How To Color Grade and Make Photos Pop In Photoshop

Hello in this video I'll show you how to color grade and make your photos pop when it comes to Photoshop and in this tutorial we'll be using Adobe Camera Raw a raw processing software that allows you to adjust your photos in terms of exposure color contrast and more Photoshop So let me show you the before and after If you'd like to download this raw image to practice along just check the link in the video description You can see the transformation we're going to achieve by the end of this very video So I'm just going to hit reset right here to restore the image to its original colors and I'm just going to hit cancel So in order to access Camera Raw all you need to do is this: o go to the background image and press Ctrl+J or use Command+J on the keyboard then right-click on the layer you've created and select convert it to a smart object so we can adjust the settings later on after applying them to this specific photo That's why We've converted this new layer into a smart object and now we'll go to the filter menu and click on the Camera Raw filter This will open the Camera Raw filter The very first thing to do even before color grading is correcting the contrast and making minor adjustments to the colors Regarding the photo you can see this image is lacking some contrast so here's what I'll do I'll just adjust the contrast and enhance it for this photo then I'll move on lower the blacks a bit And as you can see the image tends to look better than where we started So once I've done that the next step will be coming in and opening up the shadows slightly to around five—I think five is a good spot Once I've done that we're just going come to life We won't be using saturation because what vibrance will do It will essentially lift the less saturated colors up to the level of the more saturated ones vibrant colors in this photograph So what I'll do is simply adjust the vibrance and I'll show you this in real time so I'll just go to vibrance and move the slider forward like this at And as you can see every single color in the image is going to be at the same level of brightness saturation but this is excessive I was only trying to show you So I'll just take it back Lower the vibrance slightly to about 20 22 looks acceptable Once we've finished adjusting the contras and regarding the lighting issues in this photo the next step will be to go to our calibration panel and adjust the blue primary just to make the colors pop in the image when you reach the blue primary and move the saturation slider upward you'll notice it begins to Make the image pop by adjusting the skin tone slightly—let's go with around 17 depending on the context the colors in the image you need to adjust these sliders accordingly to match the colors in the photo Once that’s done the next step will be manipulating individual colors in relation to s very photo So we'll basically head over to our color mixer where we have Two options: we have the mixer tool and we have point color Yes we have both the mixer and point color So if you want to adjust skin tones or individual colors in this specific photo we'll essentially begin at point color So what point color is going to help us do is we're going to grab the eyedropper tool and sample a specific color from within the photo So For this case make sure the point color is selected then click the eyedropper or color picker tool and choose any color you want to increase the saturation vibrance levels So we're just going to click on that area and as soon as you click you'll notice at it will sample that color in the specified area To enhance it you can adjust the saturation of the selected color by increasing the saturation level slider So for whichever color you want to intensify in saturation or luminance you ca and darken the color of your choice We'll do the same for the remaining colors So we are going o get the color picker tool and keep sampling colors from her outfit and you'll notice it's a different shade—just increase the saturation slider and this will make the outfit stand out more in this context case You'll get the color picker tool once more and look for your favorite area on the The subject is skin or skin tone so I'll just sample this area briefly move up the saturation slider and this will improve the skin tone but this is no So don't pass this section as it will make the skin appear too reddish So I'll go with around 8 that should be fine Then in order to reduce the amount of magenta in the skin we'll just deepen the skin tone slightly and experiment a bit with the vibrance just like this So by placing this behind it the skin will appear more radiant and natural pale in this case So after we've completed this the next step will be sampling something different e model's skin tone For this next step we'll simply sample another color for the face area just like that and slightly increase the saturation level That’s how it will improve the skin’s appearance—take a look at what we currently have This is where we began before and this is where we stand today Once you have done or once you've finished making the colors pop in the image the next step will be moving on to coloring The color mixer like the point color tool will also allow selective adjustment of individual colors So we simply want to remove the magentas present in the skin tones which are composed of reds oranges and yellows So to reduce the redness in the skin we adjust the hue and saturation and luminance Hue refers to the shade of a color or the ability to change a color Saturation is the intensity The brightness level of a given color is determined by its hue and luminance Thus we arrive at our hues and under hues we're just going to bring the reds forward slightly and we'll do the same with the oranges By moving the red slider forward we're effectively enhancing the red tones e red like a color below or beneath the oranges So we will do the same for adjust the oranges to lean slightly toward the yellow tone then enhance the luminance just a touch to brighten the oranges making her skin stand out a bit more You can see here where we began and here where we are today When I was taking this photo the background was originally gray Yes the background was gray and you can see right now it's looking a bit warm so I'm using Camera Raw 18.1 1 for this utorial and this version includes masking features that allow you to select the subject manually or use the built-in AI in Camera Raw to automatically select the background So I'll just go to my masking tools options and I'll simply go to the background click on it and Photoshop or Camera Raw will automatically select the background in this case Once it's done selecting the background Remember I want to remove the yellow or warm color cast from the background I'll just go to my color option and move the temperature slider slightly toward the blue side and this will make the overall image stand out in this case and you can see the before and after —before and after—and by the way you can always return to these adjustments and come back to the color grading panel and you can manipulate the image even further to your liking So for a shadow area you can directly adjust the shadows in this very photo and choose to cool them down by adding a slight touch of blue to the shadows So click in the center and drag it toward any For color and mid-tones I like to add a small amount of green to my mid-tones—just a touch Somewhat like that So this is what we have right now—this is the image before and after before and after That’s how you can color grade or edit your photos to make them stand out Once you've finished simply click OK to confirm the changes Right now this is the image so whenever you feel ready to modify or adjust the photo's settings proceed Simply come back remember we're working with this smart object—click double-click on the camera filter and it will restore the original effects you had which you can then adjust o your taste or preference That's it for this video—don't forget to like it And don’t forget to subscribe if you’ve been watching and haven’t yet subscribed to this channel Ronyx from Ronyx Photography Thanks for watching and I'll see you in more videos here Don't forget to keep practicing and keep creating