Kuler Color Change

Kuler Color Change
by Jen White

Use Adobe Kuler color swatches to quickly change the colors of an element set to perfectly coordinate.

Note: This tutorial was written for Adobe Photoshop and Photoshop Elements.

I am using a button from Carefree by Amanda Heimann. Download the button to follow along.

In the Color Swatches panel (Window > Color Swatches), click on the flyout menu and choose Load Swatches. (PS: Choose Window > Swatches.)
Navigate to the swatches you downloaded and click Open.

The newly loaded swatches should appear at the bottom of the Color Swatches panel.

In the Layers panel, click on the Create New Fill or Adjustment Layer icon and choose Solid Color.
Move the Color Picker aside so you can clearly see the Color Swatches panel.
In the Color Swatches panel (PS: Swatches panel), click on one of the new color swatches.
Click OK to close the Color Picker.

This should have changed the color of the element but allowed all the shadows and highlights to show through.

Get the Brush tool.
In the Tool Options, open the Brush Picker and choose a hard round brush. Set the Size to 20 px and the Opacity to 100%. Set the Mode to Normal.
In the Layers panel, click on the layer mask icon of the Color Fill layer to activate it.
Press the letter D to reset the Color Chips to white over white.
Press the letter X to make black the Foreground Color Chip.
On the image, click and drag over areas where you do not want the color change to show. (For example, the thread.)

Some colors need a little extra tweaking to come out just right and some don’t. This adjustment will help you make the color lighter or darker.

In the Layers panel, click on the element layer to activate it.
Click on the Create New Fill or Adjustment Layer icon and choose Brightness/Contrast.
In the Brightness/Contrast panel (Properties panel), move the Brightness slider to left or right to achieve the look you are after.
Move the Contrast slider to the right to add contrast.
In the Layers panel, hold down the Alt key (Mac: Opt key) and click and drag the layer mask from the Color Fill layer to the Brightness/Contrast layer. If asked to Replace the Layer Mask, click Yes.