Until now, you have probably known the Channel Mixer as a fine tool for black-and-white images. Well, it is perfectly suitable for other purposes, for example for swapping two colors. The last time when we did something like that (using Replace Color), a couple of red tomatoes became blue. To show that we’re full of great ideas, this time it will be the other way around.
Open the photo in Photoshop
Enjoying the drag but bored of the color? Get over with it! Change the blue colors of the picture to red, and the reds to… mmm… blue!
Red channel
Click Image/Adjustments/Channel Mixer. As you want to swap blues for reds, choose Red and Blue from the Output Channel dropdown. Start with Red.
Drag the Red slider under Source Channel to 0%, and increase Blue to +100%.
Blue channel
Select the Blue channel afterwards, and repeat the previous step the way around: Increase Red to 100% and decrease Blue to 0%.
Leave all the other settings unchanged. No fiddling about!
A spraying for free
Well, your dreams have just come true! You have given a new look to your favorite bike, at absolutely no cost! Of course, it’s all virtual.
The color swap often affects other, mixed colors. This time, the character of the greens has changed. With a bit of fantasy, you can restore the original colors of the foliage using the History Brush (press Y to select).
