This tip is actually a new feature in Camera Raw. When you use the HSL (Hue, Saturation, and Lightness) tool in the Color Mixer panel, it’s sometimes hard to tell what’s being adjusted. You can change the colors with the Hue sliders, increase or decrease the amount of color with the Saturation sliders, and alter the lightness of the tones under the color with the Luminance (luminosity) sliders. When you move a slider, you can change the properties on the color assigned to that slider. You can also use the Targeted Adjustment Tool (TAT); it’s the little circle with a crosshair at the top right of the Hue sliders. With the TAT, you click-and-drag on your image to adjust the colors under your cursor. All similar colors in the image will be affected. As I mentioned, it can be difficult to see which colors are being affected. If you hold down the Option (PC: Alt) key as you use either the TAT or the sliders, the rest of the image will turn black and white and it will only show the colors that are being adjusted. This is super useful!
This tip originally published in Colin Smith’s “Photoshop Tips” column in the August, 2023 issue of Photoshop User magazine.
