Color Range

Color Range

In this lesson, you will learn how to use Color Range to select specific colors in an image.

When to use

Using Color Range is useful anytime you want to select similar colors, or if you want to select all of the highlights, midtones, or shadows in an image.

Instructions

Getting Started

• Create a copy of the headphone images with the Layer Mask from the previous lesson. 
• Duplicate the layer by pressing Command/Ctrl+J to duplicate it.
• Hold the Control Key and click on the layer mask thumbnail before choosing 'Delete Layer Mask'. 
• Go to the Select Menu and choose 'Color Range' from the dropdown menu.
• You will now see the Color Range Panel with a small box showing a black-and-white preview of the color or colors you have selected.

Sampling Colors

• If you select the first eyedropper to the right, you will be able to click on some of the darker areas of the image to select it.
• Use the second eyedropper with the '+' symbol to add more colors to your selection, or the eyedropper with the '-' symbol to remove them.
• After selecting a range of colors, move the 'Fuzziness' slider around to modify your selection. 

Highlights, Midtones, and Shadows

• In some cases, it may be better to select a range of colors based on the values.
• Click on the 'Select' menu at the top of the Color Range Panel to reveal a dropdown menu.
• From the menu that appears, choose 'Highlights'.
• You should now see that all of the brightest parts of the image have been selected based on the black-and-white preview.
• Now you will be able to move the 'Fuzziness' and the 'Range' sliders to refine the selection.
• Once you are happy with how the preview looks, press 'Enter' or 'Return' on the keyboard to create your selection.
• Just like in the previous lesson, we can use the Lasso Tool (L) to add or remove parts of the image to the selection.
• Alternatively, you can use the Brush Tool (B) to paint with black to remove parts of the background, or white to paint them back in.

Refining Selections

• If there are still parts of the subject that didn't get selected, you can use one of the previous masks to activate a selection by holding the Command/Ctrl Key and clicking on the layer mask thumbnail icon.
• Once the selection is active, you can choose the mask that is attached to your new layer and fill it with solid white.

Hints & tips

• While any of these techniques on their own can be useful depending on the photo you are working with, the real power comes from combining these tools and techniques together. 
• Selecting highlights, midtones, and shadows can also be useful for making selections if you want to target specific parts of an image to apply an Adjustment Layer.