Photoshop Tutorial | Enhancing Colors with Photoshop

Here is the photo i will be using for this tutorial:

(I just had a photo shoot the other day with a couple of friends. We made fake blood and let me just say that playing with [fake] blood is funner than you would think.)

Let's begin:

(remember, pictures vary, so adjust to your own preferences when needed) 

1)  Open up your file on photoshop

2)  Images > Adjustments > Gradient Map

     choose the black & white gradient - if you do not have one, create your own by double clicking the      "color stops"  on each side of the gradient and changing them to black and white.

     your image should be in black & white right now

     feel free to adjust the color stops to your liking 

    if you want your picture to be darker, move the black color stop closer to the middle

    if you want your picture to be lighter, move the white color stop closer to the middle

    Hit okay.

3) Edit > Fade Gradient Map 

   set the mode to soft light (overlay works as well, but provides a darker effect)

   adjust the opacity to your liking 

     Hit okay.

4) Images > Adjustments > Selective Color

  this is where you have to work based on your chosen picture

  for mine, i want to enhance the red and green colors

  so i will select:

                     colors: red

                     increase the black % (to give the red more contrast)

                     increase the yellow % (to give the red a glow)

                     decrease the cyan %  (to lighten the red)

my picture now looks like this:

now we are going to work on the greens

 so i will select:

                     colors: green

                     increase the black % (all the way to 100%)

                     increase the yellow % (all the way to 100%)

                     increase the cyan %  (all the way to 100%)

                     decrease the magenta % (all the way to -100%)

this is what my picture looks like now

as you can see, the green + red is much more brighter and vivid than before

     Hit okay.

5) Images > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation

    

   find the box where it reads "master"

   scroll down & select the color you want to focus on

   for my picture, this is still red and green

   for the reds:

   i will increase the saturation level (+28)

   and decrease the lightness (-16)

  for the greens: 

   i will increase the saturation level (+30)

     Hit okay.

6) Images > Adjustments > Vibrance

   increase your vibrance (i increased mine to 100%)

     Hit okay.

7) Images > Adjustments > Curves

  play with curves to your liking

  

  for me:

            output: 39

            input: 34

 (this lightened the image)

now this is what it looks like

     Hit okay.

7) Filter > Sharpen > Smart Sharpen

for me:

            amount: 79%

            radius: .07 px

     Hit okay.

So, we went from 

this

to this

other things you can do are:

                                           Images > Adjustments > Levels

                                           Images > Adjustments > Color Balance

I hope that helps! :)