How can I use Photoshop's 'Replace Color' function with the color white

Question

I really like the "Replace Color" function in Photoshop, but the one thing that I can't figure out is how I can use it to take a white area and replace with another color. When I move the hue, etc, all it does is show different shades of white.

How can I use Photoshop's color replace tool to replace white with any other darker color (like red or blue)?

Answer 1

I don't believe the Color Replacement Tools is suited to this.

I suggest you try this: use the Eliminate White filter to make white areas transparent, on a copy of the layer (Ctrl+J). (You may find that applying Layer > Matting > Remove White Matte after this is beneficial). Then, you can paint or fill in what you want on a new layer behind this one. If you used Remove White Matte a solid white fill on the back layer should give you the original layer appearance.

Answer 2

It very nicely doesn't change the levels or brightness, until you change it. That way, you can adjust the hue only. Lower the lightness first. And raise saturation too if need be.

Fail, that doesn't work. Which left me to do it differently: | Select | Color range | instead, with a bit of feather for blending. Then do the change with the |Image | Adjustments | Hue & Saturation | where there is a colorise button.