Saturation, Chroma curve, and Color EQ

These three tools are in the toolbar's second group on the Color tab:

• Saturation (S) adjusts overall color intensity.
• Chroma curve adjusts colors based on how muted or vivid they are.
• Color EQ adjusts saturation by hue.

All three apply after your color pins. Set the wheel's color points to Live to see their effect on the color cloud. See The color wheel.

Saturation

Drag the slider right to increase color intensity or left to reduce it.

• 100% is the default, with no change.
• 200% is the maximum.
• 0% removes all color, except in protected areas.

The slider adjusts chroma while keeping hue and lightness unchanged. Double-click it to reset to 100%.

Chroma curve

Use the Chroma curve to adjust muted and vivid colors separately. For example, you can strengthen muted colors while keeping vivid colors closer to their current intensity.

Read the graph

The horizontal axis shows the starting chroma: muted colors on the left, vivid colors on the right. The vertical axis shows the resulting chroma: less color at the bottom, more color at the top.

The gray histogram shows how your photo's colors are distributed across that range.

Adjust the curve

• Click the graph to add a point, then drag it to shape the curve.
• Raise a section to increase chroma in that range; lower it to reduce chroma.
• Drag the endpoints inward to change the curve's input range.
• Double-click or right-click a point to remove it.

Hold the eye icon in the panel header to preview the photo without the curve.

The curve applies after the Saturation slider, shaping the colors at the overall intensity you've set.

Color EQ

Use Color EQ to increase or decrease saturation within specific hue ranges.

1. Add a point. Click the graph, or click a color in the photo while Color EQ is open. The gray shape behind the graph shows the distribution of hues in your photo.

2. Adjust saturation. Drag the point up to increase saturation or down to reduce it. 100% leaves it unchanged; 0% removes color from the selected range.

3. Adjust the range. Scroll over the point to widen or narrow the range of hues it affects. With the point selected, hold H to preview the affected areas.

The panel header shows the selected point's hue, saturation, and range — for example, hue 223° · sat 114% · range ±40°.

Double-click, right-click, or press Delete to remove a selected point. You can add up to eight points per photo.

Color EQ applies after the Saturation slider and uses hues after your pin adjustments. If you move a blue sky toward teal, use the teal range to adjust its saturation.

Protect colors

Protect pins preserve saturation in selected colors when you adjust global saturation. For example, you can protect skin tones while increasing color intensity elsewhere.

Protection follows the colors you select; it does not automatically detect skin. See Editing colors.

Save saturation settings in a recipe

When saving a look, select Saturation under Include to save the slider and Chroma curve settings. See Recipes.

Black and white

These tools are hidden on the B&W tab. Use the B&W EQ to adjust how colors become shades of gray. See Black and white.