How to automatically match colors in Photoshop in a few clicks

When creating composites, it’s important to match the colors of the shots to make the result look realistic. There are several techniques for doing this in Photoshop, and in this video, Aaron Nace of Phlearn will show you a rather simple one. He’ll teach you how to match colors automatically in just a few clicks.

As you’re making a composite, start by cutting the subject out from a photo, hold the Shift key and then click on the layer mask to enable it. To add the background, hold the Shift key, click and drag the image. Now move the background layer down and transform it if necessary. When you’re satisfied with the placement of the two images, it’s time to match the colors!

Matching the colors

There is one small downside to this approach: it will be permanently applied to your layer, and you can’t use it on Smart Objects either. So, make sure to duplicate the layer where your subject is. This way you can always return to the original color if you need to.

Now, click on the layer of your subject, go to Image > Adjustments > Match Color. You need to choose the source of the colors, so choose your background image. You’ll see the colors transferred onto the subject. At this point, they most likely won’t look all natural. So, you can tweak them a bit to get the most natural-looking result. You can adjust the luminance and color intensity. Also, you can use the Fade slider to tone down the color change a bit and neutralize it by checking the “Neutralize” box. There’s no universal recipe, just tweak the settings until the end result looks natural.

And there you have it, that’s pretty much it. Keep in mind that this is an automatic tool so it may not turn out perfect every time. But still, in many cases, it will save you a lot of time you’ll otherwise spend matching the colors manually.

[How to Match Colors Automatically in Photoshop | Phlearn]