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To make a color splash photo, keep the subject’s color and turn the surrounding image black and white. The most direct mobile starting point is Snapseed’s Selective tool: place a control point, check its affected area, and adjust saturation. On a PC, use a desaturated adjustment layer with a mask in Photoshop to reveal color where you want it.
What a color splash edit does
A color splash—also called selective color or color pop—leaves one subject or region in color while making most of the rest of the image monochrome. The key is isolating the area to keep colored, then reducing saturation elsewhere or restoring color only inside the selection.
Make a color splash on iPhone or Android with Snapseed
Snapseed’s Selective tool supports local adjustments. Google’s Selective help page explains that control points can adjust saturation, brightness, and contrast in a specific area, with an overlay to preview the affected region.
- Open the photo in Snapseed and choose the Selective tool.
- Tap the subject or region that should retain color to add a control point.
- Pinch to resize the affected area. Use the red overlay preview to check which parts of the image the point covers.
- Open the control point’s adjustment options and raise saturation in the intended colored area.
- Add more control points where needed. To get the classic effect, reduce saturation in the surrounding image as well; a masking or brush workflow can provide more direct control where available.
- Zoom in around the subject’s outline and refine the affected area. Save or export a copy so the original remains available for comparison.
Google’s Snapseed App Store listing also describes masking, brush edits, and non-destructive editing. Labels and feature availability can differ between installed versions and platforms, so check the controls in your app. Google Research announced interactive on-device segmentation and an Object Brush in Snapseed for iOS on October 1, 2025; that announcement does not establish that every current iOS or Android version has identical controls: Google Research’s announcement.
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Refine a color splash on a PC with Photoshop
For more precise edge work on a larger screen, a practical Photoshop workflow is to make the image monochrome with an adjustment layer, then use its layer mask to reveal the original color over the subject. Paint on the mask and refine the edge at high zoom. Adobe documents selective color adjustments and color correction, while the mask workflow provides a way to control where the adjustment appears. See Adobe’s selective color adjustment guidance and Adobe’s color correction guidance.
Photoshop’s “Selective Color” adjustment is not the same thing as a color splash. It changes the mix of particular color ranges, such as cyan or green; a color splash instead isolates an object or region so it remains colored while the rest becomes monochrome.
Quick Recap
Which tool should you use?
| Tool | Best fit | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Snapseed | Starting on iPhone or Android | Google documents local saturation changes using control points and an affected-area preview. Labels and capabilities may vary by version and platform. |
| Photoshop desktop | Detailed selection and edge refinement on a PC | Adjustment layers and masks allow controlled edits, but the workflow takes more steps and has a steeper interface learning curve. |
| Selective Color Photo Effect | A focused selective-color option for iOS | The App Store listing describes selective-color editing and brush-oriented features. Check current compatibility, regional availability, and pricing in the listing. |
| Google Photos on a computer | Editing an existing library in a browser | Google documents its computer editor, but warns that some editing features may be available only in mobile apps. Its help page does not establish a complete color-splash workflow in the web editor: Google Photos computer editing help. |
Check the edges before exporting
- Confirm that the whole intended subject—not just its center—retains color.
- Inspect hair, narrow gaps, and the subject’s outline at high zoom for color spill or missed monochrome areas.
- Use the preview or mask to correct neighboring regions rather than applying a broad adjustment over the entire frame.
- Keep an unedited original or export a separate copy so you can compare and revise the effect.
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