I have been getting a lot of requests to explain how you guys can change the colors of your bike in
Photoshop AND have it look good. Since it seems like there is a lot of interest in this, I am going to try to explain the basics here. It's really pretty simple once you see how it's done. Throughout this process, we will take a liquid silver R6 and turn it into a Shane McCoy inspired So Fast and So Clean showbike
For starters, I chose the liquid silver bike very deliberately. It has a good variation of tones which will work great for adding color. If you choose a colored bike, de-saturate image first and then you can begin changing the color. Try to avoid dark colors or back as they will be the toughest to work with.
So, the first thing I did was cleaned up the bike a little bit with the rubber stamp tool. Basically, just got rid of the FE kit and the graphics so we would have a clean slate to work with. If you don't know how to use the rubber stamp tool, google it or don't worry about this step.
In a new layer, add the color. In this case, I've added gold to several parts and then blue and red for the paint. Everything is in a separate layer above the original image of the bike.
Now for the magic... It's actually pretty simple... In the layers palette, change the blending option to multiply and/or overlay to achieve the best results. This will give it the painted on effect your looking for. You can also play with opacity. If the color doesn't look quite how you want it, try adjusting the hue (Image>Adjust>Hue/Saturation).
And, here is the finished product:
Click the link below to play with the file I used to create this. Have fun!
Download PSD File Here
Linear Mode
