06

Re-Colour Your World

Jump to the first Tutorial

Colour is the emotional heartbeat of every image. In this chapter you’ll learn how to correct inaccurate hues, dial-up colour vibrancy for drama and contrast, and selectively and accurately recolour individual image elements. Whether you’re rescuing an under-exposed vacation snapshot, matching a product shoot to brand guidelines, or creating multiple colour variations of a real-world product shot for an online store, the techniques in this chapter  turn Photoshop’s colour tools into reliable, repeatable, professional workflows. By the end you’ll not only be able to fix problems in images: you’ll be able to deliberately craft with colour to tell richer visual stories.

chapter overview

Why is this important?

Modern visual communication lives across social feeds, print ads, e-commerce platforms and more – all of which demand colour consistency and impact. Mastering colour manipulation in Photoshop lets a creative professional:

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"Rescue" otherwise unusable images, saving both time and photography costs

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Maintain brand accuracy across campaign materials and image libraries

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Create mood and narrative through cinematic colour grading

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Create mood and narrative through cinematic colour grading

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Produce image variants (e.g., a product in six colours) without re-shoots

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Meet accessibility standards by ensuring readable, high-contrast palettes.

General Colour Correction

Learn to balance white point, exposure, and hue so a mismatched series of photos looks like one cohesive shoot – ideal for portfolios or multi-page spreads.

Cinematic Lighting and Colour Grading

Push saturation, vibrancy, and contrast selectively to make subjects leap off the screen while avoiding garish, clipped highlights.

Sky Adjustment

Replace a blown-out sky with a vivid sunset, or simply crank the blues for more contrast, using layer masks and Photoshop’s Sky Replacement tools.

Local Colour Correction

Isolate and recolour single elements non-destructively through masking, blend modes, and adjustment layers, providing complete colour control and maximized editability.

Chapter 06

Local Colour Adjustment & Product Colour Variants

Selective colour work turns Photoshop from a fixer-upper into a creative powerhouse. In this section you’ll mask precise areas and apply targeted adjustment layers to recolour without damaging the original pixels. You’ll also build a parametric product file where hue and branding remain editable – incredibly useful for rapidly generating new product images for an online catalogue. These skills combine surgical precision with workflow efficiency, letting you pivot from one-off artistry to production-level asset creation.

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Non-destructive masking keeps options open

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Reusable layer comps speed up variant exports

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Colour-accurate mock-ups impress clients and reduce costly reshoots

Learn More

Tutorial 6.1

General Colour Correction

In this tutorial you’ll learn a fast, non-destructive workflow for correcting exposure, contrast, and colour cast so your images look clean and intentional. We’ll learn to read the Histogram to spot clipping and gaps, set black/white points with Levels or Curves, and neutralise colour-casts using Curves’ Auto/eyedropper methods. From there you’ll add gentle midtone contrast and Vibrance for presence without crushing shadows or blowing-out highlights. 

Download the Assets for this Tutorial

Overview

Evaluating the Image

We’re going to use Adobe Photoshop’s Histogram window / tab to check our image for clipping and/or gaps. These tools give us detailed information on the tonality of the image.

Accessing and Understanding the Histogram

The histogram tab can be activated by going to Window / Histogram. The histogram is essentially a bar chart of your image’s per-channel values. When working with an RGB image, the Histogram is split out into the Red, Green, and Blue channels. In the Compact and Expanded view, these are shown as overlapping bar charts. In the All Channels view, they are shown both overlapping and also split out into their own sub-histograms. You can access these views under the Histogram tab’s menu.

  • The chart is read left to right, with the left being 0 brightness within the source area, and right being 255 brightness of that amount of that channel.
  • In a completely black image the bar will be at the left edge – pure black (0 R, 0 G, 0 B).
  • In a completely white image, the bar will be at the Right edge = pure white (255 R, 255 G, 255 B).
  • Most natural, correctly exposed images have little “pure” black or “pure” white, and instead have many values in between those points. The peaks and valleys of the histogram represent the proportion of pixels in the image with the value at that point. The height of each bar (left to right) = how many pixels are at that particular brightness for that channel. Again, for an RGB image there will be 255 bars (left to right) so they can be hard to distinguish individually, but provide an overall “flow” for the value or tonality of the image.

