Editing in LAB

February 27, 2008 by Daniel | Filed Under Photoshop, Tutorial 

Comparison

This is a walkthrough of how I edited this image in LAB color space.

The image I started with:

1.jpg

Step 1:

Convert to LAB color mode.

LAB

Step 2:

Make a curves adjustment layer. Adjust the A and B channel curves like below.

A B

Saturated colors

The colors will become very saturated in a way that looks much nicer than using hue/saturation in RGB mode.

Step 3:

Duplicate the background layer and apply Shadow/Highlight to the Lightness channel.

Duplicate Layer

Select only the Lightness channel but keep all channels visible by clicking the eye icon next to the Lab channel.

Lightness channel

Then apply the Shadow/Highlights adjustment by going to Image:Adjustments>Shadow/Highlight. My values are not cut in stone, you need to experiment a bit here. The image can look a bit flat but we will fix that in the next step.

Shadow Highlight

9.JPG

You can adjust the opacity of the Shadow/Hightlights if you want to bring back some more shadows.

Step 4:

Edit the Curves layer with an S-curve on the Lightness channel to bring back contrast and depth.

10.gif

11.jpg

Step 5:

Sharpen the image (preferably in the Lightness channel) and your done.

Result

Comments

3 Responses to “Editing in LAB”

  1. Nolawi on May 30th, 2008 15:49

    Then what do you change it back to RGB after you are done and it will be ok or what?

    Thanks for the info though I will keep in mind next time I fire up PSD

  2. Daniel on July 10th, 2008 21:12

    Yes, you need to convert it back to RGB to save it as a jpg.

  3. John on August 6th, 2008 20:16

    Hi there! LOVE this tutorial. It makes practically ALL my pictures look excellent. :) But usually I do edit them a bit further by tweaking contrast and such. I like how the pictures, after being flat, pretty much jump at you from the screen. Really dynamic. Thanks a lot! ^^

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