Denise,


I think the best and easiest way to do what you describe is with layers.


1. create a duplicate layer of your image


2. change the duplicate layer to B&W and do whatever you want to it.....the original (background) image will be unchanged


3. on the duplicate image create a reveal all layer mask


4. using the paint brush set to black @ 100% opacity you can now "paint" the eyes back in.(actually you are just concealing part of the mask on the B&W duplicate and letting the eyes in the background image show through)


5. once you are done then flatten the image.


once you do this a few times you can fly through it in a minute or two without even thinking about it.


Joel