Adjust Image Saturation

How to use the adjust image saturation

1. Open your image.
2. Move the slider until it looks right — hold the compare button to see the original.
3. Download the adjusted image.

About this tool

Saturation controls how intense the colours are without changing how light or dark the image is. At 0 per cent every colour collapses to its grey equivalent; above 100 per cent the existing colours are pushed further from grey.

Skin tones set the practical limit, and they set it much lower than people expect. Faces turn orange well before a landscape starts looking over-cooked, so a portrait tolerates far less saturation than a photograph of a sunset. If an image contains both, the faces decide how far you can go.

The other thing to watch is that saturation cannot invent colour. Pushing a washed-out photograph often exaggerates the colour noise in flat areas such as skies before it makes the subject look better, because the noise is being amplified along with everything else.

This applies plain saturation, which treats every colour equally. Editing software often offers vibrance instead, which deliberately protects colours that are already strong and leaves skin tones largely alone — more forgiving on portraits, but a different operation from this one.

Common uses

• Reviving colours in a flat photo.
• Muting colours for a subtler look.
• Removing colour gradually rather than all at once.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between saturation and vibrance?

Saturation raises every colour equally. Vibrance deliberately protects colours that are already strong, and skin tones in particular. This tool applies plain saturation.

Why do faces look orange?

Skin tones saturate far sooner than the rest of a scene. If an image contains faces, they set the limit long before the landscape does.

Why does raising saturation make my photo look grainy?

Colour noise is amplified along with everything else. Flat areas such as skies show it first, which is why a washed-out photo often gets noisier before it gets better.