Brightening Colors

Brightening Up Colours
Skill level: Basic
Programs used: Photoshop 6

In this tutorial, we shall show you how to intensify the colours of an image to bring out the details and attain high quality looks of an image...

1. This image has lost some of its brilliance. We'll brighten the sea and sky and bring some of the vibrance back to the foliage and the hills in the background to achieve a controlled saturated image.

2. First add a Selective Colour Adjustment Layer.

3. Choose Cyans from the colours dropdown menu, then push the Cyan to +100 and the Magenta -25. This lightens and brightens the sea and sky without really affecting the rest of the image.

4. This time select Green from the dropdown menu and type in these settings: Cyan= +50, Magenta= -100, Yellow= +50, Black= -50. This helps intensify and lighten the colours of the foliage in the background.

5. Again from the dropdown menu, select Yellows and set Cyan to -100. This brings back the yellow areas to the foliage, creating a natural and tonally correct feel.

6. Now for a final subtle adjustment. Duplicate the background layer and drag it so it is the top layer. Then change its Blending Mode to Overlay and its opacity to 50%. Your Layers should look like this.

7. This is the final product. With some playing around with the Adjustment Levels you can bring out the best of any picture.


BEFORE	AFTER

Brightening Up Colours Skill level: Basic Programs used: Photoshop 6

Brightening Up Colours
Skill level: Basic
Programs used: Photoshop 6