learning saturation

[JackieLee]

I have at least figured out how to open PS now, I found the saturation button today. Is this a good way to use saturation or not?

Comments welcome and appreciated.

Jackie Lee

 

[Kent Frost]

There's a couple ways of doing it, one of the most effective is the following:

Go to IMAGE, then Adjustments, then Hue/Saturation. When you do this, you'll be able to set the specific amount of saturation you want. Be sure not to add too much, as it will add noise to your image, degrading it's quality.

 

[JackieLee]

I have already added saturation. I guess my question should have been is this a good use of saturation. Sometimes when I add things to my images I don't know if they look better or not. Still getting used to being able to add to photos when you get them back lol. Thanks for the comments, I am definitely still figuring it out.

Jackie Lee

 

[Kent Frost]

Ah, well in retrospect to the image you posted, I would say it looks good. However, the compression effect takes away from it, but I'm sure the original file looks better.

Saturation-wise, I'd have to see them side by side.

 

[JackieLee]

Can you explain compression affects I don't see anything wrong, and I don't really know what I would be looking for. Thanks,

Jackie Lee

 

[Digital Matt]

I think the picture would look much better if it had more exposure. It's underexposed as is.

The best tool in photoshop for color saturation is Selective Color. Control the saturation of each color individually.

 

[JackieLee]

here is the original

How would/could I add exposure at this point?

Thanks for your input I really appreciate it!

Jackie Lee

 

[Geronimo]

I agree with what Matt said.

/edit
To compensate for the underexposure, can you use the Curves or Level tool. The Curves will give you more power of the editing of it, but the Level is a good place to get started till you understand the use of Curves.