Using a curves adjustment in Photoshop to easily and quickly color grade your photos

 

 

In Photoshop, there are many tools which are much more versatile than they are often considered. An example of this is using a curves adjustment layer to automatically color grade a photo. This technique is explained in the video below by Unmesh Dinda with PiXimperfect.

The first step is to create a new curves adjustment layer. Once you have done this, notice that there are three eyedroppers to the left of the histogram in the curves adjustment dialog window. The top eyedropper, for example, sets the black point for your curves adjustment. Double click this and then a color picker will appear. If you want to have your shadows be bluer, choose a blue by selecting a hue, saturation and brightness value. You can repeat these steps for your midtones and your highlights as well. You can use the eyedroppers to target the brightness values of specific areas of your image as well, such as selecting the highlights range as a skin tone in a portrait.

(Via PiXimperfect)