Adjusting skin tones

Like the Basic and Advanced modes, the Color Editor's Skin Tone mode is both intuitive and easy to use. It is also extremely powerful and can be used to make skin tones look brighter, natural, and more pleasing, but it can also be used to balance patchy areas of skin or uneven application of the make-up.

While the HSL amount sliders in the Skin Tone mode can be used in the same way as the other Color Editor tools, its real power lies in the uniformity sliders. However, the concept behind the uniformity tool works slightly different from the other modes.

As with the Basic and Advanced color editor workflow, the color to be corrected must be defined to base the adjustments on. Unlike the usual workflow, however, you should aim to pick the color you wish to keep and expand the range using the wireframe to include hues which appear to be unwanted (e.g., for Caucasian skin, pick a neutral tone and expand the range to the reds and yellows).

The uniformity tool uses this color pick in the hue selection as a reference. As the sliders are moved to the right, the colors in the range encompassed by the wireframe are adjusted towards the reference point, creating a more uniform color. A rough local adjustment mask on the skin tone area can be used to prevent the uniformity adjustment from affecting other areas of the image with the same color.

In addition to the 2-D color wheel’s, built-in Hue slider, Saturation, and Lightness sliders, located left and right respectively, can be used to fine-tune the reference point (e.g., to warm or to cool down the skin tone). Note that the hue and saturation range is automatically adjusted to compensate for the repositioning of the respective reference point.

While the Skin Tone mode has been optimized for skin tones, it can be used for editing any color.

1. Go to the Color tool tab.
   
   
2. Choose the Skin Tone tab in the Color Editor tool.
   
   
3. Use the Color Picker to select a color from the image that is in need of correction in the Viewer. It may help by enlarging an area of the face/skin to a 100% image view.
   
   
   
   
4. Adjust the Smoothness slider as necessary. Adjustment ensures that selectively changed colors get a natural look with smooth transitions.
   
   
   
   
5. Refine the color range selection in the 2-D color wheel by clicking and dragging the individual components of the wireframe. A smaller selection range is more targeted, however, working in larger areas of color will avoid giving an image an unnatural appearance. When removed from the dock, the Color Editor is scalable for improved precision.
   
   
6. Refine the color pick or reference point by using the 2-D color wheel’s Hue, Saturation, and Lightness sliders, if necessary. Note that the wheel’s Hue slider is built-in and adjusted using the center handle.
   
   
   
   
7. Adjust the chosen color(s) using the Hue, Saturation, Lightness Amount slider under the Uniformity section. Dragging the Uniformity sliders to the right adjusts the hue, saturation, and lightness in the selection range closer to that of the picked color. The color(s) will be adjusted instantly in the Viewer.