Examine where the graph sits

The first step to evaluating an image is to examine the histogram.

  • Charts are “piled up” at the far left = underexposed/shadow-heavy image
  • Charts are “piled up” at the far right = overexposed/highlight-heavy image
  • Spread with gentle roll-offs at both ends = generally healthy range.

Clipping

What “clipping” means and how to check for it

Clipping is when detail is lost to pure black (0) or pure white (255) – in a very under or overexposed shot, the detail gets either what is referred to as “crushed blacks” (when too dark), or “blown out” (when too light) because the images tonal values are below the black point or in excess of the white point – resulting in a loss of detail in those areas:

This can be caused by an over or underexposed initial image. It can also occur artificially when an image manipulator increases or decreases the brightness / contrast excessively. Most “real world” images should have a smooth tonal range throughout their histogram.

To look for clipping in the Histogram panel:

  • If the histogram graph slams into the left or right wall and stays there, pixels are likely being clipped.
  • View the individual Channels (Red/Green/Blue) to see if a single colour channel is clipped, or if all three.

Gaps

What “Gaps” means and how to check for it

Gaps are thin vertical empty spaces in the histogram (a “comb” pattern). They’re typically caused by heavy edits or limited tonal range in the file. They indicate a risk for banding/posterization when you push or adjust the tones further. 

Colour Correction Tips

  • Aim for some data near both ends, without hard piles up against the walls.
  • Allow clipping only for true specular highlights or deep featureless shadows – the lightest and darkest points of the image.
  • If a specific channel (RGB) clips, correct with Curves per channel, or reduce global contrast.
  • Toggle the “Show Clipping” preview while adjusting: Hold Alt/Option when dragging black/white point sliders in Levels/Curves to see a visualization of what is being clipped.

General Colour Correction Process

  1. Open the tutorial file named [ PP_6-1b_ColourCorrection_Original.webp ] in Photoshop.
  2. Save the image as a .psd file with the name [ PP_6-1b_ColourCorrection_Working.psd ].
  3. Open the Histogram tab (Window > Histogram), and expand the Histogram to display All Channels view under the tab’s sub-menu.

Set black and white points using Levels

  1. Add a Levels adjustment layer (new Adjustment Layer > Levels)
  2. In the Properties tab for the Levels adjustment layer, hold Alt/Option and drag the black triangle below the Levels historgram to the right until the first true blacks appear in the image preview.
  3. Do the same for the white triangle, but dragging it to the left – Hold Alt/Option and drag the white triangle left until first highlights appear in the image preview.
  4. Nudge the midtone (grey) triangle slider (without holding Alt/Option this time) for an overall brightness adjustment.
  5. Toggle the visibilty of the Levels adjustment layer on and off to see the change.

Note: Some users prefer to use the Curves adjustment layer here, which can achieve the same effect but is more reliant on the operator to adjust the curve appropriately. The Levels method is generally easier for new users to implement and understand thanks to the visual cues provided in the software.

    Remove colour cast / set neutral

    Quick Method:

    • Add a Curves adjustment layer (new Adjustment Layer > Curves), Alt/Option-click “Auto” (near the top right of the Curves adjustment layer Properties tab), choose Find Dark & Light Colors from the options, and click OK.

    Manual Method:

    1. Add a Curves adjustment layer (new Adjustment Layer > Curves)
    2. In the Properties tab of the Curves adjustment layer, select the middle (grey) eyedropper.
    3. Click a known neutral (grey/white object, without tint). This tells Photoshop that the neutral object selected SHOULD BE neutral, and allows photoshop to adjust the tonal range based on this same. In our sample image, try clicking the white area of the subject’s eyes here.
      • If no neutral exists in the photo, you can add a temporary Threshold adjustment layer, drag left/right to find darkest and brightest pixels, drop colour samplers (Shift-click with Eyedropper), then delete the Threshold. In Curves, you can then aim for near-equal R/G/B at a midtone sampler in the Info panel.

