😮 Raw Color • 5 Things you Didn't Know for Lightroom & ACR

Get the Chroma Profiles and Presets: f64.co/chroma-yt
Color is everywhere, and we use it to process our color digital images. It's probably one of the most important things for you to master in your raw workflow. That's why I am going to share 5 Color Theory secrets with you today that will help you better understand the beast that is color theory and what is happening in ACR when you use specific tools.
Video Chapters
00:00 Intro
00:12 Tip 1: Saturation-Calibration vs Color Mixer
03:07 Tip 2: Hue rotation in ACR vs Ps
04:26 Tip 3: Color is easy to manage with presets
06:47 Tip 4: Color Grading is above all edits
08:13 Tip 4: The Curve can be tamed!
10:55 You didn't know this did you? or did you?
________________________________
Do you like the videos I make on KZbin?
Want to grow your photography exponentially?
1. Subscribe! subscribers see the content first and are the most likely to succeed in Photoshop
2. Head to the f.64 Academy website and get registered on my subscriber list. I deliver all kinds of extra tips and subscriber-only live events!
f64academy.com...
3. Become an Elite Member! I take Photoshop to levels you will never see on KZbin for the members of f.64 Elite with courses, critique sessions, members-only events, a community forum, and big discounts on my most premium courses.
http:/www.f64.co/elite

[@f64Academy]

What JUICY color theory secrets can you share with us today?

[@19Photographer76]

But Blake, if points on the Curve aren't locked, it's still a global change. I really don't care for Curves unless I'm in LAB but I know you don't use LAB. Good video and I hope you move your Profiles and Presets, users will surely like them! I think that's a plug...?!

[@f64Academy]

@@19Photographer76 thanks 😁 I'm right there with you, if prefer curves in PS. But some people use them here and it's a valid place whether it's global or not 😉

[@danlightened]

​@@19Photographer76What's LAB?

[@danlightened]

The point you raised about Adobe not telling in detail what happens behind the scenes, is a contention I've had with Adobe for years now. I've had a discussion with quite a few creatives on this topic as well. I'm not asking them to give away the codes behind but just what happens, like you talked about changing the matrix. These video of yours is the most I've got about Adobe's colour science. Otherwise, we're just left guessing and messing around.

[@f64Academy]

Yeah, I can understand that, though. There are SO many copycat RAW editors out there "trying" to compete with Adobe's engine. If they let that intel out, I can see others actually making a name for themselves. Some things are best left hidden.

[@danlightened]

@@f64Academy I see. Although I'm not saying they should give out the codes and everything. Just what a tool does. You know, like the difference between clarity, texture and dehaze.

[@PhreddCrintt]

Brilliant! A game-changer for me for sure. Thank you Blake!

[@f64Academy]

Glad you could find some help here.

[@DanielDWCreative]

"SHAMELESS PLUG". hahahaha, well done

[@f64Academy]

Ok fine, it was pretty shameful, lol! A man's gotta make a dollar somehow 😂

[@PaulVotava]

“Some Might Think” LOL Love it! Great video and agree 100%

[@f64Academy]

😁 gotta have fun with it!

[@SinaFarhat]

Thanks for the info! The calibration tools are so valuable and worth playing with! There is something funny I noticed when seeing people advertise preset packs and that is how you illustrate the product with a good old product box! It makes me think of the old days when a pc game I bought came with a box where I would find the game and the manual! Keep up the good work!

[@f64Academy]

Thanks! That's funny! I do use boxes because it makes it feel like a tangible thing. Marketing tip: after making my courses into boxes, my sales increased by 25% from one release to the next. People need to 'feel' like they're getting something.

[@quirkworks4076]

Thank you for doing all the heavy thinking for us so we can just create!!!

[@f64Academy]

Of course!!

[@adrianvanleeuwen]

I really like the last tip of using curve colors and moving left or right. Great tip!

[@f64Academy]

That one was pretty cool!

[@attilad66]

Hey B. That was a nice one. Cheers. Keep up the good work.

[@f64Academy]

😁 thanks! Will do!

[@wjgraham63]

Thank you. I am taking color theory in college. It is not a easy course. But I can use your amazing tip to make it through on the photo assignments.

[@f64Academy]

Wonderful! You got this! Color Theory is a life long journey. Keep at it!

