Introduction to PhotoKit Color 2.0 - Pixel Genius

Introduction to PhotoKit Color 2.0 

Color plays a huge role in how we perceive and describe the world we see. And it is 

therefore hardly surprising that some of the first things we want to do to a photograph 

when we bring it into Photoshop are to make accurate adjustments or play creatively 

with the color in the image. Photographers in particular have long desired to reproduce 

traditional photographic processes digitally using Photoshop. PhotoKit Color 2.0 is an 

Automate Plug-in, a new breed of plug-ins that allows custom programming to drive 

Photoshop automatically -- it's like having an expert Photoshop user at your beck and 

call. 

PhotoKit Color 2.0 now features a preview display called the PixelGenius Toolbox, that 

quickly previews the effects before you apply them and combines effects in a single 

batch operation. Included in the new effects are the Dodge and the Burn filter sets, 

which were in the original PhotoKit plug-in. The Special Effects series contains many 

new filters including color infrared, sunshine filters, color transfer effects, a nocturnal 

'day for night' effect and more. The Film Effects series offers accurate simulation filters 

of several generic chrome film emulsions, simulating both color and contrast. Like its 

predecessor, PhotoKit Color 2.0 provides a comprehensive suite of effects that let you 

reproduce creative effects like black and white split toning and cross processing. All 

these effects are applied as separate layers so you can make further variations, adapting 

each effect to suit your own tastes. But that's not all! With PhotoKit Color 2.0, you 

can enhance specific colors in your photographs. You can make skin tones less red or 

lighter. With the Blue Enhance effect you can darken a blue sky and enhance the cloud 

contrast. And with the RSA Gray Balance set, you can automatically remove color casts 

from almost any type of image. 

As with all Pixel Genius products, PhotoKit Color 2.0 respects the need to preserve any 

layers in your images. Most conventional Photoshop coloring techniques alter the tonal 

appearance of the image. We take special care to make sure that the coloring effects: 

Film Effects, Cross Processing, Color Overlay, Split Toning, Special Effects, Color Enhance, 

CC Correction, CT Correction and RSA Gray Balance do not alter the basic tonal 

balance.

Special acknowledgment 

Mike Skurski November 9th, 1962–October 27th, 2005 

Mike Skurski was a founding member of Pixel Genius and our chief engineer, working 

on all the PhotoKit product engineering, including nearly all of the code for PhotoKit 

Color 2.0. 

Sadly, Mike passed away on October 27th, 2005 just a few days after the product announcement 

of PhotoKit Color 2.0. Pixel Genius has lost not just a friend, but an extremely 

talented software designer and engineer. He liked to mention that he has been 

working on Photoshop Plug-ins for almost as long as Photoshop has had plug-ins. He 

received a floppy disk with a hand written label from Thomas Knoll with the then, Photoshop 

1.0 SDK-such as it was. 

He started a company called Total Integration which produced a variety of software 

products including the first licensed PostScript software rip. He also produced Fast Edit 

Deluxe which was a plug-in for opening small sections of Photoshop files. 

Mike worked on producing plug-ins for the original Wacom Pen Tools and was responsible 

for producing the plug-in engine for Live Picture. In addition, Mike contributed to 

over 50 commercial software products including Esko-Graphics PERfection, Extensis 

PreFlight Pro, Extensis Print Ready, Creo Brisque Export PS DFE Module and Enfocus 

Pitstop. 

We all wish to pay special tribute to the memory of our work colleague and friend, Mike. 

Pixel Genius just won't be the same without you.

PhotoKit Color basics 

For a quick introduction on how to use PhotoKit Color 2.0 check out the Opening PhotoKit 

Color 2.0 and Using PhotoKit Color 2.0 pages. The main thing to remember when 

you use PhotoKit Color 2.0, is that the image you are about to work on must be in RGB 

mode. It does not matter if the image is in 8-bits per channel or 16-bits, because 16-bit 

layers are supported in both Photoshop CS and CS2. 

Photoshop RGB color spaces 

The color critical PhotoKit Color 2.0 effects: Film Effects, CC Correction and CT Correction, 

are optimized to provide variant effects tailored for the following RGB color spaces 

commonly used in Photoshop: Adobe RGB, ColorMatch RGB, ProPhoto RGB and 

sRGB. If the RGB color space of your file is not in this list, PhotoKit Color will assume 

the space to be in Adobe RGB. 