      Tune Global Colour

      1. Add a Colour Balance adjustment layer (new adjustment Layer > Colour Balance)
      2. Adjust Midtones first, then Shadows and Highlights to counter any dominant colour cast.

      Alternatively: In Curves, switch the channel to Red/Green/Blue and add tiny channel curves to neutralize. This is more manual, but also provides some additional control.

      Midtone Contrast and Presence

      1. Add a Curves adjustment layer (new adjustment Layer > Curves)
      2. Apply a moderate S-Curve to add contrast as needed without clipping the tonal range
      3. Add a Vibrance/Saturation adjustment layer (new adjustment Layer > Vibrance)
      4. Raise Vibrance modestly. Use Saturation sparingly.

      Fixing Over Exposure

      The same steps as listed above can be used to fix different types of image issues. 

      When adjusting an over-exposed image (image that is too light), a simple Curves adjustment layer can normalize the tonal range and restore the scene:

        Fixing Under Exposure

        Underexposed images are more likely to have significant hue problems, especially if the image was taken in an area where the light sources avaialble did not have a complete tonal range. These will require a combination of adjustment layer tools to help restore, and even then the results may not be ideal, but a surprising amount of detail can sometimes be re-established:

          Tutorial 6.2

          Sky Adjustment / Replacement

          In this tutorial, you’ll learn two powerful methods for transforming dull, blown-out, or overcast skies into dramatic, colour-rich backdrops that elevate your entire image. First, we’ll use Photoshop’s Sky Replacement tool to automatically detect and swap skies, fine-tuning the blend with edge, lighting, and colour adjustments for seamless results. Then, we’ll build a manual composite – placing and masking a custom sky, matching tone, saturation, and lighting to create a fully believable scene. Along the way, you’ll use professional finishing touches like grain and blur matching, ensuring your final image looks cohesive and camera-perfect.
          Download the Assets for this Tutorial

          Base Image(s)

          Example Resulting Image(s)

          Step-By-Step Instructions: Automagic Sky Replacement

          Setting up your file

          1. Open the base image [ PP_6-2_SkyReplacement_Original01.webp ] in Photoshop.
          2. Under the menu, go to File ▸ Save As and save a working copy of your project as a .PSD file under the new file name [ PP_6-2_SkyReplacement_Working01.psd] 

            This helps to ensure you will not accidentally overwrite your original image file.

          Using the Sky Replacement Tool

          1. Under the Edit menu, click Sky Replacement. Photoshop analyzes your image, attempts to identify the sky, and then provides you with a selection of preset skies you can swap in (complete with colour casts applied to the rest of your image). You can also load in your own sky image(s) here. Ensure that you set the Output to New Layers.
          2. Tune the sky replacement by adjusting the values further:
            • Shift Edge (+/- to hug buildings and trees)
            • Fade Edge feathers the transistion between sky and your original image
            • Brightness/Temperature lets you adjust to better match the foreground.
            • Check the lighting: Adjust the various Lighting and Colour controls to further blend your image together.
            • Mask cleanup: paint on the generated Sky mask with a soft brush where edges missed fine detail.
            • Optional: add slight Gaussian Blur to the new sky if depth-of-field needs matching.

          The Sky Replacement tool does exceptionally well with a clearly contrasting hard edged sky in your image. 

          Manual Composite with a stock sky + colour match

          Unfortunately, with a complicated image, Edit / Sky Replacement sometimes falls flat. It’s good to know how to manually apply a similar effect, for times when the automatic version is not sufficient.

