Don’t worry, we’re not about to turn an image black and white save for one spot. The Selective Color tool is one of the most powerful ways to precisely and efficiently make targeted adjustments in Photoshop. This great tutorial will show you how to take advantage of its capabilities.

In this video, Ed Gregory from Photos in Color walks us through the many uses of the Selective Color tool. Its power lies in the ability to hone in on certain hues, reducing the need for complex selections and allowing you to make quick and powerful adjustments. This goes beyond just changing yellow to green or the like; by effecting changes in the blacks, neutrals, and whites, you can color grade your image. You can also adjust skin tones or create quick layer masks out of color ranges. By the end, Gregory is able to change the color of the subject’s jacket, darken the sky, change skin tones, and color grade the image using nothing but Selective Color adjustment layers and quickly created masks, giving the image a really vibrant pop. It’s a powerful tool every photographer should have in their bag of tricks. Be sure to check out Photos in Color’s YouTube channel for more!