How to Use a Gradient Map Layer in Photoshop CC

hi guys today i'm going to be showing you how you can use the gradient map adjustment layer to color grade your photos using photoshop and i'm going to start right now [Music] what is up guys photo fever here and welcome back to the channel so the gradient map adjustment layer is an incredibly powerful adjustment layer when it comes to color grading your photos so today i thought i'd create a video for showing you how it works but also a few tips and tricks i've learned along the way that makes it a lot simpler and quicker to color grade your photos when using the gradient map adjustment layer so without further ado guys let's get started right guys so before we go ahead and actually edit this photo what i'm going to do is i'm going to show you how this gradient map adjustment layer works so i'm going to do is i'm going to go ahead and open up a simple black to white gradient in photoshop so what we need to do is go firstly let's go ahead and open up the gradient map adjustment layer so in the bottom right hand corner you've got your adjustment layers layers and then we're going to do is we're going to go click i'm going to go up to gradient map now as you can see a gradient map overlays a particular gradient using the luminosity of each pixel on the photo so as you can see our gradient here we've got all of our shadows found on the left hand side we've got all of our mid tones found in the middle and then on the right hand side we've got all of our highlights and if i simply create a black to white gradient you can see how that overlays onto our gradient behind it because our gradient is a simple black to white gradient you can see how it implements colors onto the photo now obviously that changes depending on what's beneath the layer so for instance if you've got a photo that's a variety of different colors variety of different brightnesses that will actually change and map out the photo and overlay a gradient to that hence the name a gradient map so as you can see if we want to add red to all of the black tones in the photo we can go ahead and choose the left hand side you can see where it's black we'll go ahead and select red so i'm going to choose red here let's go ahead and choose a nice red and as you can see that has mapped out all of the red tones onto the black and shadow areas and then we can click ok to actually implement that change and then if we want to add let's say blue to the highlights we can go ahead and select our blue highlights we're going to go ahead and click and i'm going to go ahead and add in a blue hue to that and then we can go ahead and click ok to implement that change so as you can see we have got a red to blue gradient mapped over a simple black to white gradient so now you understand how this adjustment layer works by mapping out depending on the luminosity of each picture beneath it let's go ahead and add this to a photo so what we're going to do is i'm going to go ahead and just delete this and let's open up our first sample image of the day which i got from unsplash.com right so let's go ahead and open up that gradient map adjustment layer so go back to the right hand side bottom right hand corner click and then we're going to go ahead up to gradient map lovely so let's go ahead and open up our gradient editor now at the top you've got a variety of presets but what i like to do is often create a custom gradient depending on what style of photo you're working with so for this type of photo i want to create more of a sunset look so we're going to add in some sunset colors that you can find organically especially when it comes to sunset style photography so that is very orange yellows and more warmer tones so that's what we're going to be adding into this photo so firstly let's go to our shadow areas and what i'm going to do is i'm going to add in a nice blue to the shadow areas so we're going to go for something like so i'm going to click okay and then i'm going to go to our highlight areas and i'm going to go click on that icon and then i'm going to go ahead and choose yellow for this example so as you can see we've created a simple gradient from blue to yellow and if i go ahead and click ok you can see that that has mapped out the photo to where all the shadow areas and highlight areas are is where you can find those specific colors but it's kind of ruined the photo and it's not looking correct at all that's because what we're going to do is now change the blending mode now there are a few blending modes that work really well with the gradient map adjustment layer so you'll go choose our blending mode options and all the ones you can find between overlay and hard mix are called your overlay blending modes now these blending modes actually change and manipulate the colors beneath it using the layer that you've added so it's really easy just think of it like a pane of glass if you've got a slight tint to the pane of glass it's going to change the colors behind it so it isn't a direct change it mixes the colors beneath it to create a brand new color so what i'm going to do is i'm going to go ahead and choose the blending mode overlay for this example so as you can see the colors are now starting to bleed through from the background with an overlay of the color that we've added and it creates this really cool effect but as you can see it's incredibly strong it's a bit too uh contrasty for this particular photo so what we can do is actually just simply reduce the opacity of this layer so i'm going to go to my adjustment layers icon which is this one here gradient map and i'm going to go ahead and go to our opacity and i'm going to go ahead and drop that down and i find around 30 works for most photos but do play around with the opacity to see what works best with your photo so you can see we do the before and we do the after and we've added in quite a lot of blue to the shadows and this really nice kind of warm yellow effect to the highlights but what happens if you want to add more than one color well you can do this and you can actually add hundreds of colors to a gradient map all depending on where you add them so let's go back to our gradient map editor so let's double click on that gradient map and let's go ahead and just click on the gradient and it opens up our gradient editor now as you can see we've just simply got two colors here but once if you want to add more than that well what you can do is just beneath it you have a different icon displayed on your mouse this if you click this will actually add a new color to your gradient map and you can add as many as you like as you can see but let's just add three for this example so let's delete all of those you can click on them and if you depress delete you can go ahead and delete them like so let's go ahead and actually change the middle one to let's say an orange color to add a little bit of difference between the blue and the yellow create a little bit more of a seamless gradient so let's go ahead and click on that and let's go ahead and add in a nice orange so let's make it a little bit more saturated now depending on where we add it well depending on how it affects the photo