Change color of image to specific color

Question

I have a background that looks like this:

I want to change the color of the image to be as close to #66a6ff as possible.

I've tried setting image's blend mode to Overlay and setting the opacity to 70% with the color layer below, but it comes out looking like this:

Which looks nothing similar to the color I need (#66a6ff).

Answer 1

Try this, it will get you where you want to go quicker and with no editing artifacts:

1. Add a new blank layer on top of the image
2. Click on the foreground color icon and enter the color you want in the Hex color box
3. Fill the new layer with this color (or any other color yo want), this will cover your image entirely
4. Change the blend mode to "Color"

And you will see the result you want. See the screen capture I added below.

UPDATE:

If the selected color does not do the job or you change your mind, you can easily fill the layer with another color with no penalty or editing artifacts. And, if you do not want that color change any more you can simply delete the layer or turn its visibility off.

Answer 2

Try and use Color Replacement for this. You can do this destructively with Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation and shifting the Hue slider, or conservatively with a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer. To make such a layer, click the Create new fill or adjustment layer icon in the layers palette and choosing Hue/Saturation.

Answer 3

Pretty close to what @Vincent said, but with a key addition.

Add a Hue & Saturation adjustment layer over the original, then make sure colorize is selected. You can see the settings I did to get it here, or you can tweak it some more. Cheers!