Color-Boost Your Images

Turn good shots into great-looking photos just by boosting their color. It takes just a few steps to make colors really pop off the screen.

Layers, the Gaussian effect and the Curves feature are used in this tutorial.

Step 1

Open an image to which you would like to apply color adjustments.

Step 2

Duplicate the “Background Layer” by choosing Edit > Duplicate. Name the new layer “Curves” and change the Blending mode to Soft Light in the Layers palette. The image colors instantly look better just by changing the Blending mode.

To boost the colors even more, use the Curves feature. In the Effects Browser (View > Show Effects Browser), select the Color adjustments group. Then, double-click the Curves thumbnail to apply the adjustment. Adjust the curves and click OK once you are happy with the adjustment. Use the image below as a reference.

Step 3

To soften the intensity of the colors, duplicate the “Curves” layer and change the Blending mode of the duplicate layer to Overlay. Reduce the Opacity to roughly 20% and name the new layer “Blur.”

Apply the Blur effect. In the Effects Browser, double-click the Blur thumbnail to apply the effect. Adjust the Radius to approximately 10 px, and click OK.

And, that’s all! Only a few steps and the colors look brighter and more vibrant.