Blades Media's guide to colour matching backgrounds

[Blades Media UK]

Changing the background on an image but the subject colour doesn't match the background?

Here I will show you how to colour match if understanding colours isn't your strongest skill.

Image 1 Foreground
Runners on a track, early morn with strong blues.



Image 2 Background
Desert Scene end of day, strong oranges



Start by masking out the runners and placing them above the background layer



Create a new adjustment layer "Gradient Map"

 

[Blades Media UK]

Open up the gradient properties by clicking on the colour bar. Adjust the colour by clicking the colour swatch


Go through the image and select colour from the high, the mid and the low. Taking note of their Brightness.


On the gradient band and the colour swatch selected, input the brightness. You need to adjust if it is too close to another colour. Colours too close can cause harsh edges.

 

[Blades Media UK]

Press the clipping mask button to attach the adjustment layer to the runners only. If you don't do this it will become a global adjustment and change the colour of the background.


You will now have a funny looking image


Using the layer style, select colour and dial the finish in with the opacity bar.

 

[Blades Media UK]

Using levels, balance the image. I added more black, reduced the midtones and made the whites harsher.


Final Image