Accessing PhotoKit Color 2.0 

PhotoKit Color's image enhancements and adjustments are easy to use. First you need 

to open an image that you wish to process using PhotoKit Color 2.0 and then go to the 

File Menu and choose Automate > PhotoKit Color 2... The following dialog will appear: 

The PixelGenius Toolbox allows you to select and preview any of the effects in PhotoKit 

Color 2.0 before you apply them. The interface also lets you select different PhotoKit 

plug-in Modules and combine various effects using the Batch Options. The Module selection 

will be dependent on which PhotoKit products you have currently installed on

your computer and whether they are version 2.0 products or not. So if you only have a 

single version 2.0 product (i.e. PhotoKit Color 2.0), this is all you will be able to access 

and apply from the Module section. As other PhotoKit version 2.0 products become 

available you will be able to access and combine effects from the separate PhotoKit 

products. 

Previewing Toolbox results 

Note that each time the Toolbox dialog opens you must click on the Preview checkbox 

in order to preview a selected effect. 

PhotoKit Color 2.0 uses non-destructive editing. All PhotoKit Color 2.0 effects create a 

new layer labeled with the name of the effect, leaving the original underlying image untouched, 

so it's always safe to experiment. PhotoKit Color 2.0 never, ever, changes the 

underlying image data. By far the easiest way to learn what the PhotoKit Color 2.0 effects 

do is to try them -- they can't do any harm. 

PhotoKit Color's layer-based approach is also very flexible. The layers within the layer 

set created by a PhotoKit Color 2.0 effect are just a starting point. You can vary the 

strength of the effect globally by adjusting the layer set opacity, or the opacity of individual 

layers, or locally by erasing the portions you don't want. If you want a particular effect 

to be stronger, you can simply run it again. You can easily see exactly what each 

effect does to an image by turning the layer visibility on and off, and if you don't like it, 

you can simply delete the layer or layer set, leaving the original image unchanged. 

PhotoKit Color Sets 

Each of the effects in PhotoKit Color 2.0 provides a consistent, repeatable result, day in 

and day out. You don't need to start from scratch every time you open an image. This 

philosophy is coupled with the design of using all visible layers and returning the results 

as new layers, while NEVER touching your original image. This approach lets you use 

PhotoKit Color 2.0 easily and safely.

PhotoKit Color Effects 

The PhotoKit Color 2.0 sets offer a variety of effects organized by category. To see the 

effects in a set, click on the PhotoKit Effect pop-down menu. After selecting both the Set 

and the Effect, simply click on the 'OK' button and then PhotoKit Color 2.0 runs the effect 

on your image and returns the results in a separate layer or as a layer set containing 

two or more layers.

Getting help 

Click on the 'Help' button to launch the PhotoKit Color 2.0 User Guide. If you click on 

the 'Info' button you will go directly to the PhotoKit Color 2.0 Info Page at the Pixel Genius 

web site where you can check for updates, download free recipes and effects and 

how to contact Pixel Genius if you have any problems. Note: the 'Info' button requires 

an Internet connection. 

PhotoKit Color 2.0 layer groups 

Most of the PhotoKit Color 2.0 effects add an open layer group, which can be seen in 

the Layers palette. This layer set is always be placed at the top of the layer stack, above 

all other layers. This arrangement allows you the flexibility to refine each of the effects. If 

you click on the layer group, you can reduce the overall opacity of the effect.If you click 

on the individual layers within the layer group, you can increase or reduce the strength 

of each layer. So for example, when using the Classic Chrome Film Effects series you 

will see a Classic Chrome layer group which includes a Color layer and a Contrast layer 

above it. If you click on either of these layers you can control the layer opacity to make 

the Color layer or Contrast layer stronger or weaker.

Merge Results 

The layers produced by the PhotoKit Color 2.0 effects are therefore very useful since 

these allow you ultimate flexibility to fine-tune the results. The downside is that if you 

are applying multiple effects, these layers can accumulate and become both unwieldy 

and add to the file size whenever you save the image in a layered state. Some of the 

PhotoKit Color 2.0 effects will return just a single layer anyway, but if the Merge Results 

box is checked, PhotoKit Color 2.0 will always return the layered effects as a single 

layer and this can be especially useful when applying multiple effects in a batch operation.

Batch Options 

When the Show Batch Options box is checked this will expand the Toolbox dialog to reveal 

the batch processing options. This topic is covered in detail in the Batch Processing 

section of the User Guide 

Photoshop CS/CS2 and PhotoKit Color 2 System Requirements: 

NOTE: To automatically install PhotoKit Color 2.0, a U.S. or International English version 

of Photoshop CS or CS2 must already be installed. PhotoKit Color 2.0 can be 

properly installed in any non-English version of Photoshop but must be installed using a 

manual selection and navigation to find the required 'Automate' Plug-in folder. 

PhotoKit Color 2.0 requires the core functionality only found in Adobe Photoshop version 

CS or CS2. PhotoKit Color 2.0 does NOT run in any other imaging application. 

