Adjustment layers (curves, levels, hue/saturation, gradient maps)

Use non-destructive adjustment layers to control a painting’s values, colors, contrast, and palette without repainting the underlying work.

What it is

Adjustment layers change a painting’s appearance while preserving the paint underneath. Curves, levels, hue/saturation, and gradient map layers can be edited, disabled, or masked later.

Use curves and levels to adjust exposure, contrast, and value range. Hue/saturation can shift or mute colors across selected areas. Gradient maps assign chosen colors to darks, midtones, and lights, which can create broad color changes over a grayscale base or unify a palette.

Adjust layer opacity and blending so forms continue to read. Use masks to target areas such as the character, background, lights, or shadows.

Why it matters

These tools let you test broad color and value changes while keeping the underlying brushwork editable. Weak control can lead to limited contrast, unwanted color casts, muddy edges, or extra repainting when corrections are needed.

You can check it when

• ✓Use curves or levels to bring a flat, low-contrast piece into a usable value range while retaining detail in the lights and shadows.
• ✓Correct an overall color cast, such as green or magenta, with 1 or 2 adjustment layers without repainting large areas.
• ✓Mask an adjustment layer so it affects one part of the image, such as warming the character while leaving the background unchanged, with a clean transition.
• ✓Apply a gradient map to a grayscale study and verify that the forms still read across the resulting color palette.

Related skills

• Layer system (layers, groups, clipping masks, layer masks, blend modes)
• Non-destructive editing — flattening/merging intentionally
• Translating grayscale designs into color
• Maintaining value structure in color
• Controlling saturation and chromatic complexity — avoiding muddy color
• Creating color keys
• Organizing values before rendering