ACE Color Correction & Adjustment 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which blending mode is most effective when using a Curves adjustment layer to boost midtone contrast without shifting hue or saturation?
- Luminosity (Correct answer)
- Multiply
- Overlay
- Soft Light
Correct answer: Luminosity
Setting the Curves layer to Luminosity blending mode applies tonal changes while leaving hue and saturation unaffected.
Question 2: In Photoshop's Color Balance adjustment, which tonal range slider affects pixels with luminosity values roughly between 64 and 192?
- Midtones (Correct answer)
- Shadows
- Highlights
- Gamma
Correct answer: Midtones
Color Balance's Midtones range targets mid-luminosity pixels, roughly between the shadow and highlight thresholds.
Question 3: A photographer wants to shift a neutral gray background to a warm amber tone without affecting black or white points. Which adjustment is most precise?
- Selective Color targeting Neutrals (Correct answer)
- Levels input sliders
- Brightness/Contrast
- Exposure adjustment
Correct answer: Selective Color targeting Neutrals
Selective Color's Neutrals channel lets you shift midtone grays toward any color without moving the black or white clipping points.
Question 4: What does the 'Preserve Luminosity' checkbox do in the Color Balance dialog?
- Prevents brightness shifts when adding color (Correct answer)
- Locks the layer opacity
- Converts the layer to Smart Object
- Syncs adjustments to all linked layers
Correct answer: Prevents brightness shifts when adding color
Preserve Luminosity ensures that adding color tints does not lighten or darken the overall brightness of the image.
Question 5: Which Photoshop tool allows you to sample a color from the image and set it as the new target for a Hue/Saturation adjustment on a specific color range?
- On-image adjustment eyedropper inside Hue/Saturation (Correct answer)
- Magic Wand tool
- Color Sampler tool
- Quick Selection tool
Correct answer: On-image adjustment eyedropper inside Hue/Saturation
The on-image adjustment eyedropper within Hue/Saturation lets you click pixels to add them to the targeted color range.
Question 6: When correcting a cyan color cast in an image using Curves, which channel should you pull downward (reduce)?
- Cyan channel in CMYK or reduce Blue+Green in RGB (Correct answer)
- Red channel
- All channels equally
- Master RGB channel only
Correct answer: Cyan channel in CMYK or reduce Blue+Green in RGB
In CMYK, reducing the Cyan channel removes cyan cast; in RGB, cyan equals reduced Red, so boosting Red (or reducing Blue/Green) counteracts it.
Question 7: Which Photoshop feature lets you create a gradient map that maps specific luminosity zones to chosen colors for stylized color grading?
- Gradient Map adjustment layer (Correct answer)
- Photo Filter adjustment layer
- Color Lookup adjustment layer
- Channel Mixer adjustment layer
Correct answer: Gradient Map adjustment layer
A Gradient Map replaces each pixel's luminosity value with the corresponding color stop from the chosen gradient.
ACE Color Correction & Adjustment 2
Which blending mode is most effective when using a Curves adjustment layer to boost midtone contrast without shifting hue or saturation?