[@seangallison1]

Any advice or recommendations for a red-green color blind photographer? I am always very reluctant to adjust colors in my images as a result.

[@f64Academy]

I hear ya! I can't quite help because there are about 20 different types of deficiencies out there. BUT, I have been told that this video has helped many with a similar concern. kzbin.info/www/bejne/g4GcfIRso8t3kNU

[@photonsonpixels]

Thank you for your tutorials, Blake. I always learn something new and useful. I recently watch a similar video from another photographer that I follow (Nigel Danson) explaining the impact of the calibration sliders on different colors - just as you did it early on in this video. The question I have is: How do you define "Blue" or "Green" or "Red"? I would have thought that you would be taking about "pure" colors, but this is not the case. I took a screen shot of your color wheel and focusing on the 4th concentric circle from the outside (the widest circle), I measured the RGB values in Blue and they came up as 42.7% red, 28.6% green and 93.3% of blue. A similar output comes from the Red and from the Green. So, if I see this, I am not surprised to see the calibration affecting all colors, regardless of which slide you move. But if I use "pure" red, green or blue, the calibration sliders only affect one color. My surprise came from the fact that despite using "impure colors", the HSL slides only affect one color when manipulating saturation saturation or lighting. Hue works differently as you explained. So what is the definition of red, green and blue? And, when we refer to the sensor in our cameras, does each pixel contain only one pure color? Or "impure" colors as in your color wheel? I apologize for my rambling; I hope you can follow it. Thanks again for your great tutorials Blake!

[@danlightened]

I've seen another such video as well. I don't know why a pure red or green or blue isn't used. Anyway in the real world photos we take, we're most likely to not have pure R, G, B. So, what's being shown is still applicable when editing our photos. (All this is just my assumption.)

[@TheOtherOtherMike]

Excellent presentation of how calibration works! 💯

[@f64Academy]

Thanks so much 😁

[@robynaldridge8304]

I already have the Chroma but I didn't know that little trick bout the curves in ACR. Now I'm off to try it out. Thank you, Blake.

[@WarrensIMG]

I'm glad I stayed on after the plug, great tip with the curves lol

[@f64Academy]

Thanks and thanks 😁

[@sylvynhophotographer8360]

By far the best tutorials !

[@f64Academy]

Thanks so much!

[@mitchidol]

You had me at "MAHOMES"

[@f64Academy]

Yes!!!!

[@mardayvirin708]

Thank you for this fabulous tip, taking my photos to another level.

[@f64Academy]

You are so welcome!

[@oldtvnut]

This video is another valiant attempt to figure out what the calibration sliders do, but like many others, it missed the mark somewhat. Itis correct that they affect the interpretation of the red, green, and blue pixel values from the sensor array, specifically, the translation from those RGB values into the working color space RGB values. What the controls actually do: Adjusting one of the primary color's saturation or hue by itself would cause an overall color balance change to all colors. Therefore, adjusting one of these controls is also made to produce a balancing change in the complementary color by adjusting the hue, saturation, and brightness of the other two primaries. An example is to increase the saturation of blue; the saturation of yellows is also increased to complement the change, by changing the red and green primaries. Or, change the hue of blue towards purple - at the same time you see a change of yellows towards green. If you think of the color wheel as being balanced on its center, then you can get an idea of what kind of complementary effects are made to keep the wheel balanced when you move one of the controls. "It affects all the colors because they all contain some red, green, and blue," which many videos have stated, is not a complete or very helpful description. The important thing to understand is the simultaneous effect on a primary color and its complementary color.

[@f64Academy]

I like this! And thank you! It's very hard to put that dang group of sliders into words! You nailed it.

[@oldtvnut]

@@f64Academy You're very welcome. I saw in many other videos that all colors get adjusted, but couldn't figure out how to choose settings (compared to the HSL sliders) until I realized the "equal and opposite" effect on complementary colors.

[@J5388T]

@@oldtvnut Thanks!

[@danlightened]

​@@oldtvnutWhat I don't get is, how is it then different from manipulating the R,G,B channels in the Tone curve? 🤔

[@rmnrmn7274]

To put it simple image consist of RGB channels mixed together that sliders under Calibration simply adjust each Red Green and Blue channel saturation and hue. Not really sure hue of RGB channel can be changed, but something in the way ACR processes it can, basically same Calibration + Curve is what used for ACR Profiles (Adobe Standard, Adobe Color etc).

