Sometimes you have a black-and-white image that you want to be colored. There are actually two types of images - vector and raster. The vector images are easier to fill with color. You just have to use the fill or flood tool of a Paint program. You select a color with a color picker tool, click on the fill tool button, and click in the middle of the area you want to fill. It gets filled instantly. At least, that is the theory. In case of raster graphics, there are no such well defined boundaries around areas you want to fill. You need a more powerful graphics program like Gimp. It puts a transparent later over the original, and you paint in it using a brush tool. It is easier with a specialized tool like 'Black Magic', which does the same thing, but without you having to actually insert a transparent layer.
A problem with the Paint programs is that if you open a black-and-white image, the software recognizes it as a black-and-white graphic, and replaces the colors you choose with shades of gray. Gimp and Photoshop do the same thing. You can actually see the color palette, select a color of your choice, and then you end up watching a shade of grey where you wanted color. The only way to beat the software is to open a new blank image, which is a color image by default. Then you paste your black-and-white image in it. Now the color palette is enabled and you can put whichever colors you want in it. This works with both the Paint programs and more advanced ones like Gimp and Photoshop.
(Note: this one is applicable for those who run Windows XP like me. It is OK on Windows Vista and higher. I am unwilling to upgrade because Windows XP is otherwise working fine for me, and I don't want to throw away good money.)
A problem with the Paint programs is that if you open a black-and-white image, the software recognizes it as a black-and-white graphic, and replaces the colors you choose with shades of gray. Gimp and Photoshop do the same thing. You can actually see the color palette, select a color of your choice, and then you end up watching a shade of grey where you wanted color. The only way to beat the software is to open a new blank image, which is a color image by default. Then you paste your black-and-white image in it. Now the color palette is enabled and you can put whichever colors you want in it. This works with both the Paint programs and more advanced ones like Gimp and Photoshop.
(Note: this one is applicable for those who run Windows XP like me. It is OK on Windows Vista and higher. I am unwilling to upgrade because Windows XP is otherwise working fine for me, and I don't want to throw away good money.)
