How to Use Photoshop to Convert an Object From Color To Realistic Solid White

In the magical world of Photoshop, there are lots of different ways to change an object's color from one hue to another, but achieving a change from color to a realistic white is sometimes challenging. This video from Helen Bradley will show you one way to get quick, realistic results when changing an object from color to solid white.

Ask a room full of Photoshop gurus how to change the color of an object and you will get dozens of different answers, many of them likely involving making a good selection and then using an adjustment layer. The process can be as super simple or complicated as you want to make it, but it’s usually pretty straightforward.

Making a change from color to plain white, however, can be a bit of a challenge. If your selection isn't perfect, you are going to end up with random remnants or reflective bleed-over of the old color, and it will be much more obvious than if you had simply converted to a different shade or color. Many of the usual methods we use to change from one color to another will not work when we want to change to white but retain all the details.

In the featured video, Helen Bradley of projectwoman.com shows us a simple method of removing color with one adjustment layer, and using another adjustment to make the effect more realistic for the environment and lighting situation of the object. Finally, she walks us through how to refine our selection to make sure we didn’t miss changing a single drop of color.

What is your favorite method of turning something white in Photoshop? Comment below!