This tutorial goes through the basics of bringing your photos to life using level and colour adjustment in Adobe Photoshop by putting the colour back into those washed out looking photos.

We are going to use this rather dull and washed out image of a horse in the New Forest, taken using a digital camera.

Original Photo

1. Open the image

Open your original photo into Adobe Photoshop. You can download our photo of a horse if you would prefer.

2. Adjust levels

Open the Level Adjustment window by pressing [CTRL] + [L]. This can also be found under ‘Image’ > ‘Adjustment’ > ‘Levels’. You should see something similar to the screenshot below.

The Levels Window

Adjust the sliders so that the left and right hand side sliders are flush to the left and right of the levels respectively (see screenshot below). Move the middle slider to the left slightly to lighten the image. If the ‘Preview’ tick box is checked you will see your photo change as you move the sliders.

Level Adjustment

3. Adjust hue/saturation

We are now going to create a new colour adjustment layer. Under the ‘Layer’ menu go to ‘New Adjustment Layer’ and then select ‘Hue/Saturation’. When prompted for a name, click the ‘OK’ button to create the new layer. You should now see a window similar to the screenshot below.

Hue/Saturation Window

Enter ‘+8′ in the saturation box or move the saturation slider up until you are happy with the colour of the photo (see screenshot below). Make sure the ‘Preview’ tick box is checked to see the photo change as you adjust the slider.

Hue/Saturation Adjustment

All done!

You may have to adjust the levels and colours differently depending on the photo you use, however, the tools used will be the same. Experiment with these tools and see what difference this can make to your photos!

Before

After

This tutorial has gone through the basics of restoring the colour to a washed out image. The difference is amazing when comparing the before and after photos (above).

Odds & Sods