Recoloring Embellishments: Change an Element's Color

Have you ever wanted to change the color of a digital element on a layout? Today I’m going to show you how easy recoloring embellishments can be!

I wanted to use a journal spot for a layout about my great-grandparents, but the color didn’t fit with the rest of my page, so I recolored/colorized the element.

First, I created a backup copy of the journal spot by clicking Ctrl+J and made it invisible by clicking on the little eye icon next to the layer.

Next, I changed the element to black and white. I selected Enhance> Convert to Black and White (shortcut:Ctrl+Alt+B), used the pop-up window to make adjustments, and clicked OK.

I made a second black-and-white copy of the journal spot by clicking Ctrl+J. The layers now were: black-and-white copy, black-and-white, invisible original.

Using the Eyedropper Tool, I selected a color from my layout that was close to the color I wanted the journal spot to be. This selection appeared as the new foreground color (top color) in the squares on the bottom left. I located the hue of the selected color by clicking on the foreground color. Notice the Hue was 43.

With the top black-and-white journal spot selected on the Layers Palette, I clicked Enhance> Adjust Color> Adjust Hue/Saturation (shortcut: Ctrl+U) to get to the Hue/Saturation pop-up window, then clicked “Colorize.” Notice the Hue was already set at 43, the same hue I selected with the Eyedropper Tool earlier.

Now I needed to tweak the color a bit more. Since adjusting the Hue would have changed the base color, I left that slider alone. To get the exact shade of color I wanted, I moved the sliders for Saturation and Lightness. When I was satisfied, I clicked OK, saving the color change.

I wanted to make the design appear more crisp and the paper to be lighter, so I used the second black-and-white journal spot as an overlay. After moving the black-and-white copy above the recolored one, I changed the Blending Mode to “Overlay,” and I changed the Opacity to 30%. Other useful Blending Modes are “Soft Light” and “Multiply.” You can play around with the settings until you achieve an effect you like.

Finally, I merged the overlay and recolored layers. I clicked on one layer, held down the Ctrl key, then clicked on the other, highlighting both layers. Then I right-clicked on one of the layers and selected “Merge Layers.” You can see the original and recolored journal spots below.