Target Specific Colors with Hue/Saturation – Classic Day 7

Target Specific Colors with Hue/Saturation and Color Balance

Hue/Saturation is one of the most powerful adjustment layers in Photoshop. It can shift one color in a photo to any other color, colorize a neutral area from scratch, and, paired with Color Balance, tone the shadows, midtones and highlights of the whole image. In this lesson we recolor a background to match a subject’s clothing, colorize a plain wall, and finish with a subtle split-tone.

A Quick Tour of Hue/Saturation

1. Add the Adjustment Layer

   Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Hue/Saturation and click OK.

2. The Three Sliders

   Hue rotates colors around the color wheel. Saturation runs from black and white to intensely colored. Lightness brightens or darkens. In the default Master mode, all three affect every color in the image at once.

3. Colorize

   The Colorize checkbox at the bottom paints the entire image one hue. We will use it later for the wall. Click the Reset icon to return to defaults.

Target One Color Range

4. Choose the Closest Channel

   Open the dropdown that reads Master and choose the color nearest the one you want to change, for example Reds for an orange background. Dragging Hue now affects only that range, but it probably still catches skin, clothing and more.

5. Sample with the Eyedropper

   Click the eyedropper in the panel, then click the exact color in the photo. The range markers at the bottom of the panel jump to that color. Click a few spots to see them move.

6. Narrow the Range

   The gray bar between the markers shows which colors will change; the outer fade zones soften the transition. Drag the inner and outer markers closer together to affect fewer colors, then slide the whole range left or right until toggling the layer shows only the background changing.

7. Mask Off Skin

   Click the layer mask, press B, and paint with black over the subject’s skin and anything else that should keep its original color.

8. Set the Hue

   Now drag Hue until the background matches the clothing. If the panel looks reset when you click back on the layer, just reselect Reds from the dropdown; the settings are stored per channel.

Colorize a Neutral Area

A white or gray wall has no color to shift, so Hue alone does nothing. Colorize adds color where there was none.

9. Add a Second Hue/Saturation Layer and Check Colorize

   Everything turns one color. Because Colorize has no color-range control, the mask does all the targeting.

10. Invert the Mask and Paint the Wall

    Press Ctrl/Cmd + I to hide the effect everywhere, then paint white over the wall and baseboard with the Brush Tool.

11. Match the Color

    Drag Hue until it is close to the target, then adjust Saturation and Lightness until the wall matches. Click a value and use the up and down arrow keys for fine steps.

12. Clean Up

    If a corner crease or seam distracts, add a new layer above and paint over it with the Spot Healing Brush.

Tone the Image with Color Balance

Once the individual colors are right, Color Balance adds an overall mood by pushing color into the shadows, midtones and highlights separately.

13. Add a Color Balance Layer

    Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Color Balance. Each slider is a pair of opposites: Cyan/Red, Magenta/Green, Yellow/Blue.

14. Cool the Midtones

    Shadows can get too dark when you tone them heavily, so try the Midtones first. Push a little toward Cyan and Blue.

15. Warm the Highlights

    Switch to Highlights and push toward Red and Yellow. Cool shadows against warm highlights gives the image punch.

16. Lower the Opacity

    Toning is easy to overdo. Drop the layer to around 60% opacity so it reads as a mood rather than a filter.

Which Tool for Which Job

To change an existing color, use Hue/Saturation with a targeted range. To give color to something neutral, use Colorize with a mask. To tone the whole image at the end, use Color Balance. The same three tools recolor a car, match a wardrobe to a set, or build a cohesive palette for a whole shoot. Tomorrow’s lesson covers the Brush Tool, which you have already been using on every mask.

Related Tutorials

• Vibrance vs Saturation: 1 Simple Difference
• Hue/Saturation in Photoshop: 5 Easy New Tricks
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