All language subtitles for 7. Color grading

Color grading is a very important stage in retouching

because with it we can steer the photo in many directions through color.

We can change the atmosphere and the mood of the photo using color.

We can draw attention to a specific point in the image and more.

That's why it's worth getting to know some of Photoshop tools

that allow us to achieve this easily.

It's also helpful to start by learning color theory

and the way colors are represented on the color wheel.

A very useful resource

for this purpose is Adobe's color page.

That's color dot adobe dot com

where we can see how colors

harmonize with each other in different combinations.

Please spend some time analyzing different color

harmonies and get yourself familiar with the color wheel.

We have

many color harmonies

that we can take a look at

for portrait photos.

Harmonies like complementary and Split Complementary

often work the best.

This means that

if we want a photo with a warm atmosphere,

we add a lot of warm tones to the shadows and midtown's like here.

And to make the photo look right,

we can add a complementary color to the highlights,

which is the color opposite on the color

wheel.

This will make the photo appear

more three dimensional and fuller.

In Photoshop there are several tools we can use for this purpose.

I think my most frequently used choice

is the color balance tool,

where we can precisely control

the colors in the shadows

Midtown and highlights.

Okay, so let's

maybe let's create two versions of our photo with color balance.

First, let's create a warm version.

So let's start with the shadows and add some warm tones.

Like here we are adding reds and yellows.

And as you can see,

our shadows became very warm

and for contrast,

let's switch to the highlights tab and move the slider

in the opposite direction towards Cyan and

maybe let's add

And as you can see,

the photo became more 3D.

I'd say it pops a bit better.

Before and after we can even change some tones

into Midtown's as there are many more towns in our photo.

So if you want to keep it warm, we can add some more warmth

to the Midtown's look like so.

And there we have our warm version.

If our effect is too pronounced,

we can always reduce the visibility

of our adjustment layer with the opacity slider.

Let's see the before and after.

Okay, let's hide our edit for now

and focus on preparing the cool version of the photo.

So let's create a new adjustment layer

using the color balance tool.

And this time let's give the shadows a cool hue.

So we will move the slider towards

blue and out of cyan

like that.

And let's balance it out

by adding a touch of warmth to the highlights and see how it looks.

So let's add some yellow to the highlights.

So this area will be a bit warmer

and a bit of red

to contradict that.

Cool tone in the shadows.

Okay,

let's steer our midtown to the cooler side as well.

So maybe add a little bit of blue

and say on this as well.

And let's have a look

before and after.

The photo is much

cooler, but maybe a bit too much.

So, again, we can decrease the opacity

a little bit like that.

Okay.

Now we have two versions.

Let's create a snapshot of this version.

And another one

so we can quickly compare to show you how quickly

we created those two versions of the photo with completely different atmospheres.

Let's take a look at the cool version

and the warm version.

Okay.

Another way of color grading is using the selective color.

We use it mainly when we want to focus

more precisely on individual colors in the photo.

Now we can try to enhance the skin color of our model

using this method.

Okay, so let's create our adjustment layer with selective color.

And the

skin is primarily composed of the red color.

A little less yellow and the least green.

So we'll be mainly working with with the red.

I like our skin color to be richer.

So in the reds

I will remove some sign from it.

I like that.

Have a look.

Now we have a stronger red.

So let's remove a bit of magenta from it.

Let's see the before and after.

Okay.

I think adding a bit of black to our red

will intensify it and make it richer.

I like that

for contrast.

Let's add some cyan to the yellows and.

And reach them with black as well.

So we switch to, like, yellows

and a bit of cyan

and maybe increase the blacks.

We can also add

a touch of blue to the whites,

which are the brightest points on the skin

to contrast the warmth which we achieved in the skin tone.

So let's remove yellow and add a bit of blue to the whites.

Let's see the before and after.

These are subtle changes, but I think our skin tone

is much richer now.

And the image pops a bit better.

So let's create a snapshot again

for comparison.

Okay.

Let's move to another tool, another tool we can use for photo.

Color grading is the gradient map.

So let's create our adjustment layer with gradient map.

We see a small bar with colors

where the left side represents the shadows

and the right side represents the highlights color.

Clicking on the bar reveals more options

and we can freely change the colors displayed here

by double clicking on the squares.

So let's assign a color to our shadows.

For example,

maybe a purple one.

So let's keep it dark and

not much saturated, so it has a little bit of saturation.

Let's take a look at our color wheel

in color to see which colors are complementary to our purple.

So we select purple

like so.

Okay.

And we see our complementary color is green or in the split

complementary version.

Oh, let's do it like that.

So here's our

here's our purple and in split complementary

we have green and yellow.

So let's pick a yellow color

for our highlights.

Maybe not too saturated or

something like that,

and we can add

more points between the shadows and highlights.

So let's add one point here and fill it

with with a green color,

maybe like that.

We can move them around and see how they look.

Maybe let's move them a bit closer to the highlights

and we have to change

our blending mode of our layer to soft light.

And with the opacity, we can

choose the intensity of our effect

like so

now we can see that our shadows

have a little bit of purple tint to it

and highlights are yellowish

and mid zones are have a hint of

green. I think it looks great.

Let's create a snapshot again for comparison.

And one tip I can give you

is that with the gradient map we can even randomly search

for the right tone for the photo using this little trick.

Click on the gradient window.

We changed the type to noise

and decrease the roughness to around five,

maybe 8%.

As you can see,

there's a new randomize button down here and by clicking it

each time it creates a different

color harmony.

And this can be very helpful tool

when looking for the most suitable look for our photo.

Okay, so maybe

we can choose this one with green shadows and orange yellowish highlights.

Decrease the opacity

so it's not so pronounced.

Before and after.

And let's create our snapshot and let's see

which version speaks to us the most.

This is the first version the cool one created with color balance.

Second one is the warm version.

Another one is created with selective color.

We with enriched reds in the skin tone.

The next one is our purple

yellowish color grating,

and the last one was the one that we randomly

chose with our method.

Personally, I prefer this one,

so I will select it and save the photo.

I think it will be a good idea

also to slightly brighten our photo.

So let's create one more curved layer on top of our layer stock

and let's brighten

up just a little bit so it pops a bit more.

Let's check it on White.

And there we have it.

Our color grading is finished at this station.

So as you can see, there are many tools in Photoshop

that deal with color, but using them is fairly simple.

Using these methods, you can create

all sorts of color grading and

I recommend using the color wheel to see which colors

work with each other best

in Photoshop.

Okay, we can move on to the final stage of our retouching,

which is liquefying and sharpening the photo.