What It Means to Recolor Digital Scrapbooking Elements

When you recolor digital scrapbooking elements, you change the color of a paper, stain, ribbon or embellishment so it echoes the colors already in your photo. The shape and texture stay the same, so only the color moves.

Before you pick a technique, look at the element and ask two questions. First, is it one color or several? Second, is it flat (a stain, a splatter, a brushed texture) or dimensional (a ribbon, a wood word, a flower with shading)? Those two answers point you to the right technique below. New to digital scrapbooking? Every technique here works on any layout, not just this one.

What You’ll Need Before You Start

Before you open the file, gather these:

• → Adobe Photoshop, Photoshop Elements (in Expert mode) or Affinity by Canva (the free app that replaced Affinity Photo, Designer and Publisher).
• → A layered template. Kathy used Template #9 from Scenic Template Album No. 6.
• → Papers and elements to recolor. Kathy used ArtPlay Palette Wildflower.
• → A photo with a clear color story. Lavender, sunset orange, ocean blue: anything you want the page to repeat.

Step 01

Build the Layout Foundation

Start with a template, a solid paper and your photo. A template works as a design guide, so you can spend your energy on color rather than placement.

In Photoshop

Prefer to skip the template? Clip your photo to the layers of a FotoBlendz Clipping Mask instead. They come in both .psd and layered .png format, with layers much like a template’s. If clipping is new to you, the clipping masks beginner’s guide walks through it slowly.

Step 02 · Technique 1

Recolor With Edit > Fill

This is the fastest way to change a single color element. It paints the new color straight onto the element’s pixels, so it is permanent. Duplicate the layer first (Ctrl + J or Cmd + J) and you can always go back to the original.

In Photoshop

The Fill dialog also has Mode (blending mode) and Opacity settings. Kathy filled a grey stain with purple at 75% opacity. These settings make a big difference when the original element is black, giving you deeper or softer tones of the same color.

Step 03 · Technique 2

Recolor With a Solid Color Fill Layer

This one gives you the same result as Edit > Fill, with one big difference: you can change your mind. The color sits on its own layer, clipped to the element, so you can swap it any time with a double-click.

In Photoshop

Want to save a step? Tick Use Previous Layer to Create Clipping Mask in the New Layer dialog and the fill layer arrives already clipped.

Next, lower the fill layer’s Opacity or Fill, or try a blending mode, so the texture of a dimensional embellishment shows through. On this layout, Kathy reduced the layer Fill to 68%, and she colored the wood “dreams” word art with a blending mode applied.

Recolor Several Layers at Once

Select the layers and go to Layer > Group Layers (Ctrl + G or Cmd + G). Then clip the Color Fill layer to the group folder and every layer inside changes together. In Elements, use Layer > New > Group from Layers instead, because Ctrl + G clips rather than groups there. If your version of Elements will not clip to a group, add one fill layer per element. In Affinity, use Layer > Group, then nest the fill layer inside the group.

Anna’s Personal Opinion: This is the technique I reach for most. I almost always tweak a color two or three times before a page feels finished, and a fill layer lets me do that without starting over. Yes, it adds layers. I can live with that.

Step 04 · Technique 3

Recolor With a Hue/Saturation Adjustment

What about an element with more than one color, like a red and white ribbon? A fill would flatten it. Hue/Saturation lets you target one color range and leave the rest alone. Kathy turned the red ribbon from ArtPlay Palette Wildflower lavender while its white stitching stayed white.

In Photoshop

Kathy’s Settings for Red to Lavender

Sometimes one color range is not enough. A blue element, for example, may need both Blues and Cyans adjusted before it looks right. Also, if you prefer a permanent change with no extra layer, Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation applies the same settings directly to the element.

Which Technique Should You Use?

All three techniques work in Photoshop, Photoshop Elements and Affinity. To choose between them, run through these questions:

• → Single or multi-colored? One color: Edit > Fill or a fill layer. Several colors: Hue/Saturation.
• → Flat or dimensional? Dimensional elements look best with a blending mode such as Color or Soft Light, so the shading shows through.
• → Do you want to edit it later? Fill layers and adjustment layers stay editable. Edit > Fill does not.
• → How many layers can you manage? Edit > Fill adds none. The editable techniques add one per element (or one per group).

The Finished Layout

Every purple on this page started life as another color. You can find a complete list of the aA supplies Kathy used in the Oscraps gallery.

Dreams | Kathy Sacry

Take It Further

Once you can recolor anything, your whole stash becomes more useful. That kit you skipped because it was “too orange” might be perfect after all. For more ideas, try recoloring with blending modes or selective coloring with adjustment layers.

Building your first page? Start with how to make a digital scrapbook page, then come back and play with color. Elements and Affinity users will also like realistic drop shadows, written for Photoshop, Elements and Affinity by Canva. Browse the aA gallery, find more tutorials, watch a video, or see the Useful Techniques video on the Resources page.

Got a question about recoloring? Email me at anna at annaaspnesdesigns.com or post in the comments below.