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Color Lookup Adjustments: by Martin Evening

color adjustment

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Zsuzsa
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178 views

Color Lookup Adjustments: by Martin Evening

color adjustment

Uploaded by

Zsuzsa
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Color Lookup Adjustments

By Martin Evening
Color Lookup adjustments
The Color Lookup adjustment was first introduced in Photoshop
CS6 and can be used to apply all kinds of varied image adjustment
coloring effects. It can use standardized ICC profiles (Abstract and
Devicelink), or the less standardized 3D LUT formats (which are
widely used in film and video). Basically, Color Lookup adjustments
offer a way to package a lot of complicated adjustments into a single
profile or LUT (lookup table). Credit should go here to former
Photoshop engineer Chris Cox, who built most of the 3D LUTs and
profiles initially provided in Photoshop. These are not as simple as
you might think. A lot of work went into their creation, including
writing new code, and as many as eight internal tone and color
adjustments are used to create the final effects.
This feature will be of particular interest to video editors because
the film industry has for a long time relied on the use of special 3D
LUT or Abstract profiles in order to color grade video. You will have
seen this all the time in various movies, where the film has been
given a certain type of moody color effect. Sometimes this has been
done to help unify the color feel of different shots, while some films
have incorporated a mixture of special effects. For example, Martin
Scorsese’s The Aviator used a special Technicolor™ colorizing effect,
which I reckon the 3strip.look 3D LUT profile aims to simulate. Using
the Figure 1 image as the starting point you can see three examples of
Color Lookup adjustments in Figures 2–4.

Figure 1 This shows the before version of the image to which I applied the Color
Lookup adjustments shown on the following page.

Adobe Photoshop CC for Photographers: Color Lookup Adjustments 2


Figure 2 The Figure 1 image with a Crisp_Winter.look 3D LUT adjustment.

Figure 3 The Figure 1 image with a Gold-Blue Abstract adjustment.

Figure 4 The Figure 1 image with a Gold-Crimson Abstract adjustment.

Adobe Photoshop CC for Photographers: Color Lookup Adjustments 3


Color Lookup Table Export
You can generate your own Color Lookup tables via Photoshop for use
in Photoshop, After Effects, and other image/video editing applications.
To do this, open an image, add some adjustment layers to give the
image the desired look and then go to the File menu and choose Export
➯ Color Lookup Tables... The Export Color Lookup Tables dialog
(Figure 5) will prompt you to give the Lookup table a name plus an
optional copyright string: i.e. ‘(©) Copyright’ followed by your custom
text. Selecting more grid points will result in higher quality tables at the
expense of producing bigger files. In the export dialog you can save the
look using the 3DL, CUBE, CSP or ICC profile formats (the first three
are all 3D LUT formats).
To export as a Color Lookup table the image you work on must
contain a Background layer plus additional layers to modify the
colors. This can include the use of color-filled pixel layers, gradients
and patterns incorporating the use of conditional blending. However,
for best results try using adjustment layers only to create the desired
coloring effect, as the use of pixel layers may give unexpected results in
the final exported Color Lookup table. Also, if you start with a Lab mode
file, the export command can save an ICC abstract profile (which is the
most generally used and most powerful of the formats). If you start out
with an RGB document, then only the 3D LUT and RGB device link
formats can be saved.

Figure 5 The Export Color Lookup Tables dialog.

Adobe Photoshop CC for Photographers: Color Lookup Adjustments 4


1 I processed this photograph in Photoshop by starting out with the image in Lab color
mode and adding a couple of adjustment layers: a Hue Saturation layer to desaturate
the color combined with a Color Balance adjustment to alter the color. I then saved the
image, went to the File menu and chose Export Color tables, checking the ICC profile
option (see Figure 5).

2 I then opened another image in Photoshop (this time in RGB mode), added a Color
Lookup adjustment layer and loaded the color lookup table I had just exported as an
Abstract profile. In this example, I reduced the adjustment layer opacity to 50%.

Adobe Photoshop CC for Photographers: Color Lookup Adjustments 5


Adobe Photoshop CC for Photographers: 2018 Edition book
By Martin Evening

Adobe Photoshop CC for Photographers: 2018 Edition is published by


Focal Press, an imprint of Taylor & Francis.

768 pages + Online website


Order via Focal Press secure online ordering: www.routledge.com
For more information go to the book website: www.photoshopforphotographers.com

Adobe Photoshop CC for Photographers: Color Lookup Adjustments 6

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