Advanced Photoshop Color Correction

Covers the workflow, toolset, settings, and techniques you'll need to know to address advanced color correction challenges in Photoshop.

Sit down and strap in for an extended deep dive into the mysterious world of advanced color correction in Adobe Photoshop. This special installment of Photoshop Color Correction shows you the workflow, toolset, settings, and techniques you'll need to address advanced color challenges. Taz Tally covers how to quickly evaluate and adjust color using nondestructive editing tools and techniques and how to improve your workflow speed using keyboard shortcuts, preferences, and tool settings, and explains how grayscale, neutrals, and skin tone values play into color correction. Then you'll learn how to evaluate, measure, and correct color in different photographs, from landscapes to portraits, using Curves, adjustment layers, grayscale targets, layer masks, and Smart Filters. The last chapter details how to proof, sharpen, and export your corrected files.

Introduction

• Welcome
• Using the exercise files
• Using challenges

1. Color Correction Workflow and Tools

• Understanding color workflow tools: Bridge, Photoshop, and Camera Raw
• Working with nondestructive tools

2. Setting Up Photoshop for Color Correction

• Setting up Camera Raw
• Setting color workflow preferences
• Assigning color settings and profiles
• Setting up a monitor and viewing options
• Setting up color correction tools
• Assigning your own color correction workspace
• Assigning custom keyboard shortcuts
• Setting the screen layout mode

3. Color Measurements

• Understanding grayscale values and color
• Working with neutrals for color correction
• Challenge: Finding and measuring neutrals
• Solution: Finding and measuring neutrals
• Skin tones and color correction

4. Getting to Know Photoshop Color Correction Tools

• Starting with the right Photoshop workspace
• Choosing nondestructive editing tools
• Introducing color tools
• Comparing manual and semiautomatic adjustments
• Best practices and keyboard shortcuts
• Navigating within an image
• Using targets for color correction
• Using selection tools for image evaluation

5. Evaluating Color in Photoshop

• Evaluating tone: Focusing on highlights
• Evaluating tone: Focusing on shadows
• Evaluating and measuring skin tones
• Evaluating images with no highlights or neutrals
• Working with color sampler points efficiently
• Avoiding color sampling in cast shadows
• Challenge: Color cast identification
• Solution: Color cast identification

6. Correcting Color in Photoshop

• Setting and working with Curves control points
• Adjusting tone and color in a landscape
• Adjusting the tone and color of a complex image
• Semiautomated highlight and shadow adjustments
• Adjusting images with skin tones
• Working with near neutrals and images with no neutrals
• Adding pop to images
• Performing simple target-based corrections
• Performing super-critical target-based adjustments
• Making adjustments for complex color casts
• Challenge: Color cast identification and correction
• Solution: Color cast identification and correction

7. Finishing

• Soft proofing
• Sharpening a corrected image in Photoshop
• Choosing the best file formats for color correction

Conclusion

• Next steps