Ever get that sort of washed out image where the color just seems drab and dull? There are a number of techniques that designers use to make colors really stand out. In this 3 part series I want to illustrate three different ways of using Photoshop CS3 to make your colors pop.

The first method is using LAB color, which can do wonders for an image in just a few easy steps. This does not stand for lab color, it is L-A-B. LAB color is a mode setting in Photoshop CS3 that is very easy to work with. It creates 3 channels to work with. One is lightness, one is A, and the other is B. Now this method is not fool proof and these settings can be adjusted as necessary.

Step one:
Find an image to use.

• Below is the image I am using in its original state.
• Open the image in Photoshop CS3 .

Step two:
Change to LAB mode.

• Open the image/mode panel
• Select LAB color.

Step three:
Adjust color using the curves pallete.

• Open the image/adjustments/curves panel.
• Select the A channel.
• Move your corner anchors in half way to the next line.
• Repeat for B channel.

Step four:
Adjust the lightness as necessary from the center of the curve

Step five:
Change back to RGB mode

And there you have it.