            1. Duplicate the backgound layer (Ctrl/Cmd+J). Name this layer Foreground.
            2. File > Place Embedded… to add your “new” sky image layer above the Background layer and below the Foreground layer, as a smart object. Name this layer Sky.
            3. Click on the Foregound layer. On the Select menu, choose Sky. Adjust the selection as needed using your regular selection tools to ensure the entire sky is selected. Invert the selection (Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+I) so that everything EXCEPT the sky is selected.
            4. Click the mask icon on the Foreground layer to apply a mask that reveals the placed sky behind it.
            5. Free Transform (Ctrl/Cmd+T) the sky layer to move and adjust it to match perspective/horizon.
            6. Match tones: Add a Curves adjustment layer on top, clipping to the foreground layer; adjust until foreground brightness matches the new sky ambience.
            1. Match colour: Add a Photo Filter adjustment layer on top, clipping to the foreground layer; (Select something like Cooling 82 for blue skies or Warming 85 for sunset) above, subtle density 5–15%. In this case, use the Deep Blue filter at ~35% density as the sky change is dramatic.
            2. Match Saturation: Add a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer on top, clipping to the foreground layer; reduce the saturation by -35 and the lightness by -15
            3. Make local colour adjustments: The original photo here had an orange lens-flare running accross the front of the buildings. This looks out of place with our new sky background. Remove this by creating a new blank layer, named “lens flare clone-out”, clipped to the foreground layer, and using the Clone tool with a ~15 pixel brush to draw over the lens flare. Use the natural patterning on the buildings here to align your clone brush, and reset your source often – especially at the edges of the buildings.
            4. Grain/blur match: Filter > Noise > Add Noise (0.5–1%) on the sky layer as needed to match the grain of the foreground.
            5. Apply a Gaussian Blur to the sky layer if the lens depth-of-field requires it.

            Save and wrap up

            1. Save your .PSD working file (Crtl / Cmd + S).
            2. Save-As a .PNG (flattened) file (Shift + Crtl / Cmd + S).

            Tutorial 6.5

            Cinematic Lighting & Saturation

            In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to craft a dramatic, cinematic look by combining Colour Lookup Tables with layered light and colour effects. You’ll explore how different LUTs instantly shift mood and tone, and how you can refine the effect using blend modes, masks, and Curves to balance contrast and brightness. Building on that foundation, you’ll manually paint warm “key light” and cool “shadow” tones using gradient masks and Soft Light layers, recreating the rich orange-teal palette seen in film posters. The result is a visually striking image with enhanced depth, mood, and storytelling atmosphere—perfect for social campaigns, movie-style portraits, or editorial artwork.
            Download the Assets for this Tutorial

            Colour Look-up Tables

            Colour Lookup Tables provide a variety of on-demand “looks” for your images. They can be applied as Adjustment Layers under Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Colour Lookup. Some quick examples are shown here.

            • Changing the Blend Mode of the adjusment layer to Color (keeps your luminance) or Soft Light (adds contrast), and can further enhance these effects.
            • Adding a Curves adjustment layer above it (blend mode: Luminosity) allows you to shape contrast without re-tinting.
            • You can apply a Layer Mask the Colour Lookup to keep skies bright and faces cleaner.

            Original

            Crisp_Warm

            TealOrangePlusContrast

            Filmstock

            Base Image(s)

            Example Resulting Image

            Step-By-Step Instructions

            Setting up your file

            1. Open the base image [ PP_6-5_ColourLookupTables_Original.webp ] in Photoshop.
            2. Under the menu, go to File ▸ Save As and save a working copy of your project as a .PSD file under the new file name [ PP_6-5_ColourLookupTables_Working.psd] 

              This helps to ensure you will not accidentally overwrite your original image file.

            Manual “key + rim” light and cinematic palette

            1. Create a new Solid Color adjustment layer filled with a peachy-orange colour, like #ffb26b. Set the adjustment layer’s blend mode to Soft Light, and it’s Opacity to 35%. Use the gradient tool, with a black to white radial gradient, to Mask to the layer for a warm light effect radiating from the main intersection shown in the image outwards.

            2. Create a new Solid Color adjustment layer filled with a deep blue-teal, like #0f4c5c. Set the adjustment layer’s blend mode to Soft Light, and it’s Opacity to 50%. Mask using a reflected gradient, centred on the street, to put the surrounding buildings into cooler “shadows” for visualseparation.

