Increasing saturation.

[DonaldSmkn]

Hi all,

I am having a somewhat difficult time realistically increasing saturation in Photoshop CS4.

I have used the L*a*b method but find that there are some unsightly, almost fluro colours. I am also finding it difficult to convert this profile to CMYK.

I am simply looking for a way to boost colour without banding or atificial colour rendering.

It would be greatly appreciated if anybody could suggest their tips or make any suggestions.

Regards,
Don

[DarkPenguin]

This may be obvious but have you tried using the vibrance control?

[Henry Goh]

Hi all,

 I am also finding it difficult to convert this profile to CMYK.


Regards,
Don

Not sure what you mean by that. Which profile (in RGB space?) to which output device (in CMYK?)

If you search under the color management forum, you'll find very good discussions by Andrew Rodney (Digitaldog) and Jeff Schewe (Schewe) at various times about such conversions.  Good luck.

BTW: you should have your gamut warning turned on to check if colors are clipped when you start to boost them.

[David Sutton]

You could try this:
Duplicate the layer (or merge your work into a new layer). Filter - Blur - Gaussian blur radius 2.5 - 2.6.
Add a hue/saturation adjustment layer and set the saturation.
Select the duplicate layer and set the blend mode to "colour".

[David Saffir]

It would be helpful to know how the image will eventually be used - I assume with the CMYK conversion that you are going to 4 color press...

Having said that, I suggest that you try adjusting saturation in Camera RAW. You can find this among the tabs on the right hand side of the dialog box, down below the histogram. Look under the tab that looks like a zig-zag - it is the fourth tab from the left. There is a tab under that  called Saturation. Instead of three channels in RGB, or six in LAB, you have eight channels to work with.

You will also be working on a RAW image, which may give some advantage in reducing color distortion.

I also suggest that you consider sticking to RGB workflow for this, and convert to CMYK at the end of your editing cycle.

David

[DonaldSmkn]

I think I'm missing a few vital basics, yet at the same time I'm finding it difficult to come across basic, well explained information. I have tried google searches, even looking through book stores on colour/color correction and manipulation and curve adjustment. If anyone can pass on links to any good tutorials that give rational explanations as to why certain adjustments do certain things it would be appreciated.

I have a feeling that I, along with countless other amateurs, are being guided into L8a8b colour profiles without having considered the basics.

[marcmccalmont]

I am very happy with Joseph Holmes Chroma Variant Sets they increase/decrease saturation in a very natural way
Marc

http://www.josephholmes.com/profiles.html

[DonaldSmkn]

Hi Marc,

Whilst I appreciate your suggestion, I think it is really important for me to consider the variety of options available.  I.e, what can I achieve before relying on a plugin or profile.

[leuallen]

You could try this:
Duplicate the layer (or merge your work into a new layer). Filter - Blur - Gaussian blur radius 2.5 - 2.6.
Add a hue/saturation adjustment layer and set the saturation.
Select the duplicate layer and set the blend mode to "colour".

David,

What does this do. I tried it and saw no difference.

Dup layer, mode color, with sat adj layer above.

As above but adj layer clipped to dup layer.

Sat adj layer, not clipped, and dup layer turned off.

All looked the same to me.

Larry

[David Sutton]

David,

What does this do. I tried it and saw no difference.

Dup layer, mode color, with sat adj layer above.

As above but adj layer clipped to dup layer.

Sat adj layer, not clipped, and dup layer turned off.

All looked the same to me.

Larry

On some images it allows the saturation to be turned right up without losing detail or blocking up colours. You are right about often seeing no difference. Lately I just create two tifs from the raw file, do a curves adjustment on each (seem to get closer to the colour I want this way, particularly for skin tones) and get out the brushes for blending. Very slow, but not unenjoyable.

[jjlphoto]

There's a million ways to boost color. Here's the latest method I came across that works well for me:
http://modifiedphoto.wordpress.com/2009/12...hout-saturation

CMYK can be very dull when compared to RGB. Just the nature of the beast as it is reflective and RGB is transmissive. IOW, a chrome always looks more saturated than a print.

[stamper]

How far do you want to go with increasing saturation? You can only go so far and your printer will clip the saturation. So as far as prints are concerned there is a buffer. An important part of increasing saturation - I assume to make your images more colourful - is that contrast is increased as well. Try adjusting your images with curves first and then the saturation. As an experiment open the saturation layer and move the middle slider all the way to the right and see how your images look? Posturized? As a rule of thumb don't go beyond 30 for prints. Web images a bit more? Layer blend modes increase saturation. Take a colourful image and change the blend modes to soft light or overlay and reduce opacity to taste. I find that increases in LAB mode tend to look artificial and are only useful for very low flat and low contrasty images.

[marcmccalmont]

Hi Marc,

Whilst I appreciate your suggestion, I think it is really important for me to consider the variety of options available.  I.e, what can I achieve before relying on a plugin or profile.

If you read Dan Margulis' Photoshop LAB Color: The Canyon Conundrum and Other Adventures, he states the best way to increase/decrease saturation is by changing the images  color space. Joe has made this incremental with his chroma variants, I think this is the most natural and elegant solution I have come across. Worth further investigation. The ProPhoto set is $85 money well spent!!!
Marc