PhotoKit Color 2.0 does NOT operate when installed in any version of Adobe Photoshop 

Elements. It does not work in PhotoDeluxe nor in Photoshop LE. The only applications 

that fully support PhotoKit Color 2.0 are Adobe Photoshop CS and CS2. Also note that 

in order to run, you must have a full color RGB color image open. PhotoKit Color 2.0 

does not run on Grayscale, CMYK, Lab or Index Color mode images. 

See the full list of system requirements for Macintosh and PC and for Photoshop CS 

and CS2

PhotoKit Color 2.0 Sets & Effects List: 

Film Effects 

Film Effects is designed to simulate various chrome film emulsions. These filters simulate 

the color rendition and contrast of various chrome films. For example, the Classic 

Chrome filter can be used to simulate the contrast and highlight color of the old Kodachrome 

film emulsion. The High Grain Contrast effects (formerly in the Color Enhance 

set and known as Grainy Contrast and Grainy Pastel) are designed to simulate the use 

of high speed color film that has been push processed. 

Classic Chrome, Vivid Chrome, US Chrome, Asian Chrome, European Chrome, 

High Grain Contrast 1, High Grain Contrast 2, High Grain Pastel 1, High Grain Pastel 2. 

Cross Processing 

Provides 14 types of cross processing actions in varying strengths which match the 

conventional film cross processing techniques for processing negative film in transparency 

film chemistry and processing transparency film in negative film chemistry. Included 

are 6 Lab Color-based effects which can produce vivid color results as well as 

inverted color cross processing effects. 

C41-E6 yellow (light), C41-E6 yellow (strong), C41-E6 green (light), C41-E6 green 

(strong), 

C41-E6 cyan (light), C41-E6 cyan (strong), C41-E6 blue (light), C41-E6 blue (strong), 

E6-C41 tan (light), E6-C41 tan (strong), E6-C41 magenta (light), E6-C41 magenta 

(strong), 

E6-C41 red (light), E6-C41 red (strong), E6-C41 orange (light), E6-C41 orange (strong), 

Lab Color 1, Lab Color 2, Lab Color 3, 

Lab Color 1 (inverted), Lab Color 2 (inverted), Lab Color 3 (inverted) 

Color Overlay 

Offers a set of 9 different color overlays that apply rich color filters to any image and add 

a subtle split color effect between the shadow and highlight colors. 

Red Overlay, Green Overlay, Emerald Overlay, Blue Overlay, Cyan Overlay, 

Violet Overlay, Magenta Overlay, Yellow Overlay, Orange Overlay,

Split Toning 

Can be applied to black and white images in RGB mode. The 12 Split toning effects 

loosely match the conventional photographic processes used in the black and white 

darkroom. But the split toning effects can just as effectively be applied to full color images 

as well. 

Blue/Sepia Split, Blue/Cyan Split, Red/Green Split, Red/Sepia Split, 

Green/Magenta Split, Green/Yellow Split, Cyan/Sepia Split, Yellow/Blue Split, 

Yellow/Red Split, Magenta/Yellow Split, Magenta/Orange Split. 

Special Effects 

The Special Effects series adds even more creative coloring options to PhotoKit Color 

2.0 allowing you to create different flavors of color infrared effects, add sunshine to a 

photo, or alternatively, a muted sky. The Special Effects series also lets you mimic the 

look of a faded color print and recreate the look of certain cinematic color effects. 

Blue Sky, Smog Sky, Sunshine, Dark Sunshine 

Standard Infrared, Solarized Infrared, Dark Infrared, Inverted Infrared, Cross Process 

Infrared, 

Two Color Transfer, Three Color Transfer, 

Faded Cyan Print, Faded Magenta Print, Faded Red Print, 

Nocturnal 

Dodge Tone 

The Dodge Tone series has been added from the original PhotoKit program and contains 

20 Dodge effects. 

Dodge Center Oval, Dodge 4 Corners, Dodge Top Corners, Dodge Bottom Corners, 

Dodge Top 1/4, Dodge Top 1/3, Dodge Top 1/2, Dodge Top 2/3, 

Dodge Bottom 1/4, Dodge Bottom 1/3, Dodge Bottom 1/2, Dodge Bottom 2/3, 

Dodge Left 1/4, Dodge Left Top 1/3, Dodge Left 1/2, Dodge Left 2/3, 

Dodge Right 1/4, Dodge Right 1/3, Dodge Right 1/2, Dodge Right 2/3,

Burn Tone 

The Burn Tone series has been added from the original PhotoKit program and contains 

20 Burn effects. 

Burn Center Oval, Burn 4 Corners, Burn Top Corners, Burn Bottom Corners, 

Burn Top 1/4, Burn Top 1/3, Burn Top 1/2, Burn Top 2/3, 

Burn Bottom 1/4, Burn Bottom 1/3, Burn Bottom 1/2, Burn Bottom 2/3, 

Burn Left 1/4, Burn Left Top 1/3, Burn Left 1/2, Burn Left 2/3, 

Burn Right 1/4, Burn Right 1/3, Burn Right 1/2, Burn Right 2/3, 

Tone Enhance 

This set of effects also first appeared in the original PhotoKit plug-in and has been incorporated 

into PhotoKit Color 2.0. The 12 Tone Enhance effects allow you to increase 

or decrease the exposure and modify the image contrast in precise increments. 

