Smart Saturation
September 30, 2010 2 Comments
The Saturation slider in the Exposure Tool can boost colors in a pleasing way. We call it “Smart” saturation.
Using the Saturation slider will ensure that colors which are less saturated get a boost while colors that are already saturated are left relatively untouched.
In general it’s safe to apply 10-25% saturation to most images.
Before
A bit of saturation added to the landscape image below. It just makes the image richer and more colorful.
After - Smart Saturation 35%
Who said that the world is not a colorful place?
This is good to know. I am so able to over saturate an image. This little pearl of wisdom will help me to be on the ‘right side’ of stauration.
Hmm… How much must the colors be sturated in the ‘before’ picture to get less saturated than the colors, which are just a little bit less saturated? In other terms ‘where’ is the smart threshold? In my view, the colors in the sample are all under that threshold. A good example would show already saturated colors and some unsaturated colors.
The tool will be really smart when the user will be able to choose the threshold and will not contribute to a sometimes unwanted ‘warm shift’.