Today I'm going to show you how you can use Per Channel Contrast to make your images stand
out and add that dramatic pop that your image deserves.
Also will learn a few Camera Raw tricks to add dimension and boost the details.
It's super easy to do.
So without any further ado, let's get started.
So here we are in the magical world of Photoshop again and if you want to go ahead and download
this photo and follow along, check the links in the description.
So the first thing that we have to do is create a Curves Adjustment layer.
My favorite, all time favorite.
Click on the Adjustment layer icon and then simply choose Curves.
Now instead of Curves, of course, we can add contrast by taking the sliders, taking the
right slider to the left and taking the left one to the right.
What that does is that it expands the dynamic range, makes the darkest part of the image
absolutely black and makes the brightest part of the image absolutely white.
Now that's one way of doing it.
It pushes all RGB channels.
Keep in mind, an image is made of red, green and blue.
What if we push the channels separately?
That's going to give you a more pleasing and interesting contrast which is dramatic.
So all you need to do is you need to select the Red Channel and then bring this slider
to the point where it begins to lose the details.
Just when it begins to lose the details, stop.
Beyond this point, it will lose the details in the clouds.
We don't want that.
And there's one great way of checking this.
All you need to do is to hold the Alt or Option when you play with the slider, just when you
begin to see the artefacts, it means that you're losing details.
Do the same with the left hand side.
It's okay if you're losing the details a little bit there.
Doesn't matter much.
Just see how that looks.
I think I'm going to go with just a little bit over here.
Let's go to the next channel - Green channel.
We have a lot of space to cover right here.
So, let's bring it to the left and let's bring the left one to the right.
Wonderful.
If we take a little too much, it's going to become a little magenta.
We don't want that.
So up until this point is fine.
Let's go to the Blue Channel.
And we're going to do the same.
Not so much blue because I like it a little yellowish.
I'm going to keep it at that.
And let's take this slider to the right, it adds amazing yellows.
I love that.
Now let's get back to the RGB channel.
And let's see if we can take this slider even further.
So you can hold the Alt or Option and take it to the point where it begins to lose the
details.
So at this point, I guess it is losing details.
I'm going to stop right there.
And that's how we have increased contrast per channel.
Let's have a look at the before and after.
So, here's the before.
Here is the after.
Look at that.
It looks amazing.
I can, of course, play with color tones or something.
So if you go to the Blue Channel, if you like a little bit more blue here, so you can just
increase the blue a little bit.
And that's absolutely fine.
Just to let you know, there's an automatic way of doing this as well.
So, let's collapse this.
Let's turn it off.
Let's create one more Curves Adjustment layer.
Click on the Adjustment layer icon, and then choose Curves and the automatic way is pretty
simple and straightforward.
Click on this grid over here, and then click on Auto Options.
And inside of that, you will have Enhance Per Channel Contrast and hit OK.
It automatically does the exact same thing.
If you go to the Red Channel, it has brought the slider to that point.
If you go to the Green Channel, see the point where it begins to lose the details it has
brought it exactly to that point.
Even with the Blue Channel.
Now the problem with this is that you don't have manual controls over it.
So, let's say I wanted a little more yellowish and I wanted to take this a little bit to
the right.
So it doesn't give you that kind of manual controls but you can use this as a starting
point.
So anyway, there are two ways of doing it.
Let's reset it.
Let's try Auto Options -Enhance Per Channel Contrast.
Hit OK.
So, this is one way of doing it automatic.
This is another way which is manual.
Wanted you to know both so that you know the concept.
Now, on top of this, we can try lots of interesting effects.
We can create one more Curves Adjustment layer, maybe Camera Raw effects, whatever you like.
So, let's create a Curves Adjustment layer.
We have to make the car stand out.
So click on the Adjustment layer icon and choose Curves again, and with the help of
the Hand tool right there, click and drag it up to make this area a little brighter.
And if you want to make this area a little darker, click and drag it down.
See adding contrast around the car.
So I'm just playing around it.
There you go.
Just a little bit brightness over here.
Have a look.
