Doing a bad job of colourizing an old family photo in photoshop cs. .. Thought it best to ask for help before l go any further. How does one go about adding skin tone? Thought l would start of with some colour and then use the smudge, dodge, sponge, etc tools to add personal effect. ..Have been shifting selections onto their own layer. Now the file is enormous and the computer is temporarily fainting when l try to open the image. ... Any suggestions would be helpful. Thank you. ... Tell.

undefinedThis is my terrible attempt at colourizing the black and white photo. As well as skin tone, any advice on bringing back a natural hair-line after the selection would be helpful. Thank you all.
.. Tell.

Don't be so hard on yourself. It's not that bad! Here are links to three tutorials on this site that might help, if you have any questions about your technique. Two are on layer masking, and the other is on colorizing.
http://retouchpro.com/tutorials/?m=show&id=63
http://retouchpro.com/tutorials/?m=show&id=32
http://retouchpro.com/tutorials/?m=show&id=27
Attached is a file for Bruce's skintones, if you want to download it. It comes in handy.

O.K. I can't attach the file because I already did that in another thread. Here's (http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7896) the link. Check the fourth or fifth post down in the thread.

Ed

Thanks Ed, I'd check out the tutorials you have suggested and save a copy of the colour chart.

You might consider applying a light sepia tone to the image before you start coloring. It gives you a head start on the skin tones, and eliminates all the ghostly grays.
There are many methods to coloring, some good, some just OK. I've played around with a few different methods, and for me, this one produces the most realistic results (if that's what you're going for).
http://www.worth1000.com/tutorial.asp?sid=161015

Excellent advice from Vikki. Using a sepia print is something that came from the traditional darkroom prior to hand coloring, and it still applies to digital methods. Just in case you don't know who Vikki is, she is one of the finest (maybe *the* finest on the site) for colorizing.

Ed

Thanks Ed. If Vikki knows more about colour than you do, then she must really know where to start.... Thank you Vikki. I have just read the tute. Im sure it will help put some colour back into those cheeks. But what a strange moniker, Cardinal Cyn... Changing to sepia will help too... I shall look out for your other colourizing tips.... Thank you all again.. Tell.

You might consider applying a light sepia tone to the image before you start coloring. It gives you a head start on the skin tones, and eliminates all the ghostly grays.
Thank you Vikki, this has the mark of the GREAT tips, so easy and so obvious AFTER smebody told you.
This way you start out with 90% fo the problem already solved!

Rô