Simon DXO • Listen & Learn

DxO PhotoLab
Colour & HSL

Learn how to use Colour & HSL in DxO PhotoLab and save 15% on DxO software through my exclusive creator discount. Discover targeted colour control, hue shifts, saturation, luminance and selective colour refinement in Lesson 16 of DxO PhotoLab Zero to Hero.

Welcome to Lesson 16 of DxO PhotoLab Zero to Hero. In this lesson we are looking specifically at Colour & HSL. This is different from the broader Colour & Tone lesson because here we are focusing on targeted colour control rather than the overall mood of the image.

HSL stands for Hue, Saturation and Luminance. These controls allow you to adjust individual colour ranges inside a photograph. Instead of making the whole image warmer, cooler, more colourful or more muted, you can target specific colours such as blues, greens, reds, oranges or yellows.

This is where colour editing becomes more precise. You might darken a blue sky, reduce overly strong greens, shift orange tones slightly, calm down red skin tones or make one colour sit more naturally within the rest of the photograph.

How Colour & HSL Is Different From Colour & Tone

Lesson 14 looked at colour and tone in a broader sense: overall mood, colour rendering, saturation, vibrancy and the general feel of the image. Lesson 16 is more specific. HSL is about individual colour control.

For example, if an entire image feels too dull, you might use broader colour and tone controls. But if only the greens in the trees look too strong, or the blue sky looks too bright, HSL is the more precise tool.

Using Hue

Hue allows you to shift a colour range. This can be useful when one colour does not feel quite right. Greens might be shifted towards a more natural tone, blues might be adjusted for a cleaner sky, or oranges might be refined for better skin tone.

Hue changes should usually be subtle. Large shifts can quickly make colours look unnatural, especially in skin, foliage and skies.

Using Saturation

Saturation controls how strong a selected colour appears. This is useful when one colour is overpowering the image. For example, grass can sometimes look too electric, reds can become too intense, and skies can feel overly saturated.

Reducing saturation in one colour range can often make an image feel more professional than increasing saturation across the whole photograph.

Using Luminance

Luminance controls the brightness of a selected colour. This can be very useful for skies, foliage, clothing, backgrounds and skin tones. Darkening blues can make skies feel richer. Brightening oranges can sometimes make skin feel more open. Reducing green luminance can add depth to landscapes.

Luminance is often overlooked by beginners, but it can be one of the most powerful parts of HSL because it changes how colour contributes to the structure of the image.

Natural Colour Refinement

The best HSL adjustments usually feel invisible. The viewer should not think about the edit. They should simply feel that the photograph looks balanced, polished and believable.

Try to avoid pushing colours too far. Strong colour shifts can be useful for stylised work, but in most photography, subtle refinements create a cleaner and more professional result.

Continue The Course

Next we’ll move on to Photo Library & Virtual Copies, where we look at organising edits, creating alternate versions and working more efficiently inside DxO PhotoLab.

Course Index

Lesson FAQ

Search Topics Covered