Selective color (Photoshop)

With Selective Color you adjust one color family specifically in Photoshop by mixing in cyan, magenta, yellow or black. You work per color like red, yellow or blue, and also in the whites, neutrals and blacks. It is a precise tool for subtle color correction and grading.

Add Selective Color as an adjustment layer and choose the color you want to steer at the top, like yellow for green foliage or skin. Move the four color sliders until the hue is right, and switch between Relative for subtle and Absolute for stronger. Especially handy for refining skin tones or making the sky a touch deeper. Tip: adjust the neutrals to tilt your photo's overall color mood in one move.

Read also the in-depth explanation: Selective color (Photoshop) explained.

Related terms

Color balance (Photoshop) Hue/Saturation HSL Color grading

Prefer a look in one click?

The presets on this site set these adjustments up for you as a starting point, which you then fine-tune to taste.

Alle presets

← Back to the thesaurus