Browncoat
Senior Member
No, it's not just your eyes deceiving you, those photos you see in magazines are more vivid and colorful. Here's a quick 10-step tutorial that will walk you through how they do it. I should also note that this is a non-destructive method.
Here we have an HDR photo of a bridge. Because it's HDR, it already has a bit more "pop" to the colors, but we can do even better than this.
First, make a duplicate layer of your original image. The easiest way to do this is CTRL+J on the keyboard (Windows). You can also rename this layer if you want. I chose "Lab Brighten".
Next, we're going to change our image mode to Lab color. To do this, select Image > Mode > Lab Color from the menu.
A notification will pop up, asking if you want to flatten the image. Choose "Don't Flatten", because we want to work with individual layers in Photoshop whenever possible. Also, it will be easier to edit the vividness later on.
Now for the color adjustments. Go to Image > Adjustments > Curves.
A new dialog box will open. We are going to be adjusting the A and B channels, so select Channel A first. There's no need to change Lightness.
Here is where the magic happens. Notice the grid on the histogram. Select the tone curve line at the top right corner, and move it to the left so that it is roughly in the top/middle of the square. Do the same with the tone curve line at the bottom left.
Change the channel to B and make the same adjustments as above.
Now take a look at your photo and notice how much brighter it is. Chances are, it's going to be a little too vivid. Because we are working with layers, the best way to fix this is to go to Layer > Layer Style and adjust the opacity. This will dull down your Lab color adjustments to more realistic levels.
Once you're satisfied, be sure to change back to RGB mode and flatten your image.
Here we have an HDR photo of a bridge. Because it's HDR, it already has a bit more "pop" to the colors, but we can do even better than this.
First, make a duplicate layer of your original image. The easiest way to do this is CTRL+J on the keyboard (Windows). You can also rename this layer if you want. I chose "Lab Brighten".
Next, we're going to change our image mode to Lab color. To do this, select Image > Mode > Lab Color from the menu.
A notification will pop up, asking if you want to flatten the image. Choose "Don't Flatten", because we want to work with individual layers in Photoshop whenever possible. Also, it will be easier to edit the vividness later on.
Now for the color adjustments. Go to Image > Adjustments > Curves.
A new dialog box will open. We are going to be adjusting the A and B channels, so select Channel A first. There's no need to change Lightness.
Here is where the magic happens. Notice the grid on the histogram. Select the tone curve line at the top right corner, and move it to the left so that it is roughly in the top/middle of the square. Do the same with the tone curve line at the bottom left.
Change the channel to B and make the same adjustments as above.
Now take a look at your photo and notice how much brighter it is. Chances are, it's going to be a little too vivid. Because we are working with layers, the best way to fix this is to go to Layer > Layer Style and adjust the opacity. This will dull down your Lab color adjustments to more realistic levels.
Once you're satisfied, be sure to change back to RGB mode and flatten your image.
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