"Powder Pastels"

This recipe replaces the colors of the original image with powdery pastels. Apart from being great on its own, this recipe can be a great shortcut for hand-coloring an image.

STEP 1
In the Layers palette, duplicate the original image layer by dragging the background layer onto the "Create a new" layer icon, or use Ctrl/Cmd-J.

STEP 2
Using the pull-down blending mode menu in the Layers palette or the shortcut Alt/Opt-Shift-U, change the new layer's blending mode to Hue, and rename it "Hue."

STEP 3
Invert the Hue layer using Ctrl/Cmd-I.

STEP 4
Change the Hue layer's opacity to 50%. At this stage the image is almost grayscale.

STEP 5
Duplicate the Hue layer and change the new layer's blending mode to Color Dodge using the shortcut Alt/Opt-Shift-D. Name the new layer "Color Dodge."

STEP 6
Increase the Color Dodge layer's opacity to 100%.

STEP 7
Apply a small amount of blur to the Color Dodge layer with Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Use a small radius – 5 should be enough to emphasize edges within the picture.

STEP 8
Use Ctrl/Cmd-J to duplicate the Color Dodge layer and set the new layer's blending mode to Pin Light using the shortcut Alt/Opt-Shift-Z; name it "Pin Light."

STEP 9
Invert the new Pin Light layer using Ctrl/Cmd-I.

STEP 10
Go to Image > Adjustments > Desaturate or use Ctrl/Cmd-Shift-U to desaturate the Pin Light layer.

Reversed Color
Where colored areas are very dark, they will become grayscale. A polarizing filter was used for this photo, and the dark sky has separated into pastel and grayscale areas.

Pin Light — Opacity: 100, Fill: 100 Color Dodge — Opacity: 100, Fill: 100 Hue — Opacity: 50, Fill: 100

Subtle Color
Shadows and midtones turn grayscale, pure blues become yellows, reds come out cyan, and greens go lilac.

Pin Light — Opacity: 100, Fill: 80 Color Dodge — Opacity: 100, Fill: 100 Hue — Opacity: 50, Fill: 100

Soft Color
As expected with this recipe, the dark wood behind these ceramics has become grayscale.

Pin Light — Opacity: 100, Fill: 100 Color Dodge — Opacity: 100, Fill: 100 Hue — Opacity: 50, Fill: 100

It took a matter of minutes to create this hand-colored effect. One Hue/Saturation layer saturated the colors, and another used the Color Range selection to create a mask, over which I added the sepia tone.

Using the recipe as a starting point, I used Select > Color Range to select the grayscale parts of this image.

Color Midtones
Reduce the Pin Light layer's fill opacity to restore some pastel colors in the midtones.

Pin Light — Opacity: 100, Fill: 70 Color Dodge — Opacity: 100, Fill: 100 Hue — Opacity: 50, Fill: 100

Modulating The Effect
Again, it was helpful to reduce the Pin Light layer's opacity — until this was done, the only colors were a yellow in the blue sky and some dashes of pale blue in the foreground.

Pin Light — Opacity: 50, Fill: 100 Color Dodge — Opacity: 100, Fill: 100 Hue — Opacity: 50, Fill: 100