Chapter 11: Correcting Hue and Saturation

Overview

So this is the next-to-the-next-to-the- next -to-the last chapter of this book, in case you're counting, and its time to discuss Photoshop's color adjustment commands. These commands rescue overly dark shadows, tone down overly bright highlights, boost drab colors, modulate unrealistically vivid hues, and generally improve your photograph's appearance. Photoshop offers two basic varieties of color adjustments. The first, hue and saturation adjustments, change the actual colors in an image independently of brightness values. The second, luminosity adjustments, precisely control the brightness values in an image. Because these commands work on a channel-by-channel basis, they enable you to balance colors as well.

Although Photoshop devotes only a submenu, Image Adjustments, to its relatively small collection of color commands, this chapter does not attempt to discuss or even mention all of them. Some commands are for ease of use, and others meet the needs of color and prepress technicians. But the best commands simply get work done efficiently and accurately. It is this last group of efficient, accurate commands that this and the following chapter discuss. After introducing the larger topic of color adjustment, this chapter examines the hue and saturation commands, including Variations, Match Color, Hue/Saturation, and Channel Mixer. We'll also look at the Color Replacement tool. Chapter 12 talks about the luminosity commands, namely Levels, Curves, andShadow/Highlight.