Changing Colors in Adobe Elements

For those of you not familiar with it, Adobe Elements is a very affordable (approx. $100) and relatively user friendly photo editing software that can do some amazing things! It includes standard photo correction and editing features along with templates for scrapbook pages, photo books, and slide-shows. I could probably write a whole review about the benefits of this software but I only have 45 minutes until Brandon wakes up from his nap so I best get to the point.

One of the most beneficial features of Adobe Elements is that you can use it to re-color PNG images! This is especially beneficial if you are trying to match one element to another and/or coordinate your color pallet.

For the tutorial below, I'm working in Elements 6 but the steps should be pretty similar no matter which version you're using.

1. Open Elements and select Edit or go directly to the Editing screen.

2. Click File and then Open and select the PNG image you'd like to edit. I'll be using one of the birds in the Tweet Tweet - Ultra Brights set.

3. Use the paint bucket to fill in the color areas you want to change. Be careful and use the undo button if you accidentally fill the same color in two areas that are next to one another. Once you do that they will merge into one area. Use the color pallet box (second circle) to select the fill color.

 

 4. When you are finished editing, click File and Save As. Make sure PNG is selected as the file type and rename the file so that it does not overwrite the old one. When you are finished, simply use the new file the same way you would have used the old one.   :)

Some image files may not work (like if there's a lot of shading or drop shadows) but for the most part this should give you good results.