            3. Add Gradient Map adjustment layer at a mid Opacity (~50%): Use a gradient with three colour points: Dark = deep teal (#0f4c5c), Mid = neutral grey (#777777), Light = peachy-orange (#ffb26b). Blend mode set to Color.

            4. Add a Curves adjustment layer, with an S-curve to boost contrast.

            5. Add a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer above all of the previous layers +Saturation 20. 

            Save and wrap up

            1. Save your .PSD working file (Crtl / Cmd + S).
            2. Save-As a .PNG (flattened) file (Shift + Crtl / Cmd + S).

            Tutorial 6.8

            Re-Colouring a Garment, Adding Embellishments

            In this tutorial we’ll take an image of a model in a “generic” white hoodie, colourize it based on a selected brand colour, add embellishments in the form of varsity lettering and embroidery to the front of the garment, and then quickly mock-up a poster layout using the new image assets. Like all of our tutorials, we focus on non-destructive modifications to allow quick and easy re-editing of the image in the future, or to allow multiple variant images to be quickly generated (such as different colours of garment or prints / embellishments on the garment itself).
            Download the Assets for this Tutorial

            Base Image(s)

            Additional Image(s)

            Example Resulting Image

            Step-By-Step Instructions

            Setting up your file

            1. Open the base image [ PP_6-8_Hoodie_Original.png ] in Photoshop. Under the menu, go to File ▸ Save As and save your project as a .PSD under a new file name, such as [ PP_6-8_Hoodie_Working.psd ]. This helps to ensure you will not accidentally overwrite your original image file.
            2. Activate the Object Selection Tool (hotkey: W). Note that there are three Tools under this hotkey: Object Selection, Quick Selection and Magic Wand. Ensure you are on the Object Selection tool. Depending on the processing power of your device, you may be shown a progress bar temporarily as Photoshop works to identify distinct objects in the current layer. Once it has completed this process, you can move your cursor over the different identified objects (which will be highlighted to indicate that they are a selectable object. Hover over the Hoodie and click to select it.
            3. Press Ctrl/Cmd + J to duplicate the selected pixels (the Hoodie) to a new layer. Rename the new layer to: Hoodie – Neutral.

            Neutralize the Colour-Tone of the Hoodie

            1. With Hoodie – Neutral active choose Layer ▸ New Fill or Adjustment Layer ▸ Black & White, then clip it to the layer below by holding the Alt or Option key and clicking the line between the two layers, or by clicking the Clip to Layer icon at the bottom of the Properties panel. Clipping the adjustment layer to a layer ensures that the adjustment only affects that layer, not all of the layers below.
            2. Right-click the Black & White adjustment layer and select Merge Down to apply the colour neutralization to the layer.

            Why do we do this?
            Despite being a “white” hoodie in the base image, there is a slightly warm (yellow-gold) colour cast in the white fabric of the base image. This colour cast can affect further colourizations we apply to the garment, so removing the warm cast makes our recolouring more accurate and controllable since we are working from a neutral tone instead of a slightly tinted tone.

            Add Colour & Shading

            1. Duplicate the Hoodie – Neutral layer (Ctrl/Cmd + J) → rename the new layer as Hoodie – Shading → turn off the visibility of this layer for now, by clicking on the eye icon to the left of the layer in the Layers panel.
            2. Select the Hoodie – Neutral layer and add Layer ▸ New Fill or Adjustment Layer ▸ Solid Colour
              • Enter Blue #214972 as the Solid Colour.
              • Alt/Option-click between layers to clip the Solid Colour fill layer to the hoodie.
              • Change the Blend Mode of the Solid Colour Fill layer to Linear Burn.
            3. Reveal Hoodie Shading → set Blend Mode = Multiply.
            4. Clip a Levels adjustment and pull the Black slider in to ± 20 to deepen shadows.

            Shift the Colours of the Background (optional)

            1. With the base image layer active, select the student in the image via the Select ▸ Subject menu command. This should put a pretty accurate selection around the student in the shot.
            2. Because we want to affect the background, rather than the student, we are going to invert the selection. You can do this under the Select menu again (Select ▸ Inverse) or via the hotkey Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + I (for “Invert”). This reverses the Select ▸ Subject result so that everything EXCEPT the Subject is now selected.
            3. Add a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer (auto-masked based on the active selection) and modify the sliders to: Hue = -150, Saturation = -45, Lightness = -15.

