Photoshop Elements Help | Correcting color casts

Correct color casts by comparing variations of an image
Remove a color cast automatically
Remove a color cast using Levels
Adjust color curves

You can make color and tonal adjustments in the Color Variations dialog box by comparing and choosing different thumbnail variations of the photo. Color Variations works best for average tone images that don’t require precise color adjustments.

Note:

You can’t use the Color Variations command with images in Indexed Color mode.

Choose Enhance > Adjust Color > Color Variations.

The two preview images show the original image (Before) and the adjusted image after you’ve made changes (After).

Select an option to choose what you want to adjust in the image:

Midtones, Shadows, or Highlights

Specify which part of the tonal range to adjust: dark, middle, or light areas.

Saturation

Makes the image colors more vivid (more saturation) or muted (less saturation).

Set the amount, or intensity, of each adjustment by using the Amount slider. Dragging the slider to the left decreases the amount, and dragging to the right increases it.

If you are adjusting the color of midtones, shadows, or highlights, do either of the following:

To add a color to the image, click the corresponding Increase color thumbnail.
To subtract a color, click the corresponding Decrease color thumbnail.
Each time you click a thumbnail, all thumbnails are updated.

If you are adjusting color saturation, click either the Less Saturation or More Saturation button.

To undo or redo adjustments, do any of the following, then click OK to apply the adjustments to your image.

Click Reset Image to start over and undo all adjustments.
Click Undo once or multiple times for each successive adjustment you want to undo. You cannot undo the Reset Image option.
After undoing a new adjustment, click Redo once or multiple times for each adjustment you want to redo.

A color cast is an unpleasant color shift in a photo. For example, a photo taken indoors without a camera flash may have too much yellow. The Remove Color Cast command changes the overall mixture of colors to remove color casts from an image.

Original (left), and after removing the green color cast (right)

Choose Enhance > Adjust Color > Remove Color Cast.

In your image, click an area that should be white, black, or neutral gray. The image changes based on the color you selected.

To start over and undo the changes made to the image, click Reset.

Click OK to accept the color change.

This technique requires color correction experience and some knowledge of the RGB color wheel.

Do one of the following:

Choose Enhance > Adjust Lighting > Levels.

Choose Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Levels, or open an existing Levels adjustment layer.

Choose a color channel to adjust from the Channel pop‑up menu:

Red to add red or cyan to the image.

Green to add green or magenta to the image.

Blue to add blue or yellow to the image.

Drag the middle input slider left or right to add or subtract color.

Click OK when you are satisfied with the overall color.

You can use the gray color picker in the Levels dialog box to quickly remove a color cast. Double-click the color picker and make sure that the RGB values are equal. After you close the Color Picker, click an area in your image that should be a neutral gray.

The Adjust Color Curves command improves color tones in a photo by adjusting highlights, midtones, and shadows in each color channel. For example, this command can fix photos with silhouetted images resulting from strong backlighting, or slightly washed-out objects that were too close to the camera’s flash.

In the Adjust Color Curves dialog box, you can compare and choose different tonal presets. Select from the list of styles in the Select A Style box. To fine-tune the adjustment, adjust the highlights, midtone brightness and contrast, and shadows.

Adjusting color curves in an image
A. Select a Style (choose from presets) B. Adjust Sliders (custom options)

In Photoshop Elements, open an image.

To adjust a specific image area or layer, select it with one of the selection tools. (If no selection is made, the adjustment applies to the entire image.)

To preserve the original photo while experimenting with tonal adjustments, adjust the color curves in a duplicate layer.

Choose Enhance > Adjust Color > Adjust Color Curves.

Select a style (for example, Backlight or Solarize).

Adjust the sliders for Highlights, Midtone Brightness, Midtone Contrast, and Shadows.

To apply the adjustment to your image, click OK. To cancel the adjustment and start over, click Reset. To close the Adjust Color Curves dialog box, click Cancel.

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Correcting color casts

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Correct color casts by comparing variations of an image

Remove a color cast automatically

Remove a color cast using Levels

Adjust color curves

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