Splash of Colour for Amazing Effects
Splash of colour is a favourite technique of mine. Its also easy to do using the free downloadable action, which is also known as Selective colour. You convert an image to B&W and then bring back the colour instead of changing the colour to another one. It’s a creative way of picking out a colour to make it or the object, the focal point of your image.

Choosing the right image
Images with a strong prominent colour work best, and while you can do lots of different colours, my preference is towards images with just one colour or one element of multi colours.

How do you do Splash of Colour?
There are loads of tutorials on Youtube and the web, all going about it differently. In the post, it can be done in Photoshop or Lightroom, though some camera’s such as Sony, allow you to do it in-camera. However, I prefer PS and use an action because it simplifies the entire process. Accordingly, I have included the free action to download at the end of the post.

One way to do it manually (in PS) is to add a black and white adjust layer – then use a black brush wipe back to expose the colour. However, if you make a mistake, change to a white brush to brush back the B&W. You can also use an action or create your own to make it easier and quicker each time.


Free Splash of Colour Action
The free action below uses black and white adjustment layers. It just saves you that step, and you can go straight to brushing back colour.
Download the free Photoshop action to create your own selective colour images.