One of the challenges I have in Photoshop is that for every option I know about, there are a dozen I have never tried. That’s why I was fascinated to learn about a PhotoShop feature called Match Color.
Match Color lets you insert the color palette of one image into another one, creating a new combined image. In this case, color palette doesn’t mean SRGB, or Adobe RGB. Instead, it refers to the overall colors or hues in an image.
By replacing the hues of one image with another, you can create some interesting effects.
Here’s how to get started with Match Color:
1. Open both the source image and the image with the desired palette in Photoshop.
2. Select the image you want to edit and make a duplicate layer.
3. From the menu, select Image >> Adjustments >> Match Color.
4. Select the source (color palette) photo from the drop down list.
6. From the Layer drop down list select “Merged.”
6. Adjust Luminance, Color Intensity and Fade. Click OK to continue.
7. Once you’ve adjusted the color palette, you may find your subject no longer looks natural. You can continue to adjust the image, or you can create a layer mask to remove the new color palette from selected portions of your image.
How could you use Match Color? Here’s a tutorial that shows how you can use Match Color to change the color of a shirt in one image to match a shirt in a second image.
If you haven’t noticed it before, give PhotoShop’s Match Color Tool a try. Even if you never use it in a finished print, it will be one less mysterious option on the PhotoShop menu.