Photoshop: Color Balance Adjustments

This tutorial shortly explains the function of the Color Balance adjustment, as well as an example of its use.

The Window

To create a Color Balance adjustment layer, either apply it via the Layers palette go by going to Layer - New Adjustment Layer - Color Balance. You can also apply Color Balance directly to the image by going to Image - Adjustments - Color Balance.

• Color Levels - Input digits to alter the color levels.
• Cyan / Red - Increases / decreases cyans and reds in the image.
• Magenta / Green - Increases / decreases magentas and greens in the image.
• Yellow / Blue - Increases / decreases yellows and blues in the image.
• Shadows - Alter the shadows of the image.
• Midtones - Alter the midtones of the image.
• Highlights - Alter the hightlighs of the image.
• Preserve Luminosity - Preserves the luminosity values in the image. Maintains the tonal balance.

Altering the Colors

Color Balance changes the overall colors in an image. To alter the colors, drag the color balance sliders. To increase a color, drag the slider towards it. To decrease it, drag the slider away from it. If you want to maintain the tonal balance, check the Preserve Luminosity box.

For the image below, I applied the following settings:

• Shadows - +100, -22, -100
• Midtones - -100, +66 , 44
• Highlights - +36, +11 , -100
• Preserve Luminosity - Unchecked