How to Create Adjustment Layers Based on Color

You can use Photo customization tools to easily change the lighting and colors of a photo with the best results. Using complex algorithms, Photos analyze the image and apply the right combination of adjustments to give the best look to your photos.

You can also uncover precision controls that allow you to precisely adjust any adjustment, including exposure, light and dark points, brightness and contrast.

Basic adjustments to photos

In the Photos application on Mac, double-click on a photo, then click ‘Edit’ in the toolbar.

Click ‘Customize’ in the toolbar.

Do one of the following:

Click on the revelation triangle next to “Light”, “Color” or “Black & White”, and then drag the slider until you are happy with the face of the photo. Alternatively, to automatically fix the photo, click “Auto”.
The “Light”, “Color”, and “Black & White” controls in the “Adjust” section. An “Automatic” button appears above each slider.

Tip: To discard your changes and restore the original settings, for a specific adjustment, double-click on its slider. When you make a customization, a blue check mark appears next to the name of the customization that indicates that a change has been made.

You can select or deselect the check mark to temporarily enable or disable customization to see how it affects the photo.

Make accurate lighting adjustments

You can fine-tune the adjustments you made to the lighting settings of a photo.

In the Photos application on Mac, double-click on a photo, then click ‘Edit’ in the toolbar.

Click ‘Customize’ in the toolbar, click on the revealing triangle next to ‘Light’, and then click on the disclosure triangle next to ‘Options’.

Drag any of the sliders to change the face of the photo:

Brilliance: Applies area adjustments to illuminate dark spots, enhance bright spots, and add contrast to reveal hidden details and to see the pictures richer and livelier. Adaptation is color-neutral (saturation is not applied), but there may be a perceptible change in colors because brighter images with more contrast appear more “vivid”.

• Exposure: Adjusts the tones of the entire image.
• Bright points: Adjusts the bright spots.
• Dark points: Adjusts the details displayed in shadows.
• Brightness: Adjusts the brightness of the photo.
• Contrast: Adjusts the contrast of the photo.
• Black Point: Adjusts the point where the darker portions of the image become completely black without any detail. Black dot adjustment can improve contrast to a faded photo.

Tip: Place the pointer over a slider and hold Option to expand the slider range.

Make black-and-white adjustments with precision

You can precisely adjust the tones and gray areas and change the grain of a photo.

In the Photos application on Mac, double-click on a photo, then click ‘Edit’ in the toolbar.

Click “Customize” in the toolbar, click on the revealing triangle next to “Black & White”, then click on the disclosure triangle next to “Options”.

Drag any of the sliders to change the face of the photo:

• Volume: Increases or decreases the volume of the tones in the photo.
• Neutral: Darkens or darkens the gray areas of the photo.
• Tone: Adjusts the photo to show higher or lower contrast.
• Grain: Adjusts the amount of film grains shown in the photo.

Read more in our blog.