Photoshop contains several commands for applying automated color adjustments, including Auto Levels, Auto Contrast, and Auto Color. Of the three commands, Auto Color is the most useful for print designers. When you choose Image --> Adjustments --> Auto Color, Photoshop uses the default options for automated color correction, and simply applies the adjustment—without displaying any dialog boxes or asking you to enter any settings. The results can sometimes be good enough to use in a layout, but they’re usually just a good starting point for making further adjustments. However, by tweaking the settings in the Auto Color Correction Options dialog box, you can get much better results from the Auto Color command and ultimately save production time. Here’s how it’s done:
Open an RGB image that needs correcting and press F/Ctrl+M to display the Curves dialog box. You’ll notice an Auto button located at the right of the dialog, and underneath it is an Options button. Click the Options button to display the Auto Color Correction Options dialog.
The Algorithms options at the top of the Auto Color Correction Options dialog tell Photoshop how to correct the image when the Auto Color command is applied. With the Enhance Monochromatic Contrast setting enabled, Photoshop applies an adjustment similar to the Auto Levels command, which is usually not balanced enough for most images. The default Enhance Per Channel Contrast setting does a fairly good job, but again is usually not balanced enough for print images. The bottom setting, Find Dark & Light Colors, is the one you want to use, along with the Snap Neutral Midtones option underneath.
By choosing the Find Dark & Light Colors algorithm and enabling the Snap Neutral Midtones option, you are telling Photoshop to color-correct the image by using the same method as if you were using the Black Point, White Point, and Gray Point eyedroppers in the Curves dialog. Find Dark & Light Colors determines the overall dynamic range by setting the black and white points in the image. Snap Neutral Midtones sets your gray point and helps balance the overall color.
At the bottom of the dialog is a section called Target Colors & Clipping. Here is where you can set limits to the dynamic range that Auto Color uses to correct with. If the bulk of your images require it, you can lighten the shadow target value and darken the highlight value just a slight bit, in order to limit the dynamic range that’s being corrected. If you find that you are losing detail in shadow and highlight areas when applying Auto Color, decrease the Black Clip and White Clip settings.
If you’d like to save these settings and use them with all of your images, click the Save As Defaults option at the bottom of the options dialog. Doing so tells Photoshop to remember these settings even after you close the dialog or restart the application. Now every time you apply the Auto Color command, you will get much more balanced results. You will also get the same results by clicking the Auto button in both the Curves and Levels dialogs.
Open an RGB image that needs correcting and press F/Ctrl+M to display the Curves dialog box. You’ll notice an Auto button located at the right of the dialog, and underneath it is an Options button. Click the Options button to display the Auto Color Correction Options dialog.
The Algorithms options at the top of the Auto Color Correction Options dialog tell Photoshop how to correct the image when the Auto Color command is applied. With the Enhance Monochromatic Contrast setting enabled, Photoshop applies an adjustment similar to the Auto Levels command, which is usually not balanced enough for most images. The default Enhance Per Channel Contrast setting does a fairly good job, but again is usually not balanced enough for print images. The bottom setting, Find Dark & Light Colors, is the one you want to use, along with the Snap Neutral Midtones option underneath.
By choosing the Find Dark & Light Colors algorithm and enabling the Snap Neutral Midtones option, you are telling Photoshop to color-correct the image by using the same method as if you were using the Black Point, White Point, and Gray Point eyedroppers in the Curves dialog. Find Dark & Light Colors determines the overall dynamic range by setting the black and white points in the image. Snap Neutral Midtones sets your gray point and helps balance the overall color.
At the bottom of the dialog is a section called Target Colors & Clipping. Here is where you can set limits to the dynamic range that Auto Color uses to correct with. If the bulk of your images require it, you can lighten the shadow target value and darken the highlight value just a slight bit, in order to limit the dynamic range that’s being corrected. If you find that you are losing detail in shadow and highlight areas when applying Auto Color, decrease the Black Clip and White Clip settings.
If you’d like to save these settings and use them with all of your images, click the Save As Defaults option at the bottom of the options dialog. Doing so tells Photoshop to remember these settings even after you close the dialog or restart the application. Now every time you apply the Auto Color command, you will get much more balanced results. You will also get the same results by clicking the Auto button in both the Curves and Levels dialogs.
Auto Color Correction
![Auto Color Correction]()
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