Professional color correction workflow using Levels, Curves, and Color Balance to fix white balance, exposure, and color cast issues.

Step 1: Assess the Image

Open photo. Add a Threshold adjustment layer temporarily to find darkest and lightest points.

Step 2: Levels Adjustment

Add Levels adjustment. Set black point to 10, white point to 245 for full tonal range.

Step 3: White Balance Fix

Add Color Balance: reduce yellow in shadows (-5), add blue in highlights (+3) if too warm.

Step 4: Curves Fine-Tune

Add Curves. Gentle S-curve: input 64 output 58, input 192 output 198 for contrast.

Step 5: Selective Color

If skin looks off, use Selective Color adjustment on Reds: reduce Cyan, add Yellow.

Step 6: Vibrance Boost

Add Vibrance layer: +15 Vibrance, +5 Saturation. Avoid oversaturating skin tones.

Step 7: Before and After

Group all adjustments. Toggle group visibility to compare original vs corrected.

That's it! You've completed this tutorial. Experiment with the techniques and share your results with the Designstacks community.