Blog / Photoshop Tutorials

How to Color Black Brushes and Stamps in Photoshop, Part 1

How to Color Black Brushes and Stamps in Photoshop, Part 2 February 21, 2020
Cardboard-Castle-by-Karen-Schulz
Full of Surprises February 21, 2020
How-to-color-black-stamps-tutorial-01
By February 21, 2020 12 Comments

“A digital stamp in crafting, stamping, card making, and scrapbooking is a digital image” which can be manipulated in Photoshop. (-Wikipedia).  Digital stamps typically come in .abr (brush) and PNG formats; and are usually black in color.

An often-asked question is how to change the color of a black stamp to a different color. Here are 2 easy ways to add a solid color to a digital stamp.

Photoshop:

Option 1:

  • In the Layers Panel, place your stamp on a blank layer above your background. I am using ks-cu-flower-brushes01-4
  • In the Layers Panel, on the stamp layer, double-click to the right of the layer name to open the Layer Style Options box.
  • Tick the box in front of Color Overlay to make that option active. (If you don’t see the Color Overlay option, click on the FX at the bottom left of the panel, then click on Color Overlay).
  • Double-click on the Color Overlay title in the Layer Style box on the left; this will open the Color Overlay Options box on the right.
  • Click in the  Color Box to open the Color Picker. Select your desired color, then click OK.
  • Click OK again, to close the Layer Styles Options box.
  • Using this method, you can reopen the Color Overlay Option at any time to change the color, if you wish.

Option 2:

  • In the Layers Panel, place your stamp on a blank layer above your background.
  • With the Menu Bar: Edit > Fill to open the Fill dialogue box.
  • In the dialogue box that opens, click on the down-pointing arrow to the right of Contents to access the options. Choose Color.
  • In the Color Picker, choose the color you want. Click OK.
  • Click OK. The stamp will be filled with the new color you have chosen.
  • Using this method, you will need to repeat these steps if you want to change the color.

Photoshop Elements:

Option #1 is not available for Photoshop Elements Users, but Option 2 is, and it works exactly the same as in Photoshop.

In future posts, I will show you some basic multi-coloring techniques.

Comments (12)

  1. Elizabeth Ames

    Oh, this is going to be so much fun!! Almost as much as building a castle!

    February 22, 2020 at 9:30 am
  2. DeLoris Musick

    Thank you! I learned something new today!

    February 22, 2020 at 12:56 pm
  3. Theresa

    Omg… great tut… can I download?

    February 25, 2020 at 9:22 am
  4. sherry pennington

    Awesome !!! Is there a PDF file to download ????

    March 1, 2020 at 5:43 am
    • Karen

      There will be soon, Sherry!

      March 3, 2020 at 12:03 pm
      • Anita

        Thank you so much for including the PDF instructions for all of these!
        🙂
        Anita

        March 7, 2020 at 9:40 am
      • sherry pennington

        Got it !!! Thanks 🙂

        March 8, 2020 at 10:42 am
  5. How to Use Bokeh Brushes and Overlays | Karen Schulz

    […] to Color Black Brushes and Stamps in Photoshop, Part 1, Part 2, Part […]

    February 4, 2021 at 11:56 pm
  6. How to Color Black Brushes and Stamps in Photoshop, Part 2 - Karen Schulz

    […] An often-asked question is how to change the color of a black stamp to a color of choice.  I covered a basic technique in How to Color Black Brushes and Stamps in Photoshop, Part 1. […]

    March 17, 2022 at 9:20 am
Leave your thought here