Let’s REALLY Learn How To Use Selective Color
Color Theory, you know it’s my favorite topic, right? Today I have a really awesome tip for you on how to intensify the colors in your image using the Selective Color Adjustment Layer. We often think of the selective color adjustment layer as a tool to help alter the colors in our image, for example, changing Yellow to Orange. But the selective color layer can be used to make your colors more intense.
The Selective Color Adjustment Layer has many advantages over its distant cousin, the HSL Adjustment Layer. The prime advantage is that it avoids blowing your colors out of gamut by adjusting the colors based on the percentages of other colors that are present.
In today’s video, I am going to show you how you can intensify the colors in any photo using the principles of Color Theory and the Selective Color adjustment layer.
For Blake, it's all about the art and process synergy. He dives deep into complex topics and makes them easy to understand through his outside-the-box thinking so that you can use these tricks in your workflow today!
The ever amazing Blake Rudis! Thank you my friend; this is very helpful. By the way, your coffee money is on its way.
Love this tutorial. It is more natural and logical approach to boost colors than just playing with HSL. Understood completely. Thanks again
Thanks Blake for this wonderful action .I just tried in a couple of images it works very well and what a time saver.
Thank you so much Blake for sharing this very informative tutorial and wonderful actions. I can’t wait to use it.
This was fantastic. I am technically challenged and understood this which was so exciting.
Putting bright light on another dark corner of PS! This will be a very useful tool. Thank you!
Hi Blake – I went do download the actions but the box to put my email address did not appear. Tried several refreshes and made sure no ad blockers were running and still no box. BTW – I am already on your list!
thanks,
james
Excellent Blake! I just gave the method a test-drive on a couple of my solar images… Terrific!
I’ve now got the first ten actions as their own section in MyPanel2… Love that thing.
Even if I don’t use the actions frequently, this explained the selective color layer so much better. I always have a color wheel by my work station, and now I’ll understand better what’s happening when I use a selective color adjustment.
Blake, you must have been in my head again. This past Tuesday I was working on an image and trying my best to intensify the colors. I tried selective color and Hue/Saturation. Most of the time the adjustments either looked weird or were too saturated, so I’d use the Saturation Neutralizer from PE3. It brought me closer to my vision, but still wasn’t right. I tried these action and BOOM! Thank you so much Blake. Made my day.
Thank you Blake, for both the action tool and the breakdown of information on selective color!
Thank you Blake. I’ve been a huge fan for years. None the less, I’ve been a lazy photo editor, and relied on the crutches of various PS plug-ins. With your help, and in particular, this color tip. I’m slowly weaning myself from the plugins. You rock!!!
Thank you, Blake. Haven’t used it yet, but it looks like it will solve Hue/Saturation and Color Balance. Excited to try the Actions.
Hi Blake, Thank you for another great tutorial and set of Actions. I have used the Selective Color Adjustment in the past, but really appreciate the detailed breakdown of the theory behind it. How does this impact your workflow? In particular, I’m thinking about how Selective Color, Calibration in ACR/LR, and HSL, will reduce your use of the Color Zones in the Zone System Express 6.0. By the way, earlier this week I went back to a specific lesson in your 30 Days to Photoshop Mastery Course, to refresh my memory on the use of one of Photoshop’s tools.
many thanks….well explained
I think you know I am a man of few words and I have one word for you-
Thanks.
Thanks for a great tutorial Blake.
How does this approach compare to adjusting saturation and luminance of specific colours in the HSL section of Camera Raw or Lightroom?
Blake, Great Tutorial! I have most if not all of your actions in my PS kit and I think this is the first time I have seen instructions on how to use the action right in with the action. That is very handy!! Thanks!
Fantastic Actions. Thank You!
Another helpful tutorial from our ‘love Color Theory” friend.
High Time for Adobe to upgrade the Selective Color Priority box like they did it for the Color Balance:
Name of colors on both sides of the “spectrum” sliders,
add color to those “spectrum” sliders
Mush easier to do our color adjustments.
Thank you Blake for the knowledge and the action, you never cease to amaze me.
Great tutorial, as usual.
Thanks a lot for the actions.
It would be nice to have the same actions for doing the opposite!
(I know it isn’t that difficult to do, but it’s safer when they’re made by the expert)
I understand, but I have equipped you with all the tools to do that. Sometimes the teacher appreciates when the student does the work 😉
Excellent tips and tutorials once again. As always. You’re never going to run out of ideas or ways to help us, thanks to the infinite learning curve of Photoshop and the infinite ways we can combine changes in tone, color and effect to effect the artistic expression.
Thank you Blake. It is an excellent tool.
Clear, excellent tutorial. Thank you!
Another timely tutorial, as I’ve been trying to make the reds in a photo to look the original red of the subject and not the more orange than red from the DNG. Selective Color will definitely be added to my workflow! Thanks for clarifying the relative/absolute and for the actions too!
While I liked the tutorial, I am getting confused. How do these actions compare to the new calibration adjustments in ACR? On another note, I tried using these actions prior to making a gradient to convert to B&W, and I did not see as much difference as adjusting calibration in ACR before going in to Photoshop. This is a backwards way of asking, going back to the days of B&W film, is either way similar to the application of a yellow or red filter when taking the photo to accentuate the foliage or the clouds? I need to go back and review PEIII. As always, thank you for being so good.
Blake,
You’ve taken a standard Photoshop tool and revealed another dimension of how much more powerful it can be! I’ve used the Selective Color adjustment tool before, but was never fully satisfied with the results. This tutorial is a “game changer!” And, by including the Actions you’ve made it even more useful!
You’re the Greatest!
Thanks again.