Changing a wood stain color

Hi,

I have a photo of a deck. What I am trying to do is change the deck stain color to see what the deck would look like with different stains.

Could somebody point me in the right direction on how to accomplish this? I am a novice to Photoshop, but understand the basics.

Thanks!

Chris.

Hi Chris,

I would start off by going to Image -> Adjustments -> Variations
Variations allows you to add color and lighten and darken the overall image. Make sure to note you can select how coarse of an adjustment you'd like.

You might also want to use Image -> Adjustments -> Levels to crisp up the detail in the wood. If you are unfamiliar with this, chose auto levels. If it looks awful, just undo.

Finally use Image -> Adjustments -> Color Balance to fine tune your image colors.

This attachment shows from left to right the original wood, and then each step I explain.

Good Luck!

Thanks! That worked great. I also eventually figured out how to select certain parts of the deck with the lasso tool as to not adjust the color in the surroundings.

I would make a Hue & Saturation adjustment layer and mask out the portions of the layer that don't cover the wood. Then click the Colorize checkbox and experiment. That way, you don't modify the original image in case you mess up and want to easily revert.