# Changing color of an object in an image

Consider the following image:

How can I change all red colors in this image into (for example) blue.

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Here's a version using Manipulate with a Locator to pick the colour to replace. There is also a tolerance control which determines how wide a range of hues to replace.

i=Import["http://i.stack.imgur.com/Qr7Tx.jpg"];

{h,s,b}=ColorSeparate[i,"HSB"];

colourchange[c_,from_,tol_,to_]:=Module[
{offset=Mod[c-from+0.5,1]-0.5},
If[Abs[offset]>tol,c,to]];

Manipulate[
ColorCombine[
{ImageApply[colourchange[#,ImageValue[h,pos],tol,ColorConvert[to,Hue][[1]]]&,h],s,b},
"HSB"],
{{to,Blue,"Change to"},Blue},
{{tol,-0.01,"Tolerance"},-0.01,0.5},
{{pos,{100,50}},Locator}]


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You could also add a polygon defined by other locators, to define the mask of impact... –  P. Fonseca Apr 27 '12 at 10:11
Or use another locator as a brush –  Simon Woods Apr 27 '12 at 10:48
...and I see a full image-processing graphical suit a la Photoshop implemented in Mathematica coming up soon... –  István Zachar Apr 27 '12 at 13:25
@Simon Woods: nice approach! I like that one but still: see the two people on the left hand side of the ball? The went blue too. How one avoid that? –  John Apr 27 '12 at 18:44

I wanted to change only the color of the ball, leaving all other red objects untouched:

getReds[x_Image] := First@ColorSeparate[x, "Hue"]
isolateSphere[x_Image] := SelectComponents[Binarize[getReds[x], .9], Large]
makeMask[x_Image] := Image@Graphics[ Disk @@ (1 /.
{PlotRange -> Thread[{1, #}], ImageSize -> #} &@ImageDimensions@x]
shiftColors[x_Image] := Image[ImageData[getAreaToChange[x]] /.
p: {r_, g_, b_} /; r > .3 :> RotateLeft[p, 1]]

{#, getReds@#, isolateSphere@#, makeMask@#, getAreaToChange@#, shiftColors@#, finishIt@#} &
@Import["http://i.stack.imgur.com/Qr7Tx.jpg"]


Comparing side to side:

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Nice. What should one change to change the from and to colors? Or it only works for red and blue? –  Rojo Apr 26 '12 at 18:30
+1 Nice. What would you have done if there were other instances of red in the picture that you did not want to alter? –  David Carraher Apr 26 '12 at 18:51
@Rojo In fact Red is the most difficult case, since it is at the beginning and at the end of the Hue[] table. Try Graphics[Raster[Table[{h, s, 1}, {s, 0, 1, .01}, {h, 0, 1, .01}], ColorFunction -> Hue]] –  belisarius Apr 26 '12 at 19:19
@DavidCarraher That happens usually in image processing. Things like "reddish" and "the big thingie in the middle" are not as easy to program as CylindricalDecomposition[] :) –  belisarius Apr 26 '12 at 21:28
Congrats on your (soon to be awarded) populist badge! :) –  The Toad Apr 30 '12 at 2:30

A one-liner:

i = Import["http://i.stack.imgur.com/Qr7Tx.jpg"];

Image[ImageData[i] /. {r_, g_, b_} /; r > g && r > b -> {b, g, r}]


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