Color Correction

My company work with Color Correction in Photoshop

Color correction is the process of adjusting the colors in an image to make them more accurate or pleasing to the eye. This can include adjusting the brightness, contrast, saturation, and hue of the colors in the image. Color correction is often used to improve the overall quality of an image and to make it more consistent with the photographer’s vision.

Color correction in Photoshop can cover a lot of territory—from basic exposure/white-balance fixes to full creative color grading—so it helps to know exactly what you’re looking to do. A few questions to narrow it down:

1. Type of source material

   • Raw camera files (e.g. .CR2, .ARW)?

   • Scanned film or flatbed scans?

   • Already-exported JPEGs/PNGs?

2. End use of the images

   • Web/social‐media (sRGB, smaller files)?

   • Print (CMYK proofing, high-res TIFF/PDF)?

   • Video stills (Rec.709, video-pipeline LUTs)?

3. Workflow preferences

   • Manual one-off adjustments per image?

   • Batch‐processing hundreds of files via Actions or scripts?

   • Want to build a set of reusable Adjustment-Layer presets or LUTs?

4. Quality/control needs

   • Do you need consistent skin tones across a set of portraits?

   • Product shots requiring exact brand‐color matching?

   • Creative “mood” grading with split-toning or cross-processing looks?

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Core Photoshop Color-Correction Toolbox

No matter your project, you’ll typically work through these steps:

1. Monitor and workspace setup

   • Calibrate your monitor with a hardware tool (e.g. X-Rite ColorMunki).

   • Choose a working color space: Adobe RGB or ProPhoto RGB for maximum gamut; sRGB for web.

2. Raw adjustments (if available)

   • Open in Adobe Camera Raw (or the Camera Raw filter).

   • Set white balance, exposure, contrast.

   • Tackle highlight/shadow recovery and lens corrections first.

3. Primary corrections using Adjustment Layers

   • Curves: Adjust overall contrast (RGB curve) and individual channels for channel‐specific fixes (e.g. remove green cast).

   • Levels: Fast black-point/white-point setting to normalize histogram.

   • Color Balance or Selective Color: Shift midtones/shadows/highlights to correct color casts.

4. Secondary and local corrections

   • Use masks or Selective Color/ Hue/Saturation adjustment layers to isolate and tweak specific hues (e.g. desaturate a too-vibrant background).

   • The Adjustment Brush in Camera Raw (or layer masks in Photoshop) for spot corrections.

5. Creative grading (optional)

   • Gradient Maps or Lookup Tables (LUTs) for stylized looks.

   • Blend modes (Soft Light, Overlay) on color layers for subtle tints.

6. Batch and automation

   • Record your sequence as an Action.

   • Use File → Automate → Batch to run on folders of images.

   • For more complex logic, write ExtendScript (JS-based) or use Photoshop’s newer UXP plugins.

7. Proofing and export

   • Soft-proof in Photoshop for CMYK if printing (View → Proof Setup).

   • Export with File → Export → Export As, or use “Save for Web” for web‐optimized JPEGs/PNGs.

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Let me know where you’d like more depth:

• Creating and managing professional Actions/LUTs

• Advanced skin-tone consistency workflows

• Batch-processing scripts or UXP plugins

• Setting up your color‐managed workflow end-to-end

Or if you have a specific challenge (e.g. “my whites are always too warm,” “I need to match product colors exactly”), just tell me and we’ll dive right in!