photoshop

Step 1: Duplicate The Background Layer

As is often the case with many of our Photoshop tutorials (and also a good habit to get into), the first thing we want to do in creating this effect is duplicate our Background layer. Photoshop's Layers palette is currently showing us that we have only one layer, the "Background" layer, which contains our original image:

Photoshop Tutorials: The Layers palette showing the original image on the Background layer.

Let's duplicate the layer using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+J (Win) / Command+J (Mac). When I look in my Layers palette now, I can see that Photoshop has copied my Background layer and has named the copy "Layer 1". The copy is also above the original Background layer:

Step 2: Set The Color You Want To Colorize The Image With As Your Foreground Color

We're going to use a "Hue/Saturation" adjustment layer to colorize the image in a moment, but to make things easier, let's choose the color we're going to use first by setting it as our Foreground color. This way, we won't have to fumble around with any sliders in the Hue/Saturation dialog box trying to find the color we want. To do that, click on the Foreground color swatch in the Tools palette:

Photoshop Tutorials: Click on the Foreground color swatch near the bottom of the Tools palette.

When you click on it, Photoshop's Color Picker will appear. You're of course free to use whichever color you want for your effect. I've gone ahead and sampled a color directly from the movie poster, so if you want to use the same color I'll be using, look on the bottom right side of the Color Picker for the RGB options and enter 48 for the R value (which stands for Red), 94 for the G value (Green), and 116 for the B value (Blue):

Photoshop Tutorials: Use the Color Picker to choose the color you want to colorize the image with.

Click OK when you're done to exit out of the dialog box.

Step 3: Colorize The Image With A Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer

Now that we've selected the color we're going to use to colorize the image, this next step is going to be easy. Click on the New Adjustment Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers palette:

Photoshop Tutorials: Click on the "New Adjustment Layer" icon.

Then choose Hue/Saturation from the list that appears:

Photoshop Tutorials: Choose "Hue/Saturation" from the list.

This will bring up Photoshop's Hue/Saturation dialog box. Since we've already chosen the color we want to colorize the image with, all we need to do here is select the Colorize option in the bottom right corner of the dialog box:

Photoshop Tutorials: Check the "Colorize" option.

As soon as you check the option, Photoshop goes ahead and colorizes the image using our chosen Foreground color: