Sampling Options

Directly to the right of the blend mode option in the Options Bar is a row of three small icons. Each of these icons represents a different sampling option for the Color Replacement Tool, and they work exactly the same here as they do for Photoshop's Background Eraser. From left to right, we have Continuous (the default setting), Once and Background Swatch. Simply click on the icons to switch between them as needed:

These sampling options control how Photoshop samples colors in the image as you move the target symbol over them, or if it samples them at all. With Continuous selected, Photoshop continually looks for new colors to replace as you drag the Color Replacement Tool around. Any new color the target symbol passes over becomes the new color to replace. This is the setting you'll use most often and works best when there's a lot of variation in the color of the object.

With Once selected, Photoshop will only sample the color you initially click on regardless of how many other colors you drag over (as long as you keep your mouse button held down). This option works best if you're replacing a large area of solid color. You can also try the Once option if you find that Continuous is causing the Color Replacement Tool to bleed into other nearby areas and the Tolerance option doesn't seem to help.

Finally, you won't use it very often (if ever), but the Background Swatch setting will replace whatever color is currently set as your Background color. This option may prove useful if neither of the other two sampling options is working for you. Click on the Background color swatch in the Tools palette and select a color from the Color Picker that matches, as close as possible, the color in the image you want to replace. Try adjusting the Tolerance value if the color you chose wasn't quite close enough.

Limits

Another option that works exactly the same with the Color Replacement Tool as it does with the Background Eraser is Limits, which controls where Photoshop can look for colors to replace. The three choices are Contiguous, Discontiguous and Find Edges. Of the three, you'll really only ever use the first two:

The default setting for the Limits option is Contiguous, which means that the Color Replacement Tool can only change the color of pixels in the area the target symbol in the center of the cursor is touching. It won't affect pixels that match the sampled color but are separated from the target symbol by an area of a different color unless you physically move the target symbol into the new area. The opposite of this is Discontiguous, which allows the Color Replacement Tool to replace the color of any pixels that match the sampled color and fall within the boundaries of the cursor, whether those pixels are in the same area as the target symbol or not.

Anti-Alias

The final option for the Color Replacement Tool is Anti-alias, which is selected by default:

Keep this option selected to smooth out the edges around the areas the Color Replacement Tool is affecting.

And there we have it!

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