MY CARTHow to Convert Color Modes in Photoshop: Video Lesson
This video lesson, titled “Learn How to Convert Color Modes in Adobe Photoshop: A Training Tutorial,” shows you how to convert color modes in Photoshop. This video lesson is from our complete Photoshop tutorial, titled “Mastering Photoshop Made Easy.”
Overview:
You can convert a file in Photoshop from one color mode to another, if necessary. For example, you can convert an image edited using the RGB Color mode to the CMYK Color mode before sending it to a commercial printer. When you select a different color mode for an image, you permanently alter the color values in the image.
So, if you convert an RGB Color mode image to a CMYK Color mode image, any RGB color values outside of the CMYK color gamut are adjusted to fall within the CMYK color gamut. Even if you then convert it back to the RGB Color mode, the previous color data it contained before the CMYK Color mode conversion would not reappear.
Step to Take Before Converting the File:
In light of that, you may want to take a few precautionary measures before converting an image’s color mode in Photoshop. First, do as much editing as possible in the image’s original color mode. Then, save a copy of the image file with its original color mode and all its layers in case you want to edit the original version of the image after the conversion.
Next, flatten the image file before converting it, as the interaction of colors between layer blending modes changes when the color mode changes. To flatten an image file in Photoshop, which merges all its layers into the background layer, select “Layer| Flatten Image” from the Menu Bar.
How to Change the Color Mode in Photoshop:
To then convert the flattened image to another color mode in Photoshop, select “Image| Mode” from the Menu Bar. From the side menu that then appears, select the color mode to use. Alternatively, select a color mode choice from the “Mode” drop-down within the Properties panel when the document file is selected, meaning no layers are selected in the Layers panel. If a color mode is not available for the selected image file, then the color mode appears “grayed-out” in the menu of color modes that appears.
