Before and After Step 2 Isolating your graphic from the background Open your layers control panel and right click on the background title bar. Choose Promote to layer. This will place your image on a transparent layer. If you prefer to work against a solid background, create a new layer now by clicking on the layers control panel new layer icon. Drag and drop the new layer under Layer 1.
Flood fill it with white or any other colour.
Decide which areas of your graphic you want to colorize together later. Here I will isolate the bird, the flowers, the leaves and the stems into four separate selections or groups. You only have to be careful at the points where you are cutting through the black of your graphic. This will isolate the area you selected perfectly. This makes identifying and working on the remaining areas much easier.