Simple Way To Apply a Cinematic Look in Photoshop!
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A cinematic look in Photoshop is the blue and orange color grade from summer blockbusters, and you can build it with two adjustment layers and a handful of sliders.
The blues sit on the shadows and the background. The skin tones stay warm in the reds, oranges and yellows, so the subject pops against them.
This tutorial is for beginners. Every step is a slider in the Properties panel, and the video explains each one in small, digestible chunks.
By the end, you will know how to add blue to the midtones with Selective Color, bring the skin tones back to natural, and finish the grade with Vibrance.
The video was recorded in Photoshop 2021 (version 22.5, the August 2021 release). Selective Color and Vibrance work the same way in the current version.
The lesson is also one of ten Hands-on tutorials built into Photoshop, but you do not need that route. Download the practice files below and follow along in any version.
Key Takeaways
- Complementary colors pop when they sit side by side, and blue is the complement of the reds, oranges and yellows found in skin.
- Dragging a Selective Color slider to the left adds the opposite color. Less Yellow means more blue.
- The blue you add to the Neutrals also tints the skin, so you remove it again in the Reds and the Yellows.
- A small push on the Black slider, in the Neutrals or the Blacks, adds contrast when the image looks flat.
- Vibrance protects skin tones and targets the dull colors, so it finishes a grade more safely than Saturation.
- Enable Absolute in the Properties panel before you touch any slider. The video sets every value in that mode.
Table of contents
- What You Will Learn
- Requirements
- Cinematic Look in Photoshop Keyboard Shortcuts
- Why the Cinematic Look in Photoshop Uses Blue and Orange
- Step 1: Open the Practice Files in Photoshop
- Step 2: Add a Selective Color Adjustment Layer
- Step 3: Add Blue to the Midtones for the Movie Look
- Step 4: Keep the Skin Tones Natural in the Reds and Yellows
- Step 5: Add Contrast to the Cinematic Look With the Blacks
- Step 6: Make the Cinematic Look Pop With Vibrance
- Step 7: Compare the Cinematic Look With the Original Photo
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Conclusion
- Related Links
What You Will Learn
- How to open the practice files, or launch the Hands-on tutorial from the Discover panel
- How to set up a Selective Color adjustment layer with Absolute enabled
- How to push blue into the midtones using the Neutrals
- How to keep skin tones natural with the Reds and the Yellows
- How to add contrast with the Black slider
- How to finish with a Vibrance adjustment layer and compare the result with the original
Requirements
Before you start
- Photoshop 2021 (version 22.5 or later) or the current version
- The practice files from the box below, or the Hands-on tutorial inside the Discover panel
- Your own portrait works too, since the grade targets skin tones
Practice Files
Download the practice files for this tutorial and follow along step by step in any version of Photoshop.
Cinematic Look in Photoshop Keyboard Shortcuts
| Action | Windows | macOS |
|---|---|---|
| Open the Discover panel | Ctrl F | Command F |
| Show only the original layer, or bring the other layers back | Alt click the eye icon | Option click the eye icon |
Why the Cinematic Look in Photoshop Uses Blue and Orange
The look you are going for is the blue and orange color combination that you often see in summer blockbusters.
Skin tones live in the reds, oranges and yellows. The colors opposite them on the color wheel are the blues and cyans.
When you place complementary colors side by side, they pop. Blue shadows and a blue background make the warm skin tones of the main subject stand out.
This tutorial builds that contrast with sliders alone. For the color theory behind a full movie look, see the cinematic color grading tutorial.
Step 1: Open the Practice Files in Photoshop
Download the practice files from the Practice Files box above and open the image in Photoshop.
The files work in older versions of Photoshop, so you do not need the newest release to follow along.
There is a second way in. This lesson is one of ten Hands-on tutorials that live inside Photoshop 2021 (version 22.5) and later.
Press CtrlF (Windows) or CommandF (macOS) to open the Discover panel, or click the Discover icon. Click Hands-on Tutorials, then scroll to this tutorial or type “create a cinematic look” in the search bar.
Click the tutorial, then click the blue Start Tutorial button. Photoshop loads the tutorial assets and shows blue coach marks that tell you what to do at each step.
Note: The Discover panel is still in the current version, but its list of Hands-on tutorials can change. The download above is the sure route.
Step 2: Add a Selective Color Adjustment Layer
Click the New Adjustment Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel and choose Selective Color.
Selective Color lets you add colors to other colors or tones. That makes it a good fit for a grade that treats the shadows and the skin tones differently.
In the Properties panel, make sure Absolute is enabled.
Then find the Colors dropdown. This menu picks which range of colors the four sliders below it will change.
Step 3: Add Blue to the Midtones for the Movie Look
From the Colors dropdown, select Neutrals. The Neutrals are the midtones of the image.
Drag the Cyan slider to the right to about 10. This adds cyan to the midtones.
Dragging a slider to the left gives you the opposite color instead. Each slider has a partner on the other side of the color wheel:
- Subtracting Cyan gives you red.
- Subtracting Magenta gives you green.
- Subtracting Yellow gives you blue.
So drag the Yellow slider to the left to about -10. That adds blue to the midtones.
Tip: If you forget which colors are opposites, add a Color Balance adjustment layer. Its sliders show each pair side by side, and you can drag that layer to the trash icon once you have seen it.
If the image looks flat, drag the Black slider to the right to about 5 for a little more contrast.
Step 4: Keep the Skin Tones Natural in the Reds and Yellows
The cyan and blue you added to the Neutrals also affect the skin tones, and they start to look unnatural.
You can counterbalance that by taking cyan and blue back out of the skin tones. No matter the ethnicity, skin tones are found in the reds and the yellows.
From the Colors dropdown, select Reds. Set the Cyan slider to about -10 and the Yellow slider to about 10.
That reduces the cyan and blue effect on the skin tones.
Next, select Yellows from the Colors dropdown and drag the Cyan slider to about -15.
Then add a bit of magenta for more natural skin tones. About 5 works well. There is no need to add yellow here.
Note: These values are starting points for this photo. Feel free to experiment with the sliders until the skin looks right to you.
Selective Color removes a tint, but it does not even out the skin itself. For that, the match skin tones in Photoshop tutorial uses Curves.
Step 5: Add Contrast to the Cinematic Look With the Blacks
If you still want more contrast, go back to the Colors dropdown and choose Blacks.
Drag the Black slider to the right to about 5. This deepens the darkest tones in the image.
Step 6: Make the Cinematic Look Pop With Vibrance
To finish the grade, make the colors pop by increasing the saturation. Click the New Adjustment Layer icon again and select Vibrance.
In the Properties panel, set Vibrance to about 50.
Vibrance, like Saturation, increases the saturation of the image. The difference is that Vibrance does it in a smarter way.
It protects skin tones and targets the less saturated colors first. The difference between Saturation and Vibrance tutorial goes deeper into why that matters for a portrait.
Step 7: Compare the Cinematic Look With the Original Photo
Here is a cool trick to check your work. Hover over the eye icon next to the original layer in the Layers panel.
Hold Alt (Windows) or Option (macOS) and click the eye icon. Photoshop hides every other layer, so you see only the original image.
Hold Alt (Windows) or Option (macOS) and click the eye icon again to bring the hidden layers back.
Flip between the two a few times. The cinematic look in Photoshop should read as blue shadows and warm, natural skin tones, with nothing looking tinted or flat.
Frequently Asked Questions
Add a Selective Color adjustment layer with Absolute enabled. In the Neutrals, raise Cyan and lower Yellow to push blue into the midtones. Then take that blue back out of the Reds and Yellows so the skin stays natural. Finish with a Vibrance adjustment layer set to about 50.
Skin tones fall in the reds, oranges and yellows. Blue and cyan sit directly across from them on the color wheel, so they are complementary colors. Placing complementary colors side by side makes both pop, and the person in the frame stands out.
Click the New Adjustment Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel and choose Selective Color. Its controls appear in the Properties panel. Pick a color range from the Colors dropdown, then drag the Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black sliders to shift that range.
Dragging a slider to the left subtracts that color and adds its opposite. Less Cyan gives you red, less Magenta gives you green, and less Yellow gives you blue. A Color Balance adjustment layer shows the same pairs on its sliders if you need a reminder.
Any blue or cyan you add to the Neutrals spreads into the midtones of the skin as well. Fix it inside the same Selective Color layer. Select Reds and lower Cyan while raising Yellow, then select Yellows and lower Cyan again with a touch of Magenta.
Both raise the saturation of an image. Saturation boosts every color evenly and does not protect skin tones. Vibrance is smarter: it targets the less saturated colors and leaves skin tones alone. That makes it the safer choice to finish a color grade.
Hover over the eye icon next to the original layer in the Layers panel. Hold Alt (Windows) or Option (macOS) and click it to hide every other layer and show only the original. Hold Alt (Windows) or Option (macOS) and click the eye icon again to bring the hidden layers back.
No. The downloaded practice files open in older versions of Photoshop, and Selective Color and Vibrance are long-standing adjustment layers. You only need Photoshop 2021 (version 22.5) or later to run the Hands-on version inside the Discover panel.
Conclusion
You built a blue and orange color grade with two adjustment layers. Selective Color pushed blue into the midtones and pulled it back out of the skin tones, and Vibrance made the colors pop.
Every setting was a slider, and the values are only starting points. Experiment with them on your own photos to get the result you want.
Watch the full video above to see each step in motion, and comment on the video with any question about this in-app Photoshop tutorial.
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Keep going
Next, follow the second in-app lesson and learn how to apply a dual lighting effect in Photoshop.
Related Links
Final Image
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