Here's the before, here's the after.
And I just want it on the car.
So select the Mask, press Ctrl or Command + I, take the Brush, make sure it's a Soft
Brush, and then paint around the car.
That's it, with white as the foreground color.
So you can select the Soft Round Brush from here, and just paint.
Nothing complex right there.
Smoothing, we don't need any of that at this moment.
Let's erase it from the clouds.
Press X to toggle between the foreground and the background.
And we don't need it in the clouds.
So just a little bump to the car as you can see.
Now after that, there's one more thing that you can do.
It's Camera Raw effects.
It's amazing.
So press Ctrl + Alt + Shift + E to create a merged layer.
Now, before you apply Camera Raw filter, let's convert this into a Smart Object.
So go to Filter - Convert for Smart Filters, hit OK, so that we can change the values of
Camera Raw later and go to Filter and then Camera Raw filter.
There are lots of things you can do here.
First of all, let's increase the shadows.
We are just focusing on the car at this point.
See, we are getting so much details, and then increase the Clarity.
It adds so much more details to the car.
But we don't want so much of it, too much of it because it creates halos.
A little bit is fine.
And then maybe we will decrease the highlights a bit to get details in the headlights and
then increase the whites.
This looks amazing.
Just on the car, right.
You can also try increasing the contrast a little bit.
That's great.
Now once you happy with this, just hit OK.
And this is just for the car.
Nothing else, right.
So you can hold the Alt or Option, click on the Mask button.
It creates a negative mask.
Then take the Brush, white as the foreground color, just paint on the car for the details.
There you go.
Now as you can see, the car is absolutely standing out you can also paint nearby ground.
There you go.
It's wonderful, isn't it?
Also what you can do, you can also create one more for the clouds.
So you can make a copy of this one.
So, with Layer 1 selected, which is the one with Camera Raw, let's make a copy of this
- Ctrl or Command + J, and this one is for the clouds.
Let's name it - CRAW Clouds.
And here, we can actually delete the Mask all over again.
Double click on the Camera Raw, and this time just let's focus on the clouds.
Just simply increase the Dehaze a little bit more to get more details on the clouds.
Decrease the highlights.
Wow.
Increase the whites even more.
Decrease the highlights.
Now, once you happy with this, hit OK again.
Now hold the Alt or Option, click on the Mask button.
This was just meant to be for the clouds.
And with white as the foreground color, just paint on the clouds.
That's all you need to do.
You can also try on the sky.
And there you have it.
On top of this, you can also try some Color Lookup Tables as well.
Click on the Adjustment layer icon and then choose Color Lookup and there are lots of
them that you can try.
So I'm going to just going to scroll through them.
You know what, the LateSunset was absolutely amazing, and we can decrease the Opacity of
it or change the Blend Mode as well.
But I'm going to try decreasing the Opacity a little bit and apply a tad bit, maybe 32%
or.. let's go 25%.
I loved it.
Now select the Mask again, take it away from the car because we want it to be absolutely
red.
See, how it's standing out.
So we're going to go 30%.
Now let's have a look at the before and after.
Here's the before, here is the after.
Dramatic change, right?
Now, if you think the overall effect is too much, you can select the layer just on top
of the Background layer, hold the Shift key, and then select the topmost layer.
Press Ctrl or Command + G to make a group and decrease the overall Opacity and gradually
increase it to your liking.
75% is great.
Before - after.
So, that's how to create dramatic and impactful images using Per Channel Contrast.
All you have to do is to create a Curves Adjustment layer and then go through the different channels
- Red, Green and Blue and have a look at the histogram and the sliders.
Just at the point where it begins to lose the details, stop.
Now, you don't have to follow the rules.
You can go beyond or go less.
It is your choice and your artistic expression.
Now, after you have increased the Contrast Per Channel, then you can go ahead and add
any effect that you want.
You can create more Curves Adjustment layers, or maybe Camera Raw filters as well.
So that's pretty much it for this video.
I hope this tutorial helped you and if it did, make sure to give us a like and also
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Till then, stay tuned and make sure that you keep creating.