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Adjust hue and saturation

Learn how to adjust the hue, saturation, and lightness of colors in an image using a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer.

Hue/Saturation lets you adjust the hue, saturation, and lightness of a specific range of colors in an image or simultaneously adjust all the colors in an image. This adjustment is especially good for fine-tuning colors in a CMYK image so that they are in the gamut of an output device.

Watch this short video to quickly learn how to change colors in your image. 

Apply a Hue/Saturation adjustment

Adobe Photoshop deeplink

Try it in the app
Follow along with a sample file to learn how to adjust hue/saturation using the Adjustments panel in a few simple steps.

  1. Add an adjustment layer. Do one of the following:

    • In the menu bar, choose Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Hue/Saturation. Click OK in the New Layer dialog box.
    • In the Adjustments panel, click the Hue/Saturation icon.
    Adjustments panel

    You can also choose Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation. But keep in mind that this method makes direct adjustments to the image layer and discards image information.

  2. In the Properties panel, choose the following options:

    • From the Preset menu, choose a Hue/Saturation preset .
    • From the menu to the right of the On-image adjustment tool :
    Hue Saturation adjustment preset

  3. To adjust the hue, do any of the following:

    • Drag the Hue slider or enter a value until you are satisfied with the colors. 
      The values displayed in the box reflect the number of degrees of rotation around a color wheel from the original color of the pixel. A positive value indicates clockwise rotation; a negative value indicates counterclockwise rotation. Values can range from ‑180 to +180.
    • Select the On-image adjustment tool . Then Ctrl-click (Windows) or Command-click (Mac OS) a color in the image and drag left or right in the image to modify the Hue value.
  4. To adjust the saturation, do any of the following:

    • Enter a value or drag the Saturation slider to the right to increase the saturation or to the left to decrease it.
      Values can range from ‑100 (percentage of desaturation, duller colors) to +100 (percentage of saturation increase).
    • Select the On-image adjustment tool  and click a color in the image. Drag left or right in the image to decrease or increase saturation of the color range that includes the pixel you clicked.
  5. For Lightness, enter a value or drag the slider to the right to increase the lightness (add white to a color) or to the left to decrease it (add black to a color). Values can range from ‑100 (percentage of black) to +100 (percentage of white).

 To undo a Hue/Saturation setting, click the reset button  at the bottom in the Properties panel.

Specify the range of colors adjusted using Hue/Saturation

  1. In the Properties panel, choose a color from the menu to the right of the On-image adjustment button .

    Specify color range

    The adjustment sliders and their corresponding color wheel values (in degrees) appear between the two color bars.

    • The two inner vertical sliders define the color range. 
    • The two outer triangle sliders show where the adjustments on a color range 'fall off' (fall‑off is a feathering or tapering of the adjustments instead of a sharply defined on/off application of the adjustments).
  2. Use either the eyedropper tools or the adjustment sliders to modify the range of colors.
    • Click or drag in the image with the Eyedropper tool  to select a color range. 
      • To expand the range, click or drag in the image with the Add To Sample Eyedropper tool 
      • To reduce the range of color, click or drag in the image with the Subtract From Sample Eyedropper tool 
      • While an eyedropper tool is selected, you can also press Shift to add to the range, or Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) to subtract from it.
    • Drag one of the white triangle sliders to adjust the amount of color fall‑off (feathering of adjustment) without affecting the range.
    • Drag the area between the triangle and the vertical bar to adjust the range without affecting the amount of fall‑off.
    • Drag the center area to move the entire adjustment slider (which includes the triangles and vertical bars) to select a different color area.
    • Drag one of the vertical white bars to adjust the range of the color component. Moving a vertical bar from the center of the adjustment slider and closer to a triangle increases the color range and decreases the fall‑off. Moving a vertical bar closer to the center of the adjustment slider and away from a triangle decreases the color range and increases the fall‑off.
    • Ctrl-drag (Windows) or Command-drag (Mac OS) the color bar so that a different color is in the center of the bar.
    Photoshop Hue/Saturation adjustment slider
    Hue/Saturation adjustment slider

    A. Hue slider values B. Adjusts fall‑off without affecting range C. Adjusts range without affecting fall‑off D. Adjusts range of color and fall‑off E. Moves entire slider 

    If you modify the adjustment slider so that it falls into a different color range, its name in the menu (to the right of the On-image adjustment button ) changes to reflect this color range. For example, if you choose Yellow and alter its range so that it falls in the red part of the color bar, the name changes to Red 2. You can convert up to six of the individual color ranges to varieties of the same color range (for example, Red through Red 6).

    By default, the range of color selected when you choose a color component is 30° wide, with 30° of fall‑off on either side. Setting the fall‑off too low can produce banding in the image.

Colorize a grayscale image or create a monotone effect

  1. (Optional) If you are colorizing a grayscale image, choose Image > Mode > RGB Color to convert the image to RGB.

  2. In the Properties panel, select the Colorize option. If the foreground color is black or white, the image is converted to a red hue (0°). If the foreground color is not black or white, the image is converted to the hue of the current foreground color. The lightness value of each pixel does not change.

    Colorize

  3. (Optional) Use the Hue slider to select a new color. Use the Saturation and Lightness sliders to adjust the saturation and lightness of the pixels.

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