Color Wheel

The Color Wheel filter adjusts precise colors in an image by changing the color's saturation, hue, brightness, contrast, and contrast balance. The Color Wheel tool adjusts smoothness, which acts like a feathering tool to soften a color's edges. The Color Wheel filter is particularly useful for common requests like making a blue sky more blue, or brightening dark water that is meant to depict a bright lake.

To adjust color using the Color Wheel:

  1. Select Filter | Color | Color Wheel from the main menu, or press Shift + Alt + H.
  2. Choose a color to edit by clicking and dragging the section of the color wheel around, or by using the eyedropper on the image itself. When moving the eyedropper around the image, note the dot, known as the hue indicator, move around the wheel to show the where the hovered-over color sits on the wheel.
  3. To refine the selection, increase or decrease the color selection size by clicking and dragging the double arrows at the edge of the selection on the wheel. Or, refine the color saturation of the selection by clicking and dragging the selection away from the edges of the wheel, or away from the center of the wheel. The less saturated colors are in the center of the wheel and the more saturated colors are towards the edge of the wheel.
  4. Set the options as described below.
  5. Do one of the following:
    • Click Apply to apply any changes.
    • Click OK to apply any changes and close the tool.
    • Click Cancel to discard all changes and close the tool.

To reset any changes, right-click on either the relevant slider, or the wheel to reset all changes.

Color Wheel Options

Invert the selected colors on the wheel

To invert the selected colors, click the Invert the selected colors on the wheel icon.

Press and hold to preview the selection mask

To view a color wheel selection, press and hold the icon to preview the selection mask.
Auto preview the selected range Enable the checkbox to auto preview the selected range within the selected area in the image.

Smoothness

Adjust the edge of the selection by using the Smoothness slider to soften or sharpen the cut-off point of the selection edges, similar to feathering.

Saturation

Slide left to decrease saturation and slide right to increase saturation.

Hue

Slide left or right to adjust hue.

Brightness

Slide left to decrease brightness and slide right to increase brightness.

Contrast

Slide left to decrease contrast and slide right to increase contrast.

Contrast Balance

After adjusting contrast, adjust the contrast balance, which changes whether the contrast is applied to the lighter or darker colors in the image.

To adjust multiple colors using the Color Wheel:

After making initial color wheel edits, make changes to other colors using additional color wheels by clicking the green plus + symbol adjacent to the color wheel icon.

To delete additional Color Wheel:

Additional color wheels can be deleted up until the either the Apply or OK buttons are clicked.

To delete an additional color wheel, click the red X adjacent to the list of color wheels.

This filter features a Pixel Targeting tab (see Pixel Targeting for more details).

Use the Edit Brush to paint this effect onto specific areas of the image.

Use the Gradient tool to transition this effect across specific areas of the image.

Use the Radial Gradient tool to apply effects around, or directly to, a center point.

See also: