Mastering the New Hue and Saturation Adjustment Layer in Photoshop
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The hue and saturation adjustment layer now shows color swatches pulled from your photo, so you can change one color without touching the rest.
The current version of Photoshop introduces a significant update to the Hue and Saturation Adjustment Layer, making color adjustments more intuitive than ever. The new color swatch system replaces the traditional dropdown menu, allowing users to target specific colors more effectively. In this guide, we’ll explore how to use this feature and cover practical applications and troubleshooting techniques to ensure precise color edits.
Key Takeaways
- The Adjust Colors button in the contextual taskbar creates the adjustment layer with swatches for the six most prominent colors in the photo.
- Creating the layer from the New Adjustment Layer icon shows the RGB and CMYK primaries instead. The Preset drop-down switches between Default and Prominent Colors.
- Each swatch splits in two while you adjust it: the original color on the left, the edited color on the right.
- Skin tones sit in the oranges. Narrow the Hue Selector sliders before shifting a red shirt, or the skin shifts with it.
- When the sliders cannot isolate an area, such as jeans with many shades of blue, a Layer Mask from Select People plus Colorize does the job.
Table of contents
- What You Will Learn
- Requirements
- Understanding the New Hue and Saturation Adjustment Layer
- Creating the Adjustment Layer
- How to Use the Hue and Saturation Adjustment Layer
- Practical Applications
- 1. Changing the Color of a Shirt
- 2. Making a Shirt Black or White
- 3. Adjusting the Color of Jeans
- 4. Selectively Desaturating Everything Except Yellow Jerseys
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Conclusion
- Related Links
What You Will Learn
- How to create the new adjustment layer from the contextual taskbar
- How the color swatches change depending on how you create the layer
- How to sample a color with the Eyedropper Tool when it is not in the swatches
- How to change the color of a shirt without shifting the skin tones
- How to recolor jeans with a Layer Mask, Colorize and the Multiply blending mode
- How to desaturate everything in a photo except one color
Requirements
Before you start
- Photoshop 2025 (version 26.6 or later) or the current version
- A photo with a color you want to change, such as a shirt, jeans or a jersey
Understanding the New Hue and Saturation Adjustment Layer
With a pixel layer selected and the contextual taskbar enabled, you will find the Adjust Colors button.
Clicking this button creates a Hue and Saturation Adjustment Layer, displaying the six most prominent colors in your image. By selecting a color swatch, you can fine-tune its hue, saturation, and lightness, affecting every instance of that color in your composition.
Creating the Adjustment Layer
The colors displayed in the swatch panel vary based on how the adjustment layer is created:
From the contextual taskbar: Displays the six most prominent colors in the image.
From the New Adjustment Layer icon: Shows the primary RGB and CMYK colors (red, green, blue, cyan, magenta, and yellow).
Universal Color Control: The swatch on the far left adjusts all colors simultaneously.
Regardless of the method used to create the adjustment layer, you can always select the Preset Drop-down to switch between Default and Prominent Colors.
How to Use the Hue and Saturation Adjustment Layer
Select a Swatch – Click on a color swatch to adjust its hue, saturation, and lightness. Use the Sliders – Drag the sliders to modify the selected color in real time.
Compare Changes – The swatch splits into two, showing the before (left) and after (right) effects.
Custom Color Selection – If the target color isn’t available in the swatches, use the Eyedropper Tool to select it from the image.
Tip: If the taskbar shows mask tools instead of the Eyedropper, the layer mask has the focus. Click the adjustment layer thumbnail in the Layers Panel first. Then click and hold on the image with the Eyedropper to see a loupe with the sampled color before you release.
Fine-Tune Selection – Adjust the Hue Selector at the bottom of the panel to refine which colors are affected.
Practical Applications
1. Changing the Color of a Shirt
Click Adjust Colors in the taskbar. Select the swatch closest to the shirt’s original color.
Drag the Hue Slider to shift the shirt’s color.
Adjust the Vertical Sliders to avoid affecting unintended areas, such as skin tones.
