Dye is permanent, but virtual paint is not. So, whether you plan to actually alter the color of your locks or just want to change up your hair in a particular photo, try out the look with pixel paint instead of heading to the salon.
Whether you want an edgy brightly-colored style, a laid-back pastel look, or a subtle balayage, you can achieve the effect using layers.
When we say layer, we’re not talking about literal layers of hair; we’re referring to placing one photo on top of another. Essentially, this involves making a cut-out of your hair, which you will then layer back into the original photo. Doing this is easier than trying to draw streaks into your hair manually, and it also allows you to quickly change the hue and opacity of the look. In other words, it’s like using the world’s least permanent dye. What’s more, using layers inherently gives you a — you guessed it — layered effect, meaning that the texture of the finished look looks like natural hair and not the hard-edges of a virtual paintbrush.
This process of applying virtual hair color might be difficult to visualize, so let’s learn by doing. We recommend starting with a photo in which your hair is prime for editing: neat, not in motion, and easy to trace.
- Open the Picsart mobile app and click on the purple plus sign at the bottom of the screen to start your hair editing project. Your photo library will appear. Select the image with which you wish to work.
2. Scroll to the right on the menu at the bottom of the screen until you find the “Cutout” option. Click on the icon to begin making a selection of your hair.
3. Use the cut-out tool to trace or fill in the surface of your hair. If you want to change the size of your tracing tip, click on the little white arrow in the corner of the “Outline” icon to bring up the sizing slider. A quick tip: be only as much of a perfectionist as you want. If you can’t get every little stray hair into the selection, the overall result will still be convincing.
4. When you’ve finished making your selection, click the arrow in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. The cut-out will look something like the image below. Tap “Next” in the upper right-hand corner.
5. Save your photo to your phone. Now, it’s time to have some fun.
6. Repeat step 1 to open the original photo from which you just extracted the cut-out of your hair. Then, scroll right on the menu at the bottom of the screen to select “Add Photo.” Add in the cut-out photo of your hair.
7. Since the hair cut-out is already on a transparent background, you’ll only have to resize and reposition the cut-out to get it to align with the hair in the image below. Pull from all sides until the cut-out layer is roughly the same size as the hair under it and nudge the layer around until the layer and the hair of the background photo look imperceptibly intertwined. The result should be as convincing as that of the image below.
8. Now, let’s change the hair color. Scroll right on the menu at the bottom of the screen until you find the “Adjust” option.
9. Select “Hue” and use the slider to jump between fun tonalities. Don’t worry if things don’t look perfect or if the color isn’t exactly what you want. There are plenty of quick ways to modify the effect after you settle on a hue. When you’re ready, click “Apply” in the upper right-hand corner of the screen.
10. If you’re satisfied with your color but want a bit more intensity, select “Saturation” and use the slider to amplify the color. This is also an excellent time to do some resizing. Now that the hair layer is a different color, it’s easier to discern from the background, so stretch and nudge the layer until it’s fully covering the layer below.
11. Now, it’s time to correct some of the imperfections. The first step is to do some blending work. Locate the “Blend” tool in the menu at the bottom of the screen. Remember first to click “Apply” on any change you’ve made to get back to this main menu. Use settings like “Lighten” and “Screen” to blend the color into your natural hair tone, minimizing hard lines. Then, click “Apply” in the upper right-hand corner when you’re finished.
12. If you want to clean up the edges and ends of your hair, select the “Draw” tool from the menu at the bottom of the screen.
13. Select the color wheel from the menu now at the bottom of the screen and use the eye-dropper tool to select the exact hue of your new hair color by extracting it from the image. All you have to do is hold the dropper tool over the color you wish to replicate, and this will lock in the brush color. To get the hue changer to disappear, click the small checkmark in the corner.
- Now, select the “Brush” tool from the menu. Drop the opacity down and make the size of the brush tip small enough that you can easily draw the color over the hard-to-reach strands of hair you’re trying to correct. Move your finger across the surface of the screen to draw.
Pro tip: If you have the time and desire, you can add color to hair from scratch in this way. That is, you can draw color strand by strand. This is a great option if you want to use multiple colors.
15. As always, click “Apply” to save your changes, and when you’re satisfied, click “Next” at the top of the screen to see to exporting and sharing options.
16. On the final screen, choose whether to save your photo as a reference for your stylist or share it with the world, shocking your friends and family with your surprising new look. We’ll let you decide whether to tell them if the photo is virtually enhanced or not.
17. If you opt for a big reveal, share both the before and after images side by side.
Create at the Speed of Culture
Picsart is a full ecosystem of free-to-use content, powerful tools, and creator inspiration. With a billion downloads and more than 150 million monthly active creators, Picsart isn’t just the world’s largest creative platform; we’re also the fastest growing. Picsart has collaborated with major artists and brands like BLACKPINK, the Jonas Brothers, Lizzo, Sanrio: Hello Kitty, I am a Voter, Bebe Rexha, Maroon 5, One Direction, Warner Bros. Entertainment, iHeartMedia, Condé Nast, and more. Download the app or start editing on web today to enhance your photos and videos with thousands of quick and easy editing tools, trendy filters, fun stickers, and brilliant backgrounds. Unleash your creativity and upgrade to Gold for premium perks!