[@andycoleman2708]

I was considering the Nik collection before I watched this, and I love your Zone System Express 7 so much, I opted for your plugins instead. I'm excited to try them!

[@f64Academy]

Awesome! Thank you so much :) Keeps you in the same workflow too. That's always a plus!

[@LE-bo4pp]

Wow I did not know/understand the difference between calibration and HSL. Thank you that was very helpful. Can you please explain the difference between profiles v presets. I use presets but i get very different/terrible results when I try to do batch processing on similar photographs even when they were taken at the same time. Kinda defeats the purpose of presets in my estimation. Please explain then I will be more inclined to purchase your bundle. Thank you.

[@f64Academy]

Sure thing. profiles are made from various methods in PS to set tones and colors a certain way without touching ANY slides in your workflow. All the "changes" to the image are stored in the profile data but alter the photo. So with presets, they just "record" the settings used on other images so you can use those settings on your current image. The major difference is that a preset alters your sliders and a profile does not. Using them in tandem, amazing possibilities!

[@AradioCardone]

Thumb up, very useful knowlege. I didn't know that and I have been working with the lightroom for over 6 years

[@elen68]

Thank you. Since I watched your video about calibration (half year ago?) I always start the editing from calibration.

[@f64Academy]

Sweet! I like it!

[@nilofido411]

I do a one click operation in the calibration and never touch the HSL..... I have a 2 images custom profile for each of my cameras created in Xrite with the use of their colour checker passport for general use or I create a dedicated profile for the shoot with one image of the passport for each lighting conditions. This way I am able to obtain colour accuracy, which is important for what I do, however it’s interesting to learn how to effectively manipulate colours if accuracy isn’t necessary and the aesthetics artistic is more important.

[@f64Academy]

That's a great way to use it too. But it does have some incredible potential for artistic saturation boosting. I really like it for that.

[@visualsbytanaka]

would love to see a video on your chroma profiles being used on portraits

[@TheSangjy]

I have the same theory about the camera calibration like you. I have been using it since a few years.

[@bogi_olsen]

Thank you very much for these great tips 🙂

[@f64Academy]

Glad you like them!

[@btnhstillfire]

I use HSL more for taking unwanted color/color noise out of the picture. Rather than increasing color or mixing.

[@DavidSuji]

Thanks for your info sir.. I learned something from your video

[@lukeedinburgh]

Nice explanation on an essential tool. Totally agree. However, my OCD tendencies were kicking in when you weren’t double clicking the sliders to bring them back zero. Haha 😬

[@f64Academy]

Lol, get over it 🤣🤣🤣

[@BieuvilleJeanBaptiste]

Great video, I learned really important stuff! 🙏

[@DB-wx1zs]

This was very helpful

[@f64Academy]

Glad I could help!

[@WTE28]

Just purchase, can't wait to try it

[@f64Academy]

Good choice!

[@WTE28]

@@f64Academy wondering, do you have a video explaining how to be organized with photos on your hard drive when dealing with Lightroom and Photoshop. I struggle so bad knowing where everything is at..also everything I do lightroom copy the photos and kill my space on my hard drive. I will have 1 ARW file and 5 tiffs of the same image

[@mordavian]

Really useful trick, thank you. Which lens did you use to take photo of Golden Gate? Is it ultra wide or 24 mm?

[@f64Academy]

That was a wide angle at 16mm

[@theusbadenhorst1848]

Great awesome.

[@f64Academy]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@InspiredPhotographyByDianne]

I would love to learn about the RBG Histogram, particularly in camera, for achieving great colors and if this would make a difference. If you have any videos already, I would love it if you would link it!

[@f64Academy]

I don't use the histogram for on camera color, really only for tone. There's not much you can do about the color control of the histogram on camera other than WB, but that doesn't matter when sitting RAW.

[@The_CGA]

It’s nasty for skies to use HsL-but pulling out satch and luminance from Greens and sometimes Yellows can really help with sports images. I know a man could use an ND filter to do the same thing, but the lost sharpness and autofocus issues that can arise have taught me the HSL is the place to do it

[@adventure_photo]

Great tips Blake, thanks. In regards to your last point using targeted adjustments on the curve in LR, do you know if there is a way to add a point to the curve and then use a key to nudge it up and down like you can in Photoshop? The targeted adjustment is great but nudging a point would be even better with more control. Thanks and love your channel! Every time I watch I learn something new!

