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Dan Rodney/4 min read

Color Correction Techniques: Extreme Image

Photoshop Workflow

1

Open & Inspect

File → Open. Check resolution, color mode, and bit depth.

2

Build a Layer Stack

Stack adjustments and effects on separate layers — never edit pixels directly.

3

Apply Targeted Edits

Use masks to limit each layer to the part of the image that needs it.

4

Export for Output

File → Export → choose JPG/PNG/PSD based on the destination.

Master Photoshop at Noble Desktop

Noble Desktop's Photoshop Bootcamp covers retouching, compositing, color correction, and pro editing.

Learn advanced color correction techniques using Photoshop, with a step-by-step tutorial on restoring a severely faded and yellowed 1950s family photo to its original color and tone.

Topics Covered in This Photoshop Tutorial:

More Color Correction Using Curves, Setting Custom White & Black Points

Exercise Preview

1950s family before&after

Exercise Overview

The original copy of this old photo is extremely damaged, yellowed, and faded. It has almost no color and just generally looks pretty terrible. In a few easy steps, we will correct the image so you can see its true colors!

Getting Started

  1. From the Photoshop Adv Class folder, open 1950sFamily.psd.

    While this severely damaged image needs significant restoration work, we’re able to make a significant improvement to it very quickly. Although this is a color image, the strong yellow-orange cast makes it difficult to determine the original colors. The trick is to look for known colors (grass, sky, etc.) and neutrals in the image and use them as the basis of your color correction. You might notice that some of the girls are wearing white socks. Let’s try using those to neutralize the color cast.

  2. Make sure the Info panel is visible (Window > Info).

Correcting an Extreme Image’s Overall Tone & Color

  1. Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Curves.

  2. Name the layer overall tone & color and click OK.

  3. In the Properties panel, Option–click (Mac) or ALT–click (Windows) the Auto button to display the options dialog.

  4. It’s always a good idea to see if you can take advantage of the smartest tools Photoshop offers to see if they might be able to help. Try each of the four Algorithms with and without Snap Neutral Midtones checked.

  5. You’ll probably find that with a color cast this severe, Photoshop won’t be able to completely fix your image. Click Cancel to return to the Properties panel. Let’s try a different approach.

Sampling the Current Color from the Image

  1. First, click on the Layer thumbnail (NOT the layer mask) to make sure that the layer mask is NOT highlighted.

    1950s layer thumbnail

  2. In the Properties panel, double–click on the Set white point eyedropper set white point to open the Color Picker.

  3. Zoom in close on the white socks of the girl second from the right (if you don’t know how to zoom in with a dialog open, read the sidebar).

    Zooming While in a Dialog

    To scroll/zoom while in a dialog, you can:

    • Use the View menu’s zoom options.
    • Hold Cmd–Space (Mac) or CTRL–Space (Windows) and then click/drag the mouse to zoom in.
    • Hold Cmd–Opt–Space (Mac) or CTRL–ALT–Space (Windows) and then click the mouse to zoom out.
    • Use the scrollbars.
    • Hold the Spacebar and drag the image to scroll.

  4. Click on the brightest pixel on her socks that you can find. This picks up the sock’s bad color (which has an extreme color cast).

  5. Be sure to take note of where you clicked, as we’ll need to click there again later on.

Correcting the Color

  1. We now want to change this color into a pure white that is the right brightness. Let’s start with the color. As shown below, click on the S (Saturation) button.

    set saturation s button

  2. As indicated in the image below, drag the saturation slider all the way down until you have a neutral shade of gray. Do NOT click OK yet!

    set saturation s slider

  3. Click on the B (Brightness) button.

  4. Drag the brightness slider to the shade of white you think her sock should be.

  5. Click OK. If it asks you to save the new target color as a default, click No.

Changing the Image Using Your New Color

  1. Do your best to click again on the same pixel you clicked on before to set it to the new white point. You’ll see a drastic change! This sets the pixel you clicked to the neutral color you just created in the color picker.

  2. Follow the same procedure to set the Black point:
    • Double–click the Set black point eyedropper set black point.
    • Find what should be close to a pure black (like the fence rail top right, or the dark area behind Grandma’s head).
    • Adjust the saturation and brightness as appropriate and click OK.
    • If it asks you to save the new target color as a default, click No.
    • Click the same pixel you sampled earlier. You’ll see a drastic change!

    Once you’ve set the white and black points, feel free to make additional adjustments to the RGB or individual color channel curves until you’re happy with the overall tones and color.

  3. Save your file as yourname-1950sFamily.psd and close it.