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The Problem Landscape

Color Correcting Today

Color perception, like all human senses is personal and different from person to person. It is easily influenced by
outside factors such local color, color temperature of lighting, season, mood, male or female and even cultural
preference. We also have a hard time recognizing colors and picking out the same color repeatedly is difficult.

Beyond the perception of color is the understanding of how color theory works. Artists such as designers and
photographers learn about color theory in school, but only those that spend a great deal of time in a color
darkroom really become competent in understanding and manipulating the additive color system, the basis for
RGB color in digital imaging. Ironically with all of the variance in color perception and use, most of us can tell if
the color is incorrect in an image. We may not be able to identify the color cast or articulate what should be done
to correct it, yet we know it is not correct or at least not pleasing.

The tools available in Photoshop for correcting color and tone include at least eight dialogs: Layers, Curves, Color
Balance, Brightness/Contrast, Hue/Saturation, Exposure, Channel Mixer and Shadow/Highlight. Even for
the advanced user, who understands color theory these dialogs can be confusing. Advanced users that do not
have a background in color theory can easily make counter-productive color correction mistakes by attempting to
adjust in opposing directions, causing additional color problems. For users with little experience in Photoshop or color
theory they are left with two options, using Photoshop’s automatic adjustments like auto levels and auto color or try to
flounder their way through complicated and abstract dialogs. Automatic tools like auto levels, auto curves and auto color
work by analyzing the image making adjustments to equalize color channels. In some cases these tools can provide
dramatically better results and in other cases the results can be either little to no change or large changes that result
in clipped highlights and shadows or unnatural or unpleasing color. When these automatic adjustments fail or even if
the user wants to do something as simple as warm the image up they must make manual adjustments that require
some knowledge of color theory and Photoshop.