Selective Colour Grading

[Jonathan Posner]

Lightroom Version Number

Lightroom Classic 12.01

Operating System

1. macOS 11 Big Sur

I may be missing something obvious but I don't seem to be able to find a way to apply Colour Grading to selected or masked parts of an image. For example, to just apply a highlight tint to a light sky without also affecting a similar tonal value of, say, white sand in another part of the image. (I'm a bit surprised that it's not one of the many functions enabled in Masking mode.)

Any advice or workaround gratefully received!

 

[Victoria Bampton]

You're not missing anything, Color Grading is local. You could use a luminance range mask combined with a sky mask (for example) to add a color to just specific tones within your selection though.

 

[Jonathan Posner]

You're not missing anything, Color Grading is local. You could use a luminance range mask combined with a sky mask (for example) to add a color to just specific tones within your selection though.

As I feared, but thank you. I admit I'm perplexed that they've missed this

 

[Johan Elzenga]

As I feared, but thank you. I admit I'm perplexed that they've missed this

You could also assume that they have not yet implemented it. Adobe has statistics about what people use most in apps like Lightroom and Photoshop, so they set their priorities accordingly.

 

[Jonathan Posner]

That's very reassuring. I'm assuming (hoping) that Adobe read this blog.

When I try and do this, it feels like I'm back in Lightroom 2 or something.

So I have a list of around thirty precise highlight values in Colour Grading which I use to counterbalance a cyan sky or add pale pink, orange etc. The point is, they're all known and repeatable and using Saturation and Balance I've always got the precise control I need and I can apply or alter it in seconds (unlike using targeted adjustments in HSL, which would have to be trial and error for each image.)

The screenshot shows an example of adding a 'Lavender' tint to the sky at a setting that I use regularly. Sometimes I might want to increase the Saturation, but I can't because it noticeably stains other parts of the image. Neither, for the same reason, can I increase Balance. With 'bleached' grass in foreground from the summer drought here my hands are therefore completely tied. Such a pity! All Adobe have to do is bring Colour Grading into the fold of all the other masking adjustments they've already included..

 

[Jimmsp]

You could also assume that they have not yet implemented it. Adobe has statistics about what people use most in apps like Lightroom and Photoshop, so they set their priorities accordingly.

Personally, I would like to see the tone curve implemented first into a LR mask.
But I just do it with a round trip to Photoshop. Not as convenient, but very doable.

 

[Johan Elzenga]

Personally, I would like to see the tone curve implemented first into a LR mask.
But I just do it with a round trip to Photoshop. Not as convenient, but very doable.

The tone curve is already implemented in Camera Raw, so it seems just a matter of time before it will also appear in Lightroom. Color grading may come too one day, but there is no guarantee, nor did Adobe confirm that (they rarely confirm future developments). I think that will depend on how many people actually use global color grading. If color grading is popular, then I do expect local color grading one day. If it is disappointing however, then Adobe may not want to waste their time on bringing local color grading to Lightroom.