Confused By Sliders On HSL Adjustment Layer Panel

[Tar]

Can someone please help this reasonably new user to understand why the Hue Shift slider on the HSL Adjustment Layer panel doesn't match up to the colour on my Pixel Layer.

The sliders on the ordinary colour panel (on the left) have the sliders corresponding correctly to the red that I used, but the HSL panel have the sliders set to 0 and the Hue Shift slider set to light blue. Why is this, I wonder?

Why can't it show the sliders in the correct position like the ordinary colour panel does? Obviously, I can change it by eye, but there's always a little bit of confusion and uncertainty in my mind when I'm moving the slider for the first time.

Thanks

[Wosven]

Hi @Tar

The color spots of the HSL panel work on general values/tones found in images, and you'll find them in other panels like Colour Balance, Selective Colours, etc.

If you want to select the exact colour, use the picker in the HSL panel. (And the saturation Shift is always red, it doesn't depend of your red element).

[Tar]

Thanks Wosven,

I understand about the Saturation Shift always being red; I just happened to choose a red circle for this example. 🙂

I've been trying to add some colour to old B&W family photos, switching between multiple pixel and HSL adjustment layers, and for some reason when I open the HSL Adjustment panel in order to make readjustments, it takes me a while to grasp what the colour wheel is telling me about them.

Pardon my inexperience. 😀

 

[R C-R]

13 hours ago, Tar said:

... the Hue Shift slider set to light blue. Why is this, I wonder?

It is not set to any color; it is set by default to a Hue Shift of 0° (zero degrees). The range is -180° to 180°.

[Wosven]

By default, the slider will modify all the image:

original

modified

 

If you choose a colour, it'll modify only part of the image with the same colour: in example, I modify the red toward magenta

 

The external circle will display the differences in color, saturation, luminosity:

 

You can move the sircles to widen or narrow the tones:

 

And select a specific color with the Picker (it will modify the one selected):

[Tar]

Thanks, Wosven and R-CR, that helps a bit, although I'm still finding it frustrating to use the HSL panel to adjust my solid colour layers. I'd like to see some sort of indication on the wheel of the exact colour that I'm changing.

I mentioned above that I'm colourising old B&W photos, and my main goal is to find the easiest and quickest way to add multiple colour layers which I can go back to at any stage and adjust. I've tried Pixel layers, Recolour layers and Fill layers to see what works best, but each method has pros and cons for me.

Using a Pixel layer with an HSL clipped to it seems the simplest way, but as nifty as the HSL panel looks, I don't find it as intuitive to change colours with as I do the Colour Chooser panel on a Fill layer, where I can just click and drag to the exact colour I want, instead of straining my eyes to follow the outer ring of the wheel as it relates to the inner.

Unfortunately, using Fill layers to colourise with has its own disadvantages- not being able to add Adjustment layers directly to the Fill layer, for one. A combination of being able to use the Colour Chooser panel to adjust the HSL Adjustment would be ideal for me, I think.

 

 

 

 

 

[Wosven]

1 hour ago, Tar said:

finding it frustrating to use the HSL panel to adjust my solid colour layers.

Since there's only black and grey, using HSL is certainly fustrating.

Colorizing photos was discussed a lot in the forum, you should find interesting threads like this ones:

 

 

[Tar]

13 minutes ago, Wosven said:

Since there's only black and grey, using HSL is certainly fustrating

 

Sorry if my poor explanation is causing confusion. I'm talking about using the HSL Adjustment on a solid colour layer, not on the B&W layer itself. Even I was able to work that out. 😀

Thanks for those links. I have read as many tutorials as I could find, as well as experimenting with the various ways to create layers to colour the image, and it's only when I go back to readjust all those colour layers (dozens, usually) using the HSL panel that I find myself getting bogged down with it.

No matter. It's obviously just me having problems with it. Thanks for your help.

 

[R C-R]

8 hours ago, Tar said:

I'm talking about using the HSL Adjustment on a solid colour layer, not on the B&W layer itself

"Solid color layer" could mean several different kinds of layers (Fill, Pixel, shapes like rectangles or stars, etc.) but for most purposes there are much simpler ways to change their solid color to another one than by using adjustment layers.

[Tar]

As I mentioned above, I've tried using Fill and Pixel layers to give solid colour layers to allow me to colourise old B&W photos. Later on in the process, I find that I'm having to go back to make colour adjustments to the many layers I've created for each individual item - hair, skin, clothing, background etc. - and it would help if I could see the exact colour I used originally.

I came across another thread on here asking for the AP equivalent of Photoshop's solid colour layer - where double-clicking on the layer icon opens their Colour Picker/Chooser Panel and shows exactly what colour is on that layer and also allows for instant adjustment - and realised that's the kind of ease of use I'm looking for

The Pixel Layer/HSL combo in AP doesn't have that ease of use, as far as I can tell. Using Fill Layers does let me use the Colour Chooser Panel if I switch to the Gradient Tool, but it all becomes very complicated constantly switching between tools and resetting colours when I'm working with many layers, brushes and masks later on in the process.

Anyway, at least I know now, and can make do with what's available.

Thanks.

 

[walt.farrell]

13 hours ago, Tar said:

Using Fill Layers does let me use the Colour Chooser Panel if I switch to the Gradient Tool, but it all becomes very complicated constantly switching between tools and resetting colours when I'm working with many layers, brushes and masks later on in the process.

There are several other tools that will also let you select a Fill layer and change its color via the Context Toolbar (Move Tool, Pen Tool, any of the shape tools) but yes, it still involves switching between tools.

13 hours ago, Tar said:

As I mentioned above, I've tried using Fill and Pixel layers to give solid colour layers to allow me to colourise old B&W photos. Later on in the process, I find that I'm having to go back to make colour adjustments to the many layers I've created for each individual item - hair, skin, clothing, background etc. - and it would help if I could see the exact colour I used originally.

In some ways, the way you want it to work seems more compatible with Designer, and the vector brushes, than Photo.