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Drab to Fab: Give Your Photos a Color Boost Here's how to get the brightly col.ored, super saturated look in your srapbooking photos. Article rating: 9.31

Have you seen all those fabulous, brightly colored, super saturated photos that seem to be filling up the scrapbooking magazines lately?  Ever wonder how you could make your photos look like them?  Follow the below steps below and give your digital photos some simple tweaks and they too can go from drab to fab in no time!

While the number of steps below may seem numerous, the techniques are quite easy and are broken down into small steps for easier understanding. One of things to remember when making adjustments to your photos is to not be too heavy handed with them. You want to enhance your photos, not make them look as if you have completely made them over in your editing program.

1.  Open your photo in PS or PS Elements. The above photo is straight out of the camera (or SOOC) and though it looks decent it is a little dull.

© Crystal Jeffrey Rieger

2.  To start save a copy of your photo using File > Save As. This will ensure you do not overwrite your original photo.
Tip:  It is sometimes helpful to have your original photo open on your screen as well as the copy so you can refer to the original and keep your adjustments in check.

3.  Make two duplicate layers of your photo using Layer > New > Layer or the shortcut, Control + J (repeat step for second layer).

4.  On the first duplicated layer change the layer from Normal to Screen.

5.  On the second duplicated layer change the layer from Normal to Soft Light.

6.  You will end up with something like this. It will look over exposed and the colors will be too harsh.

7.  On both of these layers adjust the opacity until you get the desired effect. Start at 50% and adjust until you are happy with the effect. 
Tip:  It is helpful to watch your photo as you make the adjustments so you can see the changes.

8.  You will end up with something similar to this.

9.  Next add a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer to your photo by using Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Hue/Saturation or the shortcut button on the bottom of your layers palette.

10.  Now edit the Master Saturation level anywhere from +10 to +20. I generally lean to the more conservative level of +10 when making my adjustments but you will find what you like with some practice.

11.  Next, using the drop down menu (on the same pop up window), adjust each saturation value, carefully watching the photo as you make the changes. Generally, I leave both the reds and the magentas levels alone when there are skin tones within the photo and adjust the remaining color value anywhere from +10 to +20. For my photo I adjusted the following - reds /0, yellows /+10, greens/+12,  cyans/+17, blues/+17, magentas/0

Tip:  If you are not sure which area each color value is adjusting, initially slide the arrow completely to the right to exaggerate the color. This will give you an immediate idea of what you are adjusting.

12.  You should end up with a photo with much bright and more saturated colors such as seen above.

13.  Now you will need to flatten your photo using Layer > Flatten Image or the shortcut Control + Alt + E.

*Steps 14-18 are optional

If you have one or more areas of your photo that you really want to brighten up or selectively saturate, such as the iris of the eye, then you will want to follow the next few steps.

14.  First zoom in on the area you want to work on. 

15.  Next select the Polygonal Lasso Tool. Using the cursor, draw around the area you want to work within. Depending on your preferences, you can adjust the feathering on this tool which means you can adjust how crisp the line you create is. The higher the feathering number the less crisp the line is. In this case I did not use any feathering and left the tool at 0px.

16.  Next select the Sponge Tool, checking the settings at the top of screen. Depending on the size of the area you are working on you will need to select an appropriate sized brush (I used  91) and adjust the flow of the brush (though this is optional). I usually set to 75% but that is just a personal preference. You will also need to make sure the drop down box is set to saturate and not desaturate. (You can use desaturate your photo in the same way as you saturate it to reduce some of the color in your photo).

17.  Now run you brush over the area until you are satisfied with the results. I usual work in a circular pattern overlapping my strokes. The selection you created with the Polygonal Lasso Tool will keep your adjustments within the desired area only.

18.  You will now need to remove the selection line by using Select > Deselect or the shortcut Control + D.

Repeat step 14 to 18 for any other areas you would like to adjust.

19.  Next sharpen your image using Filter > Unsharpen Mask. Choosing your settings will require some practice but with over time you will learn what you like. In this particular case I used - Amount /90, Radius/2.2, Threshold/1

20.  Your adjusted image should look something like this and can now be saved and printed.

More Examples

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	Great article. I especially like the visual step-by-step shots that accompany the written description. Posted by: Kait Jul 9, 2008 @ 10:0 AM EST
	Thank you for the information about making my photos look better. I will try it. Ann Posted by: Ann Doty Jul 9, 2008 @ 10:30 AM EST
	Awesome! I knew a few of these techniques, but thanks for teaching me some more. Can't wait to try it out. Thanks! Posted by: Suzy Jul 9, 2008 @ 11:57 AM EST
	Very informative. Thanks for including the screen shots from PS. Posted by: Betsy Jul 9, 2008 @ 12:13 PM EST
	Thanks for the info---easy to understand--liked the PS guide Posted by: melba Jul 9, 2008 @ 1:17 PM EST
	Great information, use-able and understandable. Thanks Posted by: melynda Jul 9, 2008 @ 2:24 PM EST
	Love the simplicity all you need are the necessary steps and someone to show you step by step with pictures of your computer displays. Posted by: Victoria Jul 9, 2008 @ 3:17 PM EST
	great article! I'm always looking for ways to make my photos look better. Thanks for sharing!! Posted by: jennifer barksdale Jul 9, 2008 @ 4:18 PM EST
	I was so excited that I was able to fix some not so great wedding photos from my nephew's outdoor ceremony. Thanks for making it easy. Posted by: Linda Benitz Jul 10, 2008 @ 1:45 AM EST
	I'm AMAZED! A photoshop tutorial that I could UNDERSTAND! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! I can't wait to try it! Will try to let you know how it goes. Posted by: Amy C Jul 10, 2008 @ 1:43 PM EST
	Thanks so much for such an easy to understand tutorial. (Are there more?!?!?) I have had PSE on my computer for over a year and I haven't used it. OK, I've tried but didn't succeed. You broke it down into small easy steps, with PICTURES, and that made it stand out from all of the others. Now I'm ready to try. Thanks for sharing! Posted by: Ang Jul 10, 2008 @ 3:27 PM EST
	DITTO!! Thank you. Posted by: De Kershaw Jul 10, 2008 @ 6:45 PM EST
	Excited to try the tips. Posted by: val Jul 10, 2008 @ 9:30 PM EST
	Thanks for the great tips! Can't wait to give this a try. Posted by: Valerie Jul 11, 2008 @ 8:30 AM EST
	Great step-by-step instructions with visuals. Can't wait to try this out. Very useful and informative!! Thanks Posted by: Phyllis Jul 11, 2008 @ 2:15 PM EST
	The instructions look good and perhaps I would like to try it, if I knew what the PS software was. The first thing should be to tell the reader what the software is to make all this possible. Posted by: Faye Gamstetter Jul 14, 2008 @ 3:2 PM EST
	the articile was very interesting and the step by step instructions with pictures was great. I don't always get the saturation and hues right. Posted by: Jane Kreiner Jul 15, 2008 @ 10:42 AM EST
	This was very helpful. I have had trouble using the layering on Photoshop Elements and I can't wait to try to fix a photo now using these instructions. Thank you very much. Can't wait to read more. Posted by: Wendy Hall Jul 26, 2008 @ 12:20 PM EST

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