So, I was given a task at work that I can't get exactly as good as I want.

I have a picture of a half-painted Straddle Carrier that I was told to colorize, and I can't for the life of me match shades with that "Caterpillar yellow" that they use. The unpainted portions have a light grey base primer (or whatever it is), and when I try to color it in Photoshop, it comes out lighter. I've tried messing with different colors, and they come out worse than the shade I (eventually) chose as the closest). So it's colored. What is the quickest way to match the shades? And for future reference, could it have been done at once? I need to have this project done ASAP, probably by tomorrow, because we're shipping out training manuals, and this is the cover graphic.

(I should mention I was using the "color" mode with the paintbrush. I'm wanting to use "linear burn", but every time I unclick, and start using it again, it will re-darken whatever I touch. And a straddle carrier has *lots* of little things to darken.)

Eyedropper.

Also, try painting a light opacity black over the object to shade it.

[QUOTE=Dj Yoshi]Eyedropper.

Also, try painting a light opacity black over the object to shade it.[/QUOTE]
try using the clone tool to paint a big blob of the color in a blank part of the canvas. Then use it to clone the blob onto the rest of the thing

but put the new colour on a layer behind the original image. That way you don't have to be precise about sticking to the lines of the drawing.

Eyedropper doesn't really match shades when you use any of the transparent modes. And it has to be transparent, otherwise, I loose all the details when I paint over stuff.

The extra step I mentioned above will cause the colors to match almost perfectly, but it's going to make things take too long. Especially since the graphic is pretty huge. Begger than 1280x960, after I cropped it.

I guess I'll just wait and see.

Meh, turns out he didn't care about the precise shading.