Basic Сolor Grading Tools in Adobe Photoshop

| Updated on March 21, 2024

Color correction means that you want to replace or change certain colors. Professional designers often have to adjust the color schemes of photos to make them look more in harmony with the brand book. Some shades of the color palette can be made brighter or vice versa to reduce contrast. Color correction is useful to you if you actively use photos in your UI/UX design and want to highlight elements with contrast.

According to this company which specializes in UI/UX design, the easiest option, if you do not want to bother, is to make an automatic correction. To do this, use the tools for auto tone, auto contrast, or automatic color correction (auto tone/contrast/color). Then the program itself will do everything for you, and you just have to choose the desired mode.

Tools for Working with a Color Palette

To get started, go to the “Adjustments” menu, located in the “Image” panel. You can also use quick access from the layers panel by right-clicking on the desired image.

When choosing tools from the quick access panel, an adjustment layer will be created. It can be edited or deleted at any time. Selecting tools from the menu makes all changes irreversible. If you want to experiment, choose tools from the layer panel. Create a copy layer and carry out all the necessary manipulations with the image.

Brightness and Contrast

Change the necessary parameters Brightness / Contrast using the sliders. You can also check the box “Use Legacy”, which will remove the settings you made. So it will be possible to compare the result before and after the manipulations. Use Adobe’s guidelines for more information.

Levels

Using the Levels tool, you can fine-tune and sharpen image settings. The sliders are located on the panel, the smooth movement of which allows you to adjust the light, dark, mid-tones, and light level. The company provides several off-the-shelf customization options.

Change has two modes, manual and automatic.

Сurves

Using this tool allows you to set multiple correction points. When the interface is opened, the control panel will have two axes with a passing diagonal line. To adjust the color, start moving it diagonally or vertically.

The input parameters will be displayed on the horizontal axis, and the result will be displayed on the vertical axis.

You can change color using levels and curves using the eyedropper. The creators have provided three types of corrective pipettes. These tools are suitable if you need to neutralize the colors in a histogram. To select, select the desired dropper. A black, white, or gray dot will appear on the screen. After that, the correction will happen automatically.

Exposure and Vibration

Using Exposure and Vibrance, you can manipulate the dark, light, and medium tones of the picture. Vibration is used to adjust the color saturation. With it, you can edit the skin color of people or restore faded tones in the image.

Hue, Saturation and Color Balance

Hue, brightness, and saturation are adjusted using the Hue/Saturation tool. As with the levels with curves, 3 pipette options are available. They will appear when you select certain channels.

With their help, you can determine the base color, add or exclude a hue to the desired range. The color balance tool (“Color balance”) is used for blending. Thanks to him, you can apply shade to the shadow, medium tone, and light.

Black and White

With the help of “Black & White” you can make an image in the noir style (black and white) or fine-tune individual colors. It is possible to work with the RGB system (Red, Green, Blue), RYG (Red, Yellow, Green), etc.

Conclusion

In today’s article, we looked at color correction methods in Adobe Photoshop. Their use will allow you to carry out the necessary manipulations with photos. Correctly configured images will be remembered by users and improve their UX.


Himanshu Kumar

Tech and Software Writer


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