How to Quickly Copy the Color of One Object, Onto Another Object

Sometimes the simplest desires in post-production can prove to be the trickiest. Color is a common example of this where you just want to grab the color of one thing and make the color of something else match it. Well, here's how to do it quickly and easily.

I have spent a lot of my career creating images used for advertising or editorials. In both instances, colors are paramount to the overall look and even the success of an image. One of the most common edits I make is to change the color of objects in the frame to either match a product or focal point, or to complement it. This can be done on-set, but it's far harder than it sounds to match the color of two unrelated things, particularly when it needs to be almost perfect.

In this video, Colin Smith of photoshopCAFE takes you through how he copies the color of one object and "pastes" it onto another. It sounds like an easy task, and it is if you know how, but if you don't, I can tell you from experience that it is a frustrating nightmare. There are several ways of achieving the right result and for the most accuracy, I would recommend curves. However, this technique is quick and sufficient for most imagery and work!

Robert K Baggs's picture

Robert K Baggs is a professional portrait and commercial photographer, educator, and consultant from England. Robert has a First-Class degree in Philosophy and a Master's by Research. In 2015 Robert's work on plagiarism in photography was published as part of several universities' photography degree syllabuses.

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