Photoshop Elements / Color Correction /
Skin Tone Color Correction Guidelines
By using a few guidelines, the skin tones in your photographs will be more pleasing.
Go to Skin Tone Samples for thirty examples of skin tones, with various figures for comparison.
Guideline #1 - Read
Read Make Color Correction Easier.
Guideline #2 - Adjust the Overall Color First
Remove any overall color cast before judging skin tones.
Guideline #3 - Inaccurate Skin Tones May Be Desired
Because they print their user's photographs, SmugMug knows what people like and don't like in regard to skin tone.
SmugMug reports that their customers don't want color accuracy in their skin tones.
"The customer wants to look good and she's allergic to red."
Your goal, rather than accurate skin tone, should be desired skin tone.
Guideline #4 - R > G > B
SmugMug has found that:
"90% of all you need to know is that you can never let the yellow % fall below the magenta % on anyone's skin unless you're trying to show sunburn."
Photoshop Elements doesn't show values for yellow, magenta, and cyan.
The program only shows red, green, and blue values.
Adapting for this, you want to make sure that:
• The red value is greater than the green value.
• The green value is always greater than the blue value.
In other words, R > G > B.
By observing R > G > B, you won't have skin tones that are grossly too red or too magenta.
Go to Measure Color.
In the charts below, you can see how the R > G > B guideline is followed with the skin tones in these photographs. |
|
|
|
|
225 186 163 (Measured on Forehead) |
252 149 95 (Measured on Right Cheek) |
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
In each of the above skin tones:
• The red value is more than the green value.
• The green value is greater than the blue value.
There's a great deal of variation in skin tones, including variability within groups, especially Africans and people of African heritage.
Also, the skin tones of the groups below overlap with each other.
And, as mentioned, the desired skin tone may be different than the actual skin tone.
The culture of a group, and the cultures of groups within a larger group, determine the optimum skin tone in a photograph.
For example, Caucasian people in the United States may be shifting away from desiring tanned skin tones.
Guideline #5 - Green Can Be G , G, or G
As discussed, the green value is greater than the blue value.
The young woman has 14% more green than blue.
The woman has 57% more.
By how much the green value is greater depends on the group. |
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Who are the groups?
Asian & Hispanic Skin Tones
While all groups have more green than blue in their skin tones, Asians and Hispanics have, or may prefer, somewhat more green than other groups.
Or, if you're using CMYK in Photoshop, they have, or prefer, more yellow than magenta.
African & People of African Heritage Skin Tones
African people, and those of African heritage, have, or may prefer, widely varying amounts of green, but still have more green than blue.
In CMYK color, they have, or prefer, widely varying amounts of yellow, over magenta, depending on preference and heritage.
Caucasian Skin Tones
Caucasian people have, or may prefer, only a little more green than blue in their skin tones.
So, the green value is only slightly greater than the blue value, when compared to other groups.
In CMYK color, they have, or prefer, only a little more yellow than magenta.
Caucasian Babies & the Fair Skinned
Caucasian babies, and Caucasian people with very fair skin, may have only slightly more green than blue, if not equal.
In CMYK color, they have only a little more yellow than magenta, or equal amounts.
The parents of these babies, and the people with fair complexions, may prefer having more green than blue, even though these values don't represent their actual skin tone.
Summary
The chart below summarizes the discussion visually.
Guideline #6 - Red
As mentioned, the red value is greater than the green value.
If changing blue and green don't correct a skin satisfactorily, vary the red value.
An increase in red will shift the skin toward less saturation (gray to black).
In CMYK color, cyan is less than the magenta value. |
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
African & People of African Heritage Skin Tones
Some African people, and some those of African heritage, may have more red than Asians, Hispanics, and Caucasians.
|