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It isn't easy being green. This young man is looking
good except for the distinct green tone to his skin. A simple color
balance adjustment puts him back in the pink, as seen below.
Photoshop's Variations window, providing samples of
incremental color change for selection.
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Anyone who has studied color adjustment will know that I am not going
very far with this subject in this article, especially considering that
I only have this page. Color adjustment on a professional level is often
learned in an apprenticeship setting, and takes years to perfect. However,
that level of expertise is only necessary for print, and there are simple
adjustments that can help you with most of theWeb images you will encounter.
The image at the left is a good one. It is sharp and has good contrast,
but the little guy is a little on the green side. A simple color adjustment
will return him to complete health – if only "real life"
was this easy.
Raster programs offer many ways to adjust color. Rather than go through
each program, step-by-step, which would take pages and pages, I will
cover the general color adjustment methods, which are similar in all
programs.
Hue and Saturation
Hue refers to the overall tone of the image, and saturation refers to
the intensity of the color. Let's start with hue.
You have probably heard of objects referred to as having a particular
color hue. Perhaps it is a dramatic sky with an orange hue, or a room
with filtered sun and a blue hue. Generally, hue refers to the underlying,
but often unmistakable color. Some digital cameras consistently produce
images with the same hue. Scanners can return results that always have
a color cast to them. Adjusting the hue in an image can correct an overall
incorrect hue. Hue can also be used for artistic effect,  or
to make a series of unrelated, varied-tone images appear to be part
of a set.
The best way to understand hue is to watch the effect in an image as
you change hue values. The image at the right shows a dramatic hue change.
Note how the color of everything in the image has been changed by moving
the hue value to blue.
Saturation is easy to grasp if you realize that reducing saturation
all the way creates a grayscale image containing no color. Saturation
is like the volume for color. Turn it up and the image becomes quite
intense with color. Turn it down, and the color fades away until finally,
there is none left. Saturation can be an excellent tool when you are
working with images of anything metal, including jewelry. Reducing the
saturation leaves detail and a bright, shiny result, yet does not wash
out detail the way that other methods can.
Be careful that you do not go too far with desaturation, but as you
can see below, the results can be rich. The image on the left has yellow
overtones. Using a partial desaturation removed the color cast without
affecting any other properties.
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Color Balance
If hue is like painting a transparent cover over everything in an image,
color balance is like taking from one color and giving to another. Knowledge
of the color wheel and how it works, or any color theory training will
help you to work with color balance. I changed our young man to flesh
color from green by reducing the green in the image and also by increasing
the red value. Green and red are opposite one another in the color wheel,
and as such, neutralize each other. If you wish to reduce a ruddy complexion
in an image, tipping the balance slightly to the green is likely to
help you accomplish the task.
As with hue, one of the best ways to learn what does what in color
balance, is to practice. Open an image and with the preview active,
observe what happens when you move the slider closer to each color.
Photoshop offers a screen that shows variation of color combinations
and allows you to choose the one that best suits what you require.
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Working with color can be frustrating, as almost all change happens
in very small increments. I wish I had a magic answer for you, but I
do not. In fact, the route to understanding how to work with computer
color adjustment is in direct proportion with how much you know about
color overall. If you paint, your knowledge of color mixing will help
with computer color adjustment. Learn how the color wheel works so that
you can truly understand how colors mix and affect each other.
Working with color can be very rewarding, though, and well worth the
extra effort. The image at the left seemed to be hopeless. With an increase
in saturation and contrast, and some slight color adjustments, topped
off with sharpening, the final image is a long way ahead of its humble
beginnings.
We have one more area to cover in our quest for excellent images. All
your hard work will stop short of the mark if you do not sharpen your
images.
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