There are many approaches to recoloring elements, but here are a couple of simple ways for recoloring in Photoshop and Photoshop Elements.
Method 1: Using the Fill Shortcut (for solid colored elements):
Open the image.
Click the foreground color chip at the bottom of the tool palette to choose a new color. This brings up the color picker.Drag and click the cursor on a new color or drag the cursor outside the color picker window to click on a color on your layout.Or you can type in the color value numbers if you know them. Click OK.
Ctrl+Click (PC) or Cmd+Click (Mac) the thumbnail of the layer in the Layers Palette to make the element an active selection (marching ants around it).
Choose Edit > Fill > Foreground color. (In PSE this is Edit > Fill Selection > Foreground Color.) This fills your selection with the color you selected in step 2.
Type Ctrl+D (PC) or Cmd+D (Mac) to deselect.
Method 2: Using the Paint Bucket Tool (for solid colored elements):
(This method is handy for recoloring just a word or letter in a quote element)
Open the image.
Click the foreground color square at the bottom of your tool palette to choose a new color or get a color from your layout.
Choose the Paint Bucket tool.
In the Options Bar, click "Contiguous."
Click the part of your element you wish to recolor. This will only recolor any adjacent pixels of the same color.
Note: If you want to recolor all pixels on the layer, uncheck "Contiguous." Then click on the image.This will recolor all pixels of the same color on the layer whether or not they are touching.
Method 3: Using the Hue/Saturation Adjustment Method (for textured elements):
Open the image.
Click the foreground color chip at the bottom of the tool palette to choose a new color or get a color from your layout.
In Photoshop, go to Image>Adjustments>Hue/Saturation. (In PSE, choose Enhance > Adjust Color > Adjust Hue/Saturation.)
Put a check in the "Colorize" box in the Hue/Saturation dialog box.
Adjust the Saturation and Lightness sliders to achieve your desired color. (Warning: the Hue slider will select a new hue instead of matching the color you have selected.) The Lightness often needs to be increased (drag to the right.)
Method 4: Create a Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer (You create a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer so that you don't alter the original element.)
To do this, click on your element layer then, in the layers palette, choose the "Create a new fill or saturation layer" icon which looks like a black and white circle. (In PSE, this is called the "Create Adjustment Layer" icon.)
Select Hue/Saturation. At this point follow the same steps as above.
When you are finished, select the adjustment layer and go to Layer>Create Clipping Mask (Alt+Ctrl+G on PC, Opt+Cmd+G on a Mac). In Photoshop Elements, go to Layer > Group with Previous (Ctrl+G on PC, Cmd+G on a Mac.)
This will allow you to change the hue at any point, without altering your original or affecting any layers beneath your element layer.
Method 5: Fill the Layer with color
To re-color a .png file like word art, titles or simple images, select the .png layer.
Choose Edit > Fill Layer and then choose your color, selecting "preserve transparency"
Note: if the element you wish to recolor is available in abr format (a brush), the simplest way to get the preferred color is to load it as a brush, and set your foreground color before stamping/brushing the image on its own layer.