to change the black to a pink and orange gradient. I want to make the top of the tree (leaves) pink and have it change to an orange shade as it goes to the bottom of the tree. I'm doing this on photoshop, so if anyone can help me I'd really appreciate it!! =)

Posted by: thebody44 on 2009-12-25, 07:32:33

There are many ways to isolate a portion of the image, but here is my method of choice (using masking): 1) Add a new layers above the tree layer 2) Define your gradient colors and fill this entire layer with the gradient as you want it to appear in the tree (pink vertically down to orange) 3) Reduce the opacity of the gradient layer to about 50% - clear enough to see the tree outline underneath your color layer. 4) Add a layer mask to the gradient layer (all white) 5) Set your foreground color to black and make sure the mask is selected 6) Use a fuzzy brush and start to draw around the outside of the tree. As you draw in black on the layer mask, the colored portions will disappear allowing the background image to show through. The goal is to fill in most of the layer with black and leave a white hole in the mask where the palm tree is. For best results, iterate over this process multiple times, zooming in and reducing the size of your brush with each cycle. 7) When you're satisfied, Apply the mask to get rid of it and bring the opacity of your gradient layer back to 100% - voila! Alternately, you could create the colored layer underneath, add the mask to the tree layer and then draw only within the tree to allow the colored layer to show through.