[@f64Academy]

I'm not sure. I haven't tried it. Did you try it and not get the expected result?

[@MrFingers008]

What I want to know, what really bothers me is Out of Gamut! I spend time trying to get the colors right to my eye and then I check the gamut and most of the colors are way out of gamut for printing. By the time I fix the out-of-gamut colors the photo looks nothing like what I wanted. The worst colors are blue and green. Sometimes orange. All the vibrant colors look great on a backlit screen but what about printing? Why, or better yet how do we get those vibrant colors to print on a standard CMYK printer? Ugh, it's so frustrating.

[@f64Academy]

That is frustrating. But have you ever tried to print those out of gamut colors? I have and I don't mind the results without fixing them. The first thing to get wrapped around is that a print is reflected light and color and a monitor is backlit color. So the two are ALWAYS going to be different. Will a print ever be exact to the monitor, probably not, but we can get them close and close is all we really need because unless the viewer is seeing both, they don't know what they are missing.

[@MrFingers008]

@@f64Academy yes that is true. I wonder why printers use CMYK which is subtractive color as opposed to RGB which is additive color. I would think an RGB printer would be able to replicate the vibrant colors more effectively.

[@f64Academy]

@@MrFingers008 RGB is light based and CMYK is ink based. That's about all I got, lol.

[@nickorafael3887]

Thats helpful

[@Woici]

I've just ordered ist... and i'm exited, how it works 🙂

[@f64Academy]

Thanks for your support!

[@PRODBYNDRU]

Hey man been enjoying your videos! I was wondering if you can explain or even make a video about something. My issue is do most of my raw editing in lightroom but sometimes if I need to do some retouching on a face I use photoshop. My question is once the dng files leave lightroom and enters photoshop, its comes back to lightroom as a tiff. file Do I lose any raw info wit this process? or how can I do this in a better way without risking the RAW files the enter lightroom from the start?

[@f64Academy]

Thanks so much! I'm sorry, though, I'm not really the guy to ask about Lightroom workflow 😔 I don't use Lightroom.

[@PRODBYNDRU]

@@f64Academy I get that. Would you still know the answer to the question: bringing RAW files into Lightroom then moving them to photoshop, which makes them a TIFF and then they come back to lightroom as TIFF, will you loose any RAW data from the original Camera RAW files doing this?

[@f64Academy]

@@PRODBYNDRU yes you would because it's no longer a Raw file, but it would be negligible. If it's a 32 but Tiff, you wouldn't but I'm not familiar with that workflow in Lightroom

[@PRODBYNDRU]

@@f64Academy Thanks for trying to help!

[@danlightened]

Did you find a solution? Is there no option to export it as DNG? I think there is.

[@editovicky5947]

sir which monitor use to for photo editing tell please

[@f64Academy]

27" BenQ

[@L.Lyubomirov]

You can get this gorgeous blue sky with HSL by not going at 100% with the slider,simply adding less 30-40%.

[@f64Academy]

True! But its also image dependent the sky isn't always the same tint of blue :)

[@rpnandan]

sadly Adobe in not including calibration in Lightroom CC, it's only available in Lightroom Classic and ACR

[@f64Academy]

I don't believe that information is correct. Lr CC and Lr Classic are identical in nature. However, I do not believe it is available in Lr Mobile

[@rpnandan]

@@f64Academy then I think you never used Lightroom CC, first use then claim that I'm wrong, and no I'm not talking about the mobile application of Lightroom

[@f64Academy]

@@rpnandan hey man. I'll admit when I'm wrong, geez! Don't get in a wad, I'm a good guy here. I did some more research and it did appear that they took it out of LR CC and it's been gone for 2 years. That's a real shame because it's a powerful tool when used artistically. Lr Classic or ACR is the only place you'll find it. My bad, don't "cancel culture" me yet...

