Match colorsUse the Match Color command to matchthe overall color and tonal values in oneimage with those in another image. Colormatching comes in handy when you have aseries of product shots where slightly differ-ent lighting and camera settings produceddifferent tonal values in each photo. For the following steps, use one-layer images.

To use the Match Color command:1. Open an RGB image to be the source

for the desired color and tone, and a second RGB image to be the target ofthe color match 1.

2. Optional: Display the Histogram paletteto view a graph of the tonal changes.

3. With the target image active, on theLayers palette, drag the Backgroundover the New Layer button. Leave thenew duplicate layer active.

4. Choose Image > Adjustments > MatchColor, and make sure Preview is checked.

5. From the Source pop-up menu, choosethe name of the source image that youopened in step 1 2. The target imagewill immediately adopt the color tones of the chosen source image.

6. In the Image Options area, do any of thefollowing:

Move the Luminance slider to adjust theoverall brightness of the image withoutaffecting the hue.

Move the Color Intensity slider to reduceor increase the color saturation in theimage.

Move the Fade slider to restore some ofthe original color to the image.

Check Neutralize to remove anyunwanted color casts from the targetimage. If this causes too great a colorshift, you can try lessening the effect byusing the Fade slider.

7. Readjust any of the sliders, as needed,then click OK 3.

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2 The Match Color dialog box, with an image chosenfrom the Source pop-up menu

1 The original images: A sunset scene on the leftand a daytime scene on the right

3 The Match Color command caused the sunsetimage to adopt the lighter tones of the daytime image.

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Chapter 13

3 And finally, we used the Match Colorcommand to recolor theselected area using thecolor from the selectionin the source image.

Match Color may also come in handy formatching a single area of color between twophotos, such as an article of clothing or aproduct color for a catalog.

To match specific areas of color betweentwo photos:1. Open an RGB image to be the source for

the desired color and tone, and create arough selection that contains the desiredarea of color you want to match 1. Tryto include both highlights and shadowsin the selection.

2. Open a second RGB image to be thetarget of the color match.

3. In the target image, create a preciseselection of the area to be adjusted 2.With the selection still active, chooseLayer > New > Layer via Copy (Ctrl-J/Cmd-J) to duplicate the selection to anew layer.

4. Choose Image > Adjustments > MatchColor, and make sure Preview is checked.

5. From the Source pop-up menu, choosethe name of the source image that youopened in step 1. Check Use Selection in Source to Calculate Colors to colormatch using only the colors within theselection in the source photo (not theentire image).

6. Follow steps 6–7 on the previous page toadjust the color match 3.

7. Try checking, then unchecking UseSelection in Target to CalculateAdjustment. If checked, only colorswithin the selection in the target imagewill be used for calculating the adjust-ments (helps preserve light and dark val-ues); if unchecked, colors in the wholelayer will be used for the calculation.

8. Merge the selection layer with theBackground, if desired.

TIP The Match Color command adjusts onlythe active layer in the target image. Ifyou want adjust the entire image instead,merge or flatten the image before usingthe command.

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Color correct a single imageYou can use Match Color as a simple, quick methodfor removing a color cast on an image. With theimage open, choose the Match Color command, but don’t select any Source image. Check Neutralize,then adjust the Image Option sliders, focusing particularly on the Fade slider.

Save your settingsYou can save your Match Color settings and applythen to any image. In the Image Statistics area of theMatch Color dialog box, click Save Statistics, enter aname, then click Save. To reuse your saved settings,click Load Statistics, locate the saved settings file,then click Load.

1 First, we looselyselected an area ofa woman’s sweater.

2 Next, weselected a t-shirt in

another image.