Photoshop Color Correction and Grading 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What does the Curves adjustment in Photoshop control?
- The sharpness of the image
- The tonal range and color balance across highlights, midtones, and shadows (Correct answer)
- The canvas size of the document
- The saturation of individual colors
Correct answer: The tonal range and color balance across highlights, midtones, and shadows
Curves allows precise control over the brightness and color of specific tonal ranges (shadows, midtones, highlights) by manipulating a plotted curve.
Question 2: In Photoshop, what does the Levels adjustment's white point slider control?
- The brightness of shadows
- The point at which tones are clipped to pure white (output highlight) (Correct answer)
- The midtone gamma of the image
- The color temperature of the image
Correct answer: The point at which tones are clipped to pure white (output highlight)
The white point (right) input slider in Levels remaps the selected tone to pure white, effectively brightening highlights and increasing contrast.
Question 3: What is the primary purpose of the Hue/Saturation adjustment in Photoshop?
- To convert images to black and white
- To adjust the color hue, intensity (saturation), and brightness (lightness) of the image (Correct answer)
- To remove color casts from shadows
- To sharpen edges in the image
Correct answer: To adjust the color hue, intensity (saturation), and brightness (lightness) of the image
Hue/Saturation lets you shift colors (Hue), intensify or mute them (Saturation), and lighten or darken them (Lightness) globally or for specific color ranges.
Question 4: What tool in Photoshop reads the exact color value of any pixel under the cursor?
- Color Sampler
- Eyedropper Tool (Correct answer)
- Color Picker
- Color Balance
Correct answer: Eyedropper Tool
The Eyedropper Tool samples and sets the foreground color to the exact color value of any pixel you click on in the image.
Question 5: What does a neutral gray color (128, 128, 128 in RGB) indicate when viewing a Color Balance adjustment?
- Maximum saturation
- The image has a warm color cast
- No color shift — the color is perfectly balanced (Correct answer)
- The image is overexposed
Correct answer: No color shift — the color is perfectly balanced
Equal RGB values (like 128, 128, 128) indicate no color bias in any channel, representing a perfectly neutral gray with no color cast.
Question 6: Which Photoshop feature allows you to color grade an image using a 3D color cube (LUT)?
- Gradient Map
- Color Lookup adjustment layer (Correct answer)
- Selective Color
- Photo Filter
Correct answer: Color Lookup adjustment layer
The Color Lookup adjustment layer applies 3D LUTs (Look Up Tables) — industry-standard color grading presets used in photography and film.
Photoshop Color Correction and Grading 1
What does the Curves adjustment in Photoshop control?