How to Color Grade Photos Using Only Solid Colors and Blend If

Eye Stocker published this simple 5-minute Photoshop video tutorial that shows how you can color grade any photo using only solid color adjustment layers and the Blend If feature.

The main idea is that after adding a solid color adjustment layer over your photo and selecting the Soft Light blending mode, you can fiddle with the Blend If feature in the Blending Options to restrict the color cast to only the shadow or highlight portions of your underlying photo.

“Of course, complementary colors should not be ignored at all,” educator Cristi Kerekes writes. “The Blend If option is very powerful when color toning any image, if you understand how to play with the sliders.”

Watch the 5-minute video above to see examples of how to use this technique. And if you’ve never used the Blend If feature in Photoshop before, this’ll help you add another trick to your photo-editing repertoire.