Note: Skin tones sit in the oranges, no matter the ethnicity, so a red shirt and the skin share part of the range. Drag the right vertical slider left until the shirt starts to change, then back it off a little. Do the same from the left side, then bring the triangles in to shorten the falloff. The two gradients under the sliders show the original colors on top and the result below.
2. Making a Shirt Black or White
Drag the Saturation Slider all the way to the left to remove color.
Adjust the Lightness Slider: Move right to turn white. Move left to turn black.
Use a Layer Mask to fine-tune contrast and shading.
Tip: A desaturated shirt often lands on gray rather than black. Select the shirt with the Object Selection Tool and Select People > Upper Clothes. Press CtrlG (Windows) or CommandG (macOS) to put the adjustment layer in a group, then apply the selection as the group’s mask. A Levels adjustment layer inside that group darkens only the shirt.
3. Adjusting the Color of Jeans
Select Adjust Colors and pick a color swatch. If the jeans’ color isn’t prominent, use the Eyedropper Tool to select it.
Create a Layer Mask: Use Select People → Lower Clothes. Apply the mask to target only the jeans.
Click Colorize to map the selected hue across the entire masked area.
Apply Multiply Blending Mode for a more natural effect.
4. Selectively Desaturating Everything Except Yellow Jerseys
Create a New Hue and Saturation Adjustment Layer. Select the Yellow Swatch. Drag the Saturation Slider to desaturate everything.
Invert the Hue Selector Sliders to keep only yellow unaffected. Adjust the Triangle Sliders to refine the selection.
Tip: To invert the sliders, click between the two vertical sliders and drag. All four move together, and once they pass the end of the bar they wrap around to the other side. Then drag the triangles in from each side until the jerseys start to lose color, and back off a little.
Note: Photoshop now has an Invert Hue Range Markers button, first added in the beta and now in the general release. It sits in the Hue/Saturation panel and flips the range in one click. See How to Invert Hue/Saturation Color Ranges in Photoshop. When this video was recorded, the dialog at Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation still used the legacy drop-down, so create an adjustment layer to get the swatches.
Frequently Asked Questions
It sits in the contextual taskbar whenever a pixel layer is selected. Clicking it creates a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer with swatches for the six most prominent colors in your image.
The swatches depend on how you create the layer. The Adjust Colors button in the taskbar shows the six most prominent colors in the photo. The New Adjustment Layer icon shows red, green, blue, cyan, magenta and yellow. The Preset drop-down switches between Default and Prominent Colors at any time.
The far-left swatch is the universal color control. Select it and the Hue, Saturation and Lightness sliders affect every color in the image at the same time.
Click the swatch you want to replace, then use the Eyedropper Tool to click the color in the image. The sampled color replaces the swatch, and you can adjust it like any other.
Skin tones sit in the oranges, close to the reds of the shirt, so the falloff of the adjustment reaches them. Narrow the vertical sliders in the Hue Selector until the shirt is the only thing affected, then pull the triangle sliders in to shorten the falloff.
Select the shirt’s swatch and drag the Saturation slider all the way to the left to remove the color. Then drag the Lightness slider right for white or left for black. A Layer Mask and a Levels adjustment layer add contrast if the shirt lands on gray.
Denim holds many shades of blue and gray, so the Hue Selector cannot separate it from the rest of the photo. Mask the adjustment layer with a Select People selection of the lower clothes, turn on Colorize, and set the blending mode to Multiply for a natural result.
Create a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer, select the swatch for the color you want to keep, and drag the Saturation slider to the left. Then invert the Hue Selector sliders so the adjustment affects every color except that one.
Conclusion
The updated Hue and Saturation Adjustment Layer in the current version of Photoshop brings a more visual and intuitive workflow for color adjustments. By mastering color swatches, blending modes, and selection tools, you can achieve highly precise and natural-looking edits. Whether you’re altering clothing colors, isolating hues, or correcting unwanted tints, these tools will enhance your Photoshop workflow.
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