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Photography
5 steps to changing the color of an image in Photoshop.
Adjust the color palette of your photos to capture the feel you want.
Why change the colors in your photos?
Sometimes an otherwise perfect image is spoiled by colors that are distracting, dull, or just not what you originally saw through the viewfinder. You can change the color palette of your photo to capture exactly the feel you want by adjusting the hue and saturation levels in Adobe Photoshop. Just follow these five easy steps to get started.
Different colors tell different stories.
Colors play a critical part in photographic storytelling. Colder blues can give an image a somber tone, while warm yellows can conjure up the feel of a sunny beach day. Even with a perfect image of your subject or scene, photographers can be limited by the colors in an image. For example, distracting colors in the scene or dull-looking colors on an overcast day may completely change the feel of an otherwise great shot.
Fortunately, you can use a photo editor to recapture the vibrance you originally saw through your viewfinder, or just to make your images more fun and exciting. Selectively adjusting the color properties in an image to achieve a desired look is sometimes called color grading. It’s easy to select, change, and replace colors in Photoshop with a few simple adjustments to the hue and saturation settings.
Understanding hue and saturation.
Photographers and artists talk about colors in terms of hue and saturation. Both can change the color in an image — and how that image makes the viewer feel. Hue is the general color of an object — for example, the blue water you photographed while at the beach may actually look greener in your photo. Saturation, on the other hand, describes the depth of the colors that are present. A dull color on an overcast day, like an afternoon sky that looks more gray than blue, is an example of low saturation.
How to change the color of an image in Photoshop.
A quick way to selectively adjust the color properties in an image is with the Hue/Saturation adjustment layer. This layer allows you to change specific colors within your picture in Adobe Photoshop. (You may also need to use additional layer masks if you want to restrict the color changes to just certain parts of the image.) Simply follow the five steps below to get started:
1. Create a layer mask.
Navigate to the Select drop-down menu and click on Color Range in the menu options.
2. Sample your target color.
While in the Color Range window, select the middle eyedropper tool on the right-hand side of the screen. (This eyedropper will have a + sign next to it.) Use the eyedropper to sample your target color by clicking on the colors you want to modify. Click on different shades of the color to increase the range of your selection.
3. Refine your selection.
Adjust the Fuzziness slider as needed to further refine your selection. When you have an accurate color selection, click OK to close the menu. Now open the Layer menu and select New Adjustment Layer and then the Hue/Saturation option.
4. Save your layer.
Leave the Use Previous Layer to Create Clipping Mask option unchecked and click the OK button. This will save a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer with your newly created mask.
5. Change your colors.
Now, select your masked Hue/Saturation layer. From the Properties menu, choose the color you want to edit from the second drop-down menu (such as Blues, Reds, or Cyans). Adjust the Hue and Saturation sliders to achieve your desired look. Because most photographic images contain a rich spectrum of colors, you may need to adjust more than one set of colors. (For example, if you adjust Blues first, you may also need to adjust Cyans to capture the lighter parts of the sky.)
Once you’ve achieved the color look you want by adjusting Hue and Saturation, you can save the image in your desired file format to share the new image. Or continue to refine your image by enhancing or retouching it before you put it on display.
Go deeper with color.
Photographers and artists talk about colors in terms of hue and saturation, and both can change the color in an image — and how that image can make the viewer feel. By definition, hue is the general color of an object — for example, the blue water you photographed while at the beach may actually look greener in your photo. Saturation, on the other hand, describes the depth of colors. A dull color on an overcast day, like an afternoon sky that looks more gray than blue, is an example of low saturation.
With Photoshop tools there are so many ways to adjust, remix, and retouch your images. Take a moment to learn how easy it really is — and just keep exploring.
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