[@rpnandan]

@@f64Academy lol no cancel culture going to happen here, love your teaching content man

[@f64Academy]

@@rpnandan phew! Thanks! I appreciate it 😁

[@nimmira]

you know, I've been always puzzled by those people who object or feel upset about artists promoting something (of their own or other providers and sponsors); Like, seriously, how are artists supposed to provide and put bread on the table? At least it's within the video and from someone you are following (because, apparently, you are interested in the content) and not like those annoying YT video ads in the beginning and in the middle of the video and most of them are irrelevant to your interests *shrug* Thank goodness for those adblockers in my browser

[@f64Academy]

Yeah. KZbin is a weird animal sometimes with that. But there are a great number of people who, I guess, feel everything should be free on here and that the content creators are just independently wealthy 😂😂😂

[@nimmira]

@@f64Academy haha .. well they should be thankful to watch something for free (relatively) away from the zillions of boring channels on TV (I didn't watch TV on a regular basis in more than 10 years)

[@amateurphotographerassocia5965]

Great, will share ;)

[@notallaboutmeministry3285]

Thanks

[@zardosspinosa6944]

My eyes glazed over when I heard the word presets

[@f64Academy]

I hear ya! I'm not a fan of presets either, but these are more like a system for using color theory for better color separation and rendering at the raw level. They aren't push button gratification 😉

[@zardosspinosa6944]

@@f64Academy Exactly, thats why my eyes glazed over, I just like the freedom of doing it yourself.

[@wojciechskorza3051]

Such a useful knowledge, but already at the CLiR panel, where I had the opportunity to see your photographic work, I think that you speak too fast and for a person who does not speak English and uses various translators, it is difficult to catch the information. I would ask you to speak slower, because after a few of your films, I find that you have a lot of knowledge about the photography itself, from taking to processing the photo, and most importantly, you want to share this knowledge. Greetings from Poland from the city of "Fortress Przemyśl". Ps. I will definitely buy these tasty morsels of knowledge with the settings.

[@f64Academy]

There are options on KZbin to slow the videos down. I will not show down, I cannot slow down. Watch this video to learn why. kzbin.info/www/bejne/iIPJk4uPmtV-qaM

[@ChPerret]

I'm a little surprised that there isn't a preferential price (as is customary everywhere else) for those who purchased IP2 previously at the start of 2021.🤔

[@f64Academy]

I make the price as low as I can for the launch of all new products.

[@feelfreefpv]

Comparing the maximum of two sliders doesn't tell you much about wich tool is the better one.

[@f64Academy]

It tells you a lot more than not touching them at all 🤣

[@feelfreefpv]

@@f64Academy Yes, but tools are almost never used like that.

[@craigcompoliphotography1235]

Grey video.

[@f64Academy]

Thanks!

[@bobfeldberg9942]

Only 4

[@f64Academy]

Well at least you learned something

[@maldridge7630]

Tutorial is great but consider working on your method of delivery. You sound too abrasive and make the viewer anxious. Try to sound less confrontational.

[@f64Academy]

I can honestly say I've never heard that one before. Quite the opposite actually, but I'll try and work on it...

[@dktraveller8364]

I stopped watching when you said there is blue in yellow. Nope. No red in cyan and no green in magenta either.

[@f64Academy]

Okay, true, maybe on the purest form of that color, but in their hues, yes you will find various pixel values of other colors. I'm really curious, have you ever photographed the purest form of saturation of any color? In the last 20 years of shooting digital I can honestly say I never have. What you think is blue, is actually a hue of blue and not pure blue, likewise for all other colors.

[@dktraveller8364]

@@f64Academy I think if we are to help people understand colour then we must be precise. I don't believe that you have never captured a hue that had zero parts of either R, G or B.

[@f64Academy]

@@dktraveller8364 I definitely have, but I have not captured 255 red and 0 blue or 0 green... That's what I'm getting at. And please, before you downplay my education take a look at what I have taught and how much of it I have taught. I specialize in helping others understand color theory for photography. I get your point and it's definitely taken, and I will be more clear on the future. That's called improvement through constructive criticism, but please don't be dismissive. I appreciate you.

[@dktraveller8364]

@@f64Academy well, is it possible that at some time you captured say 68,0,0 or maybe 0,0,36?

[@f64Academy]

@@dktraveller8364 it could be, all I'm saying is pure saturation of color is rarely captured, and almost any point I hover on any of my images has 3 color variables all with some data. There's no need to dig this deep on a moot point, in my opinion.