🎨Intro to Photoshop and Illustrator Unit 4 – Color Correction & Adjustment Layers

What's the Deal with Color Correction?

• Color correction involves adjusting the colors, tones, and overall appearance of an image to achieve a desired look or to fix issues
• Helps to compensate for lighting conditions, camera settings, or other factors that may have affected the original colors captured
• Enhances the visual impact and emotional resonance of an image by manipulating the color palette
• Ensures consistency across a series of images or frames in a video sequence
• Allows for creative color grading to establish a specific mood, atmosphere, or stylistic effect
• Corrects common issues such as color casts, over or underexposure, and incorrect white balance
• Prepares images for various output formats (print, web, video) by optimizing the color space and profile

Getting Started with Adjustment Layers

• Adjustment layers are non-destructive layers that allow you to apply color corrections and adjustments without permanently altering the original image
• Create an adjustment layer by clicking on the "Create new fill or adjustment layer" icon in the Layers panel or by selecting "Layer" > "New Adjustment Layer"
• Each adjustment layer affects all the layers below it in the layer stack, unless a layer mask is applied to limit its effect
• Multiple adjustment layers can be stacked and blended together to create complex color corrections
• Adjustment layers can be easily modified, disabled, or deleted without affecting the original image pixels
• Common adjustment layers include Levels, Curves, Hue/Saturation, Color Balance, and Vibrance
• Layer masks can be added to adjustment layers to selectively apply the adjustments to specific areas of the image

Essential Color Correction Tools

• Levels adjustment allows you to control the black point, white point, and midtones of an image by adjusting the input and output levels
  • Use the black and white sliders to set the darkest and lightest points of the image
  • Adjust the middle slider to control the overall brightness and contrast of the midtones
• Curves adjustment provides precise control over the tonal range and contrast of an image
  • Create control points on the curve to adjust specific tonal ranges (shadows, midtones, highlights)
  • Steepen the curve to increase contrast or flatten it to decrease contrast
• White Balance tool helps to correct color casts caused by incorrect camera settings or mixed lighting conditions
  • Use the eyedropper to select a neutral gray or white point in the image as a reference
• Vibrance and Saturation adjustments control the intensity and vividness of colors
  • Vibrance affects the less saturated colors more than the already saturated ones, preserving skin tones
  • Saturation uniformly adjusts the intensity of all colors in the image

Mastering Curves and Levels

• Curves and Levels are two of the most powerful and versatile color correction tools in Photoshop and Illustrator
• In the Levels adjustment, the histogram represents the tonal distribution of the image
  • Shadows on the left, midtones in the center, and highlights on the right
  • Adjust the black and white point sliders to set the darkest and lightest points, effectively increasing contrast
• The Curves adjustment allows for more precise control over specific tonal ranges
  • Create control points on the curve and drag them to adjust the corresponding tonal range
  • Steepen the curve in the shadows to increase contrast and deepen blacks
  • Flatten the curve in the highlights to recover detail and reduce harshness
• Use the individual color channels (RGB) in Curves to target specific color ranges and correct color casts
• Combine Curves and Levels adjustments to achieve optimal tonal balance and contrast

Color Balance and Hue/Saturation Tricks

• Color Balance adjustment allows you to shift the overall color balance of an image towards a specific color range (shadows, midtones, highlights)
  • Useful for correcting color casts or creating stylistic color effects
  • Adjust the sliders towards the complementary color to neutralize a color cast
• Hue/Saturation adjustment provides control over the hue, saturation, and lightness of specific color ranges
  • Select a color range from the dropdown menu to target specific colors (reds, greens, blues, etc.)
  • Adjust the Hue slider to change the actual color, Saturation to control the intensity, and Lightness to modify the brightness
• Use the "Colorize" option in Hue/Saturation to apply a single hue to the entire image, creating a monochromatic or tinted effect
• Combine Color Balance and Hue/Saturation adjustments to fine-tune the overall color harmony and create specific color schemes

Non-Destructive Editing Techniques

• Non-destructive editing allows you to make adjustments and corrections without permanently altering the original image pixels
• Adjustment layers are a key component of non-destructive editing in Photoshop and Illustrator
  • Apply color corrections, filters, and other adjustments as separate layers above the original image
  • Easily modify, disable, or delete adjustment layers without affecting the underlying image
• Use layer masks to selectively apply adjustments to specific areas of the image
  • Paint with black on the layer mask to hide the adjustment, and paint with white to reveal it
  • Use shades of gray to partially apply the adjustment with varying opacity
• Smart Objects allow you to apply non-destructive transformations, filters, and adjustments
  • Convert layers to Smart Objects before applying transformations or filters
  • Double-click the Smart Object thumbnail to edit the original content and propagate the changes

Advanced Color Grading Methods

• Color grading involves stylistically enhancing the colors and tones of an image to create a specific visual mood or aesthetic
• Use Look-Up Tables (LUTs) to apply pre-defined color grading presets to an image
  • LUTs are essentially color mapping files that remap the color values of an image
  • Apply LUTs as adjustment layers for non-destructive color grading
• Split toning involves applying different color tints to the shadows and highlights of an image
  • Create a Color Balance adjustment layer and set the shadows and highlights to complementary colors
  • Adjust the blending mode and opacity of the adjustment layer to control the intensity of the effect
• Gradient maps can be used to remap the tonal range of an image to a custom color gradient
  • Create a new Gradient Map adjustment layer and define the desired color gradient
  • Experiment with different blending modes and opacities to achieve creative color grading effects

Practical Applications and Workflows

• Develop a consistent color correction workflow to efficiently process images
  • Start with global adjustments (Levels, Curves) to set the overall tonal range and contrast
  • Address color casts and white balance issues using the White Balance tool or Color Balance adjustment
  • Fine-tune specific color ranges using Hue/Saturation or Selective Color adjustments
  • Apply creative color grading techniques (LUTs, split toning, gradient maps) for stylistic enhancements
• Use adjustment layers and layer masks to selectively apply corrections to specific areas of the image
  • Paint on the layer mask to reveal or hide the adjustment in different regions
• Save custom adjustment layer presets to quickly apply frequently used corrections
• Utilize non-destructive editing techniques to maintain flexibility and the ability to refine adjustments later
• Proof colors and calibrate your monitor to ensure accurate color representation across different devices and output formats