Technique 30. Making Colors Pop With Apply Image

Technique #30. Making Colors Pop With Apply Image

In another case of passing knowledge on from the ultimate expert, here's another technique that is adapted from Dan Margulis and his Photoshop LAB Color book. This time, we'll use the Apply Image command in Lab Color mode.

key concepts:

blend modes

Here's the original photo.

Step One.	From the Image menu, choose Mode>Lab Color to change your image from RGB mode to Lab Color mode.
Step Two.	From the Image menu, choose Apply Image. In this dialog, you can try any number of settings, but you'll most likely be choosing between Overlay and Soft Light blend modes, and choosing between using the Lab, "a," or "b" channels (unless you're going for the "bizzaro" look, your choice will hardly ever be the Lightness channel). Channel:Lab;Blending:Overlay Here I've created examples of each combination with the same image so you can compare (of course, with each photo the resultsand therefore the choices you makewill vary). Channel:a;Blending:Overlay In general, Soft Light will have a more subtle effect than Overlay. On the other hand, if Overlay is too much and Soft Light is not enough, try using Overlay and lowering the Opacity slightly to lessen the effect. Channel:b;Blending:Overlay Channel:Lab;Blending:Soft Light Another option would be to change to Lab Color mode and then duplicate the Background layer before using Apply Imagethat way you can reduce the Opacity of the duplicated layer to let the original image show through. Channel:a;Blending:Soft Light Channel:b;Blending:Soft Light Here's another example that shows the before and after using Lab Color mode and Apply Image. Before After Note You may find yourself using this technique on a pretty regular basis, which suggests that you may want to record an action that automates these steps. See Step Five in the previous technique for the procedure for recording this as an actionjust replace the steps in that technique with the steps in this one.