so if we drag it over to the right it's going to be affecting less of the midtones and creating a cooler theme to the photo if we go ahead and drag it over to the left hand side you can see it's actually creating a larger difference in creating more of a warm tone that's because it's overpowering a lot of the shadows creating a warmer tone to it so you can move these around until you are happy with the results and you can actually choose a specific location choosing your location percentage icon at the bottom here so i'm going to go ahead and choose 35 for this example and as you can see it has drastically changed the photo so if you go ahead and click ok you could do the before and you could do the after and as you can see i am really happy with the results but this isn't just possible with landscape photos you can also do this with portrait photos as well and i'm also going to show you a quick trick on how to do this but a hell of a lot quicker using a gray point so let's go ahead and just cancel out of here and let's go ahead and open up sample two which is this photo which again guys is available on pixels.com and the link to both of the photos will be in the link in the description so we've got this photo here which is predominantly white with the model in the middle so what i'm going to do is i'm going to start from a gray point and then add in colors because if you go ahead and add grey and change the blending mode especially 50 gray all of the colors will be invisible and then you can add in so let me show you what i mean so let's go ahead and add in a gradient map adjustment layer so bottom right hand corner gradient map and let's go ahead and choose second to bottom so what we're going to do is double click on here and on the left hand side what we're going to do this is our darkest pixels we're going to go ahead and choose a hue of zero a saturation of zero and a brightness of fifty percent and we're going to do exactly the same for the highlights so we're gonna go ahead and click on that icon and then we're gonna go ahead and choose zero for hue zero for saturation and fifty percent for brightness so we've got this completely gray photo you can see here so what we're gonna do now is change the blending mode now again guys if you choose one of the blending modes that i recommend all of the grey in the photo will completely disappear because that is how the blending mode works if you add in complete gray then there will be no transparency to that particular layer so i'm going to do is i'm going to go to that blending mode and i'm going to drop it down back to overlay again and as you can see that layer has now gone completely transparent because on the overlay blending mode 50 gray is completely transparent so what you can do then is click back on the gradient editor click back on that layer and go ahead into your editor or your color picker and now you can start adding in color and seeing how it affects the photo without immediately jumping into a specific gradient and this is a lot quicker and it's one of my favorite tips when it comes to actually using a gradient map so let's go ahead and add in a purpley color to the background so let's start off choosing the hue so i'm going to go ahead and choose a hue of 285 and then as soon as you drag this little icon out you're adding in color to the photo so if we want to over saturate the photo drag it over to the right if you want to brighten it drag it up if you want to darken it drag it down and you can actually drag it around until you are happier with the result so i'm going to go for let's go for about here and because we've got great as our highlights we're not affecting them at the moment so we're only affecting the shadow areas so you can really dial in the right color for yourself when it comes to just targeting all of the shadows and we're going to do exactly the same for the highlights so i'm going to go ahead and click ok on that i'm happy with that gray and then what we're going to do is we're going to go ahead and choose the gray point on the highlight area and then we're going to go ahead and choose a new color and again always choose the hue first and then you can start moving it around on your color picker tool to get the right saturation and brightness of the color that you've chosen so then i'm going to go ahead and choose a orange color for the highlights so now you've chosen the right hue you can now start dragging this around and aiming for what look you after see again guys if you want to saturate the image drag it over to the right if you want to desaturate the image drag it to the left if you want to brighten the image drag it up and if you want to darken the image you drag it down and depending on where you drag it will depending on what particular effect you will end up so i'm going to create a little bit more of a stronger effect i'm going to change the hue ever so slightly i'm going to go for something like this and i'm going to go ahead and make it a bit brighter i'm going to go for something like so i'm going to go ahead and click ok so as you can see we've started from a complete gray point and now we've implemented colors but we've been able to see how we've been doing it by changing the blending mode first before we choose the colors so i would recommend working this way then working backwards because you'll find it's a lot quicker and you have full control of changing the shadows independently from changing the highlights so you can firstly tag it target the shadows then you can target the highlights and as you can see we've ended up with this really nice gradient and then you can go ahead and move this midpoint around depending on where you like the shadows and highlights to fall so i'm going to go for a 45 percent drop so the location of this is 45 percent and they're going to care to click ok so now if we zoom in if we do the before and we do the after you can see that was a really quick change and it's a really cool look especially when you think it only took about five minutes and you've only used one adjustment layer and there we go guys so that is how you can use the gradient map adjustment layer to create a really cool color grading effect and remember guys that tip start from 50 gray and then add in colors by changing the blending mode to either overlay or soft light again guys if you want to like comment and subscribe to my channel it really does help my channel grow also guys if you want to hit the bell notification so you don't miss any of my latest content and i've got the latest videos you can find just here but until next time guys keep creating

Channel: Photo Feaver

Views: 2,735

Keywords: How to colour grade photos in Photoshop 2020 colour grade photos Photoshop, colour grade photoshop colour grading photoshop tutorial colour grading colour grade like a pro, Steal the colour grading, colour grading tutorial, colour grading made easy, colour correction, curves layer photoshop, gradient map photoshop, colour images, Photoshop 2020, Photoshop CC 2020, 2020 Photoshop, Gradient Map, Colour Grading With A Gradient Map Layer In Photoshop

Id: 2xlfgn60XsA

Length: 13min 53sec (833 seconds)

Published: Thu May 20 2021