User manual

20 • SATURATION (COLOR INTENSITY)

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ColorQuartet 5.0 Pro

20•Saturation (color intensity)

Saturation

What it is

Saturation refers to the color intensity of an image, i.e., the degree to which non-neutral colors

are brought out. An image that appears very colorful has a high saturation, while one that

appears dull and “gray” has a low saturation.

Saturation in ColorQuartet

• In the LCH color model, C (chroma) stands for saturation. The higher the C value, the greater

the saturation. Minimum saturation (neutral gray or white) has a value of C = 0. Color-

Quartet’s saturation curve is defined in terms of chroma values.

• If you want to change the saturation of an image, you should do it after adjusting tonal r

ange,

adation and gray balance.

• The Saturation window is opened from the Color menu or from the tool bar.

Adjusting saturation manually

• In the Saturation window, the Range menu lets you restrict a given saturation change to the

lightest, mid-tone, or darkest parts of the image if desired. You can create separate saturation

adjustments for different parts of the tonal range by applying the Saturation function more

than once.

• If you set the Range menu at All, the entire image is affected.

• Raising the saturation curve makes the image more colorful; lowering it makes the image less

colorful/more gray.

• Even small changes in the saturation curve will produce a noticeable effect on the image.

• To change the curve, click anywhere on it to produce one or more “handles.” Drag the handles

until the desired effect is observed in the feedback windo

• IMPORTANT: Create a fixed point on the curve at the chroma coordinates (10,10) and leave the

curve straight below this level. Otherwise, the gray balance of the image will be affected.

• When finished, click on OK or open another color tool.

Adjusting saturation automatically

• When you scan with Magic Touch, ColorQuartet will automatically adjust the saturation of

each image if you activate Saturation in the Auto Functions section of the Magic

Touch window.