Using Layers And Masks For Color Enhancement

In this tutorial I will show you how to use Layers & Masks for color enhancement. Layers & Masks come into play when we want to edit certain parts of a photo. Download the original photo & try, hope you will benefit from this tutorial & make your photos better.

Before

Original photo before any color adjustment.
[ Photo by favorizer.net / cc by-sa 2.0 / bigger size ]

After

After the color adjustment.
[ Edited by favorizer.net / cc by-sa 2.0 / bigger size ]

[ This tutorial is for The GIMP, you may apply similar steps in Photoshop ]

STEP 1

The first thing to do is to click on the “Duplicate Layer” icon at the bottom of the Layers Dialog to duplicate a layer from the original image. This will preserve a copy of the photo that can be used later on. Name the layers as “L1″. You may click the ‘eye’ icon to make the original layer invisible.

In fact, we want to create two layers. One “L1″ to show the leaf & blur background & another one “L2″ to show the Tree Trunk. In this way we can apply two different type of color adjustments into two difference layers.

STEP 2

Make sure “L1″ is selected & go to “Adjust Color Curves” ( Menu : Colors > Curves ). Change the Channel to Green & make the curve as shown above. This will give the leaf more Green. Next, change the Channel back to “value” & make the curve a “S” as shown above to improve the contrast of this layer. Then click OK to apply the adjustment.

STEP 3

Now, add a layer mask to layer “L1″. Right click the layer “L1″ & select “Add Layer Mask”. A “Add Layer Mask” dialog pop up, select “Black (full transparency)” & click “Add”. We have just masked out the whole layer “L1″ to make it invisible. In fact, the layer shows on the Image Window now is the original image.

STEP 4

Leave the layer “L1″ for the time being, Select the original image layer & click on the “Duplicate Layer” icon at the bottom of the Layers Dialog again to duplicate another new layer from the original image. Name the layers as “L2″. Make the layer “L2″ visible & we are going to adjust the color for Tree Trunk.

STEP 5

Select the layer “L2″ & go to “Adjust Color Curves” ( Menu : Colors > Curves ). Change the Channel to Red & make the curve as shown above. Next, change the Channel back to “value” & adjust the curve to improve the contrast. Then click OK to apply the adjustment.

STEP 6

At this stage, all the color adjustment is done & we will be working on the masks. Mask works in this way: Black color gives a full transparency to the layer & white gives a full opacity.

Select layer “L1″, make you are selecting the layer mask. Click the “Blend Tool” under the Toolbox Window & change the foreground color to white. Next, press Ctrl+G ( Menu : Windows > Dockable Dialogs > Gradients ) to open up the Gradients Dialog. Under this dialog, select “FG to transparent”.

Now, move your mouse to the photo, click & drag to draw a straight line. Repeat this until you satisfy with the color. We are changing the mask color from black to white & this is why the background is turning green, part of the layer “L1″ become visible.

STEP 7

The next task to do is to make the leaf color green. Click the “Paintbrush Tool” & change the Scale to 3.00. Zoom in & paint the leaf slowly, paint the whole leaf. Eventually, you are painting on the mask & not on the photo itself. You may change the tool to “Airbrush Tool” or make the brush size smaller when you are painting on the edge of the leaf.

FINAL TOUCH UP !

There you go, this is the final look. You may revisit each layer “L1″ & “L2″, and adjust the contrast further, use “Adjust Color Curves” … by now, you should know how to do it. Have fun !