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Dan Rodney/3 min read

Matching Tones in Composited Images

Matching Composited Image Tones

Curves Adjustment

Layer → New Adjustment Layer → Curves to fix flat blue sky tones.

Clipping Mask Targets One Layer

Check 'Use Previous Layer to Create Clipping Mask' so the curves only affect the sky layer.

Adjust Individual Color Channels

Switch the Curves channel from RGB to Red, Green, or Blue to neutralize color casts.

Desaturate Excess Color

Hue/Saturation adjustment with clipping mask removes too-vivid blues from a composited sky.

Master Photoshop at Noble Desktop

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

Master the advanced techniques of Photoshop including matching color, adjusting color channels, desaturating color, and using clipping masks with this comprehensive tutorial.

Topics Covered in This Photoshop Tutorial:

Matching Color, Adjusting the Curves of Individual Color Channels, Desaturating Color, Clipping Masks

Exercise Preview

beach family matching tones done

Exercise Overview

In the previous exercise, we added two different skies to this photograph. One matches the tones in the original image, but the other doesn’t. We need to add adjustment layers to fix the color of the sky, without affecting the other layers. Normally, adjustment layers affect all layers below them, but we can use a clipping mask to target only the sky layer we want to change.

  1. If you closed it, re-open yourname-BeachFamily.psd. (If you don’t have it finished for whatever reason, just open BeachFamily-2skies.psd.)

  2. The sky2 layer is a decent match to the original image so hide it if it isn’t already.

Adjusting the Contrast of Sky1

The sky1 layer is far too blue, and its tones are flat and dark. Let’s fix that now.

  1. Make sure the sky1 layer is selected.

  2. Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Curves. Don’t click OK until we say.

  3. Name it match sky tones.

  4. Check on Use Previous Layer to Create Clipping Mask. (We want this adjustment to only affect the sky. Turning on this option ensures it will not affect other layers.)

  5. Set the blending Mode to Luminosity.

    This lets us add contrast without raising the color saturation.

  6. Click OK.

  7. As shown below, drag the white point slider (the white triangle on the bottom) to the left to push the brightest highlights closer to white.

    match tones drag white point

    NOTE: The screenshots in this exercise show Photoshop’s lightest interface. Most of the screenshots in this book depict Photoshop’s default medium dark interface. Throughout this book, we may use the light interface when it improves the print quality. (Interface brightness can be changed by going into the Photoshop menu (Mac) or Edit menu (Windows), choosing Preferences > Interface, and clicking on the desired Color Theme.)

  8. The white clouds are standing out better, but let’s boost the contrast as shown in the screenshot below.

    match tones finish curve

Adjusting the Color of Sky1

  1. Let’s remove some of the blue. Make sure the match sky tones layer is selected.

  2. Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Curves and:
    • Name it remove blue.
    • Check Use Previous Layer to Create Clipping Mask.
    • Change Mode to Color.

  3. Click OK.

  4. Adjust the color to remove some of the blue. Below are some curve suggestions for the Blue and Green channels.

    sky blue&green adjust

Desaturating Sky1

  1. We’re almost there, but the blue of the sky is still more saturated than the clearing-storm-feeling suggested by this composited image. Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Hue/Saturation and:
    • Name it desaturate sky.
    • Check Use Previous Layer to Create Clipping Mask.
    • Set the blending mode to Color to avoid tonal changes.
    • Click OK.

  2. Pull the Saturation amount down until you’re satisfied with the color of the sky. (We think −45 looks pretty good.)

  3. Save the file and close it.