Photoshop Elements /

Color Correction /

Here are some ways to make color correction easier.

Evaluate color only after adjusting the exposure and contrast (Levels), and the color saturation.

Judge color in skin tones and gray areas, such as a gray card, gray rocks, worn asphalt pavement, and so forth.

Err on the side of warmth, if you're unsure of the color.

However, skin tones, generally, should not be too red or magenta.

After adjusting the color, return to the Levels adjustment layer.

Move the sliders slightly to check the exposure and contrast.

Then, return to, say, the Photo Filter adjustment layer, and check the color once more.

If you're photographing with mixed colored lighting, or light of unknown or unusual color, save your photographs using a raw file format.

When you use a raw file format, white balance processing is postponed until you process the raw file.

At that time, you can use the more powerful raw conversion software, rather than your camera, to adjust the white balance.

A gray card or a GretagMacBeth ColorChecker card can make measuring color in black, gray, and white areas, easier.

Plug-ins are software that are added to Photoshop or Photoshop Elements.

Check to make sure a plug-in works with the version of Photoshop Elements that you're using.

You can evaluate prints with Lee Viewing Kit 3 filters.

There are six cards, one for each of the six colors (yellow, magenta, cyan, red, green, blue).

Each card has three filters of varying strengths.

Photographers learning how to evaluate color often have a hard time:

• Discerning whether a color cast is blue or green.

• Deciding how much of a change is needed.

The print viewing filters will help.

Do the following.

Let's say your evaluating a skin tone, and you think it's too yellow.

1) Choose the filter color that's opposite of yellow, which is blue.

2) Close one eye, look at the print, and flick the filter in and out of your line of vision.

3) Select the filter that makes the skin tone look the best.

At the bottom of each filter, the amount of the correction is specified.

This amount is given color correction (CC) units.

Unfortunately, CC units don't correspond to the units used in Photoshop and Photoshop Elements.

The PhotoKit Color 2 plug-in does have a feature called CC Correction, that used CC units.

If you're colorizing B&W photographs, go to the Slayer Office Color Palette Generator.

When you enter a single color, the base color, white and black are added to the color, giving you nine variations for highlight and shadow areas.