Plus 1/4 Stop, Plus 1/2 Stop, Plus 3/4 Stop, Plus 1 Stop 

Minus 1/4 Stop, Minus 1/2 Stop, Minus 3/4 Stop, Minus 1 Stop 

Contrast Mask 1, Contrast Mask 2, Contrast Mask 3, 

Boost Contrast 1, Boost Contrast 2, Boost Contrast 3, 

Midtone Contrast 1, Midtone Contrast 2, Midtone Contrast 3, 

Color Enhance 

Enables you to selectively modify colors in an image. For example, the Blue Enhance 

effect returns two layers that will allow you to selectively darken the blues in an image 

and adjust the blue saturation. The Green Enhance effect can be used to selectively 

lighten the green colors in a dark forest scene and boost the green contrast. Color Enhance 

contains a total of 18 effects that also include: Blue/Amber grads and Warm/Cool 

filters. 

Blue Enhance, Blue Enhance + Mask, Green Enhance, Green Enhance + Mask, 

Red Enhance, Red Enhance + Mask, Skin Tone Enhance, Skin Tone Enhance + Mask, 

Blue/Amber Grad 1, Blue/Amber Grad 2, Blue/Amber Grad 3, 

Warm/Cool 1, Warm/Cool 2, Warm/Cool 3, 

CC Correction 

Offers a set of 18 effects designed to match the conventional Color Compensating filters 

that photographers have traditionally used to make small, precision color corrections. 

These CC effects have been optimized for all the main RGB color workspaces commonly 

used in Photoshop and they provide exact, reproducible color adjustments, no 

matter which common color space you prefer to use as your default workspace.

.075CC Yellow, .15CC Yellow, .30CC Yellow, .075CC Red, .15CC Red, .30CC Red, 

.075CC Magenta, .15CC Magenta, .30CC Magenta, .075CC Blue, .15CC Blue, .30CC 

Blue, 

.075CC Cyan, .15CC Cyan, .30CC Cyan, .075CC Green, .15CC Green, .30CC Green, 

CT Correction 

Produces larger color shifts using 4 orange warming and 4 blue cooling filters. These 

have also been optimized for the 4 main RGB color workspaces used in Photoshop, to 

provide exact, reproducible color shift adjustments. 

CT Orange 1/8, CT Orange 1/4, CT Orange 1/2, CT Orange 3/4, CT Orange Full, 

CT Blue 1/8, CT Blue 1/4, CT Blue 1/2, CT Blue 3/4, CT Blue Full, 

RSA Color Correction 

Provides a revolutionary, new type of automatic color correction. RSA Gray Balance 

Standard is a general purpose gray balancing tool which will color correct most photographs. 

RSA Gray Balance Fine offers a more accurate, but slower, method of color correction 

for trickier images that the RSA Gray Balance Standard is unable to correct successfully. 

And finally, there is a RSA Neutralize that can effectively zap any deep color 

cast. 

RSA Gray Balance Standard, RSA Gray Balance Fine, RSA Neutralize,

Installing PhotoKit Color 2.0 

PhotoKit Color 2.0 is an easy to install Automate Plug-in addition to Adobe® Photoshop®. 

You must have the U.S. or International English version of Photoshop CS or 

later installed in order to automatically install PhotoKit Color 2.0. If you are running a 

non-English version, you will need to manually select the install location. If you downloaded 

the demo or purchased on-line, the file you received is a compressed file that 

will need decompression before running the installer. See below for platform specific instructions 

for PhotoKit Color 2.0. 

See instructions for installing on a Windows computer. 

See instructions for installing on a Macintosh computer. 

Note: PhotoKit Color 2.0 is compatible only with Photoshop CS or later and will not run 

in Photoshop Elements. Also note that by default, the installer will first search the hard 

drive that you are booted from to find the Photoshop CS or later install location. If you 

have installed Photoshop on a separate drive, you may need to manually select the install 

location. 

From: PhotoKit Color User Guide 

http://www.pixelgenius.com/color2/pkc_help/