Luminous Landscape Forum
Raw & Post Processing, Printing => Adobe Lightroom Q&A => Topic started by: John R Smith on March 24, 2013, 01:46:58 pm
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I say chaps -
I am just doing a bit of colour work which is unusual for me. There are all these tricky extra things to consider which we B/W practioners just don't have to worry about normally, like, well, erm, colour.
Anyway - could someone explain please exactly what the distinction is between Vibrance and Saturation in Lightroom? They seem sort of similar in their effect but not quite.
Thanks in advance
John
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Saturation is a shotgun approach - it boosts the intensity of all colors regardless of where they are to begin with. So, a quiet red and an intense red will be boosted the same amount. This includes skin tones, with sometimes yucky results. Vibrance is more targeted, it boosts the softer colors more while having little or no effect on already intense colors. It also is kind to skin tones.
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And it acts more on blues and greens, less on reds and oranges (which is why it is less active on skin tones.)
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Vibrance is a non linear saturation boost unlike Saturation. IOW, less saturated colors are affected more than higher saturated colors. Further, there is some "protection" in skin tone-like areas.
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Thank you all for the explanations. That pretty much fits with my observed experience. It seems that Vibrance is a good way to increase the overall intensity of the colours in a scene without ending up with a kind of Las Vegas at night effect.
John
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Hi,
I often reduce saturation and increase vibrance on skin tones. But I seldom shoot skin tones, more of a landscape guy.
Best regards
Erik
I say chaps -
I am just doing a bit of colour work which is unusual for me. There are all these tricky extra things to consider which we B/W practioners just don't have to worry about normally, like, well, erm, colour.
Anyway - could someone explain please exactly what the distinction is between Vibrance and Saturation in Lightroom? They seem sort of similar in their effect but not quite.
Thanks in advance
John
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It seems that Vibrance is a good way to increase the overall intensity of the colours in a scene without ending up with a kind of Las Vegas at night effect.
John
Unless, of course, you are shooting Las Vegas at night.
My normal default preset for Landscapes in Lightroom boosts Vibrance by 15% and Saturation by 5% - but that is only a starting point - either may come up or down according to the subject (and my feelings at the time).
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My normal default preset for Landscapes in Lightroom boosts Vibrance by 15% and Saturation by 5% - but that is only a starting point - either may come up or down according to the subject (and my feelings at the time).
And I don't often use any saturation, but mostly just use vibrance. And I'm subject to moods swings too (depending on the image). LOL
Glenn