How to Remove Color Fringing on Photoshop

Most commonly caused by taking a low-light photograph of an object with a high-contrast boundary, color fringing is the presence of a slight colored ring--usually purple or magenta--in an image. This can often be avoided entirely by using an ultraviolet filter when taking the photo. Film is more sensitive to color fringing than the digital medium The problem also can usually be removed easily with a few tweaks in Photoshop.

Things You'll Need

• Adobe Photoshop CS2 or later

Instructions

1. Open Photoshop on your computer and click "File" in the program's top navigation bar. Select "Open" and locate the image file you plan to work with.

2. Select the magnifying glass icon in the "Tools" palette and zoom in on an area of the image that clearly displays the color fringing. Know that the upcoming color adjustment will be made to the entire photograph, not just the area you've magnified.

3. Click "Image" on the program's top navigation bar. Roll down to "Adjustments," then select "Hue/Saturation" to access the Hue/Saturation/Lightness tool. A dialog window with a pull-down menu, three sliders, three eyedropper icons and color spectrum will open.

4. Access the pull-down menu and select "Blues."

5. Select the leftmost eyedropper icon by clicking on it, then click on the most noticeable color fringe in your photograph. Leave the "Hue/Saturation" dialog window open.

6. Locate the middle slider in the dialog window, marked "Saturation," and drag it to the left until the color fringe is gone. Look for this to occur between "-70" and "-80," though more or less adjustment might be necessary.

7. Click "OK" once the fringe has been removed.

Tips & Warnings

• If the adjustment is being made to the wrong color in the image, try adjusting the color spectrum slider at the bottom of the dialogue window. If this still doesn't do the the trick, try selecting "Magentas"--rather than "Blues"--in the dialogue window pull-down menu.

• If your photo looks washed out after the adjustments have been made, try working with the "Brightness/Contrast" tool to return it to its preferred levels.

References

• "Photoshop Restoration & Retouching;" Katrin Eismann, Wayne Palmer; 2006