How To Use Levels to Give a Realistic Color Scheme
Hello again! Today we are going to learn how to use levels to give a realistic color scheme.
If you’ve ever owned a set of photoshop actions, clicked the “play” button and wondered how they got that amazing warm tone without destroying the overall look of the picture, with a “filter” then this is for you. Or maybe you’re a newborn photographer and you want to bring those reds down without changing the exposure in the image.
This trick is mind blowing, it’s amazing, you’ll love it and it’s so easy.
Let’s get started!
The image I have today is of my beautiful daughter, who should really be a model (I’m not biased or anything, of course).
The first thing we are going to do is click on the “levels” adjustment.
Now where it says “RGB” you are going to click the drop down menu and select the different color channels, each color channel will determine the final outcome of the color.
For this image we will make it a realistic warm color, so I am going to click on the various channels, there are two ways you can adjust each color, the first is by dragging the sliders left or right.
The second (which offers more precise control) is by adjusting the numerical values for each slider.
For this particular image to make it a touch warmer, I am putting the red channel on 1.05 and 255
The green channel on 0.96 and 255
and the blue channel on 0.93 and 254
These are just approximate numbers that you could use, there’s a million different combinations that you can play with to achieve a precise color scheme. To make an image cooler or reduce the reds on a newborn image you would just bring the red channel down and the blue channel up.
Now you know the tricks that the action makers use to give you that perfect coloring! If you find that it’s too warm but close to what you want, you can always use the opacity slider to adjust the strength.
Have fun playing!
Other Basic Photoshop Courses:
Lesson 1: Basic Color Adjusments 101
Lesson 2: Basic Color Adjusments 102
Lesson 3: How to use the Crop Tool in Photoshop
Lesson 4: How to Use Levels for a Color Scheme in Photoshop
Lesson 5: How to Whiten Teeth in Photoshop
Lesson 6: How to use the Spot Healing Brush
Lesson 7: How to do a Head Swap in Photoshop
My name is Cherise and I am a photoshop expert, I come across many people who are baffled by photoshop. They think that what I do is some sort of magic, that they send me a picture I go abracadabra and poof amazing images. But the truth is, I have spent many many hours learning to do what I do, perfecting it and crying tears of frustration.
I am a self taught editor, mostly trial and error and lots and lots of practice.
I want to make the editing process easier for you and teach you how simple it really is, so that you don’t have to cry tears of frustration to perfect your images.
Leave a Reply