            Add Varsity Letters

            1. Paste the three PNG letters (G, C, M) into the file. Group them into a layer-folder (Ctrl/Cmd + G) and name the layer-folder Letters.
            2. Use the Object Selection tool on each of the three letter layers, then click Add Layer Mask (at the bottom of the layers panel) to hide the background each letter is on.
            3. Use the Move tool (V) & Free Transform (Ctrl/Cmd + T) to: 
              • Scale letters to equal height as one another,
              • Align the letters side-by-side
              • With the Letters layer-folder active: |Re-size and reposition the letters across the chest.
              • Rotate the letters (together) by approximately 3.5° to match the tilt of the hoodie
            4. Apply a Layer Mask to the Letters layer-folder, then paint using the Brush tool and black on the layer mask to hide parts of the lettering that are behind the hand, backpack strap and draw-strings.
            5. Clip a Levels adjustment layer to the layer-folder; raise Blacks (by about 15) and drop Midtones ( to about 0.85).
            6. Lower the layer-folder Opacity to ~90 % so that it blends into the shot better.

            Add Remaining Text

            1. Using the Type Tool, add the text Toronto Metropolitan University below the varsity lettering on your project. This text should be set in white, in a san-serif, bold font (such as Hevetica or Arial), centre-aligned and about 36pts in height. Add a line break between Metropolitan and University.
            2. Position the Toronto Metropolitan University text using the Move tool (V), and rotate it to match the angle of the other text on the hoodie.
            3. Place the Toronto Metropolitan University text layer in the Letters layer-folder so that the mask is applied to it as well.
            4. Lower the Opacity of the layer to 90%.

              Add a new background and Resize for a Poster Mock-Up

              1. Reload the background selection by Ctrl or Cmd clicking the Layer Mask on the background Hue/Saturation adjustment layer.
              2. Invert the selection via the menu option (Select ▸Invert) or the hotkey Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+I
              3. Click on the background layer in the layer stack and add a Layer Mask at the bottom of the layers panel. This will hide the existing background of the base image, and leave your subject on a transparent background.
              4. Open up the [ PP_6-8_Background_Original.jpg ] image, select all (Ctrl/Cmd + A), and copy and paste this to your project. Position this layer below the base image layer. Rename this layer to Background Photo.
              5. Use the Crop tool to enlarge the size of the Canvas, making it into a poster-style proportion (portrait)
              6. Use the Free Transform tool on the Background Photo layer to resize and reposition it behind your subject.
              7. Using the Rectangular Marquee tool, select the area below the subject and add a Solid Colour adjustment layer, using the same Blue used for the hoodie (#004C9B).
              8. Using the Polygonal Lasso tool, select an angled area at the top of the canvas and add a Solid Colour adjustment layer, using White (#FFFFFF) for an additional copy space area.

              Save and Export your Project

              1. Save your file – you should have saved as a .PSD during step #1, above. If you haven’t yet, save as a .PSD now to keep your editable layers intact.
              2. Under menu, go to File ▸ Export ▸ PNG for easily sharing this project with others, or composite onto a new background to build a poster.

              Summary of this section

              Chapter Wrap-Up

              Colour manipulation sits at the crossroads of technical correction and artistic intent. You now know how to fix global issues, inject stylistic punch, swap out skies, and execute pixel-perfect local edits – all while preserving flexibility for future tweaks and/or client requests. These workflows scale from a single Instagram post to a high-volume product line, ensuring your images not only look right, but also feel right.

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              Work non-destructively: Editable Adjustment layers and Masks are your safety net.

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              Let colour serve the story: Technique is the means, not the end

              Have a Question?

              Stuck on a tricky colour cast or unsure which adjustment layer to use? There are many online forums of Photoshop experts happy to help!

              Helpful Resources