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brenix
Participant
January 11, 2021
Question

Desaturation turns red

  • January 11, 2021
  • 2 replies
  • 2347 views

Hello! I've had this issue on and off over the years, but sometimes when I try to desaturate an image in hue/saturation, it gives the image a red hue, even when the saturation is at -100. I've attached two images of the situation, one of the hue/saturation settings, and one showing the red tint as seen in from the eyedropper tool. 

 

If someone could help me solve this issue, it'd be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

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    2 replies

    N
    Naoise34219336qf1d
    Participant
    April 7, 2024

    If anyone else is having this problem, checking colorize and then setting the saturation to -100 seemed to work for me working in CMYK

      D Fosse
      Community Expert
      D FosseCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      April 7, 2024

      CMYK characterizes real-life offset printing inks. Cyan ink has lower density than Yellow and Magenta, so the % has to be higher for a neutral result. This is built into all CMYK profiles.

       

      Thus, you get a reddish brown when all ink percentages are equal.

        SK321
        SK321
        Inspiring
        January 11, 2021

        That's odd. Are you sure your hue/saturation layer is on top of all the other layers and its blending mode is set to Normal and it's at 100% opacity? If you're trying to turn it pure black and white, you could also add a black & white adjustment layer at the top. 

        B
        brenixAuthor
        Participant
        January 11, 2021

        Wow, I was just playing around with different document setups, and the issue seems to only appear when working in CMYK as opposed to RGB. I'm not too sure why, but for now, the problem is solved. 

         

        Thanks for the response, Shaun!

        SK321
        SK321
        Inspiring
        January 11, 2021

        Ah, yes, CMYK mode would do that. In the future, if you need to work in CMYK but you also want your image pure black and white, you could switch to RGB 8-bit, make it black & white, and then switch back. I know there's a reason it doesn't go pure black & white in CMYK and I think it has to do with printing and the colors involved, but someone else on here who has more experience/knowledge of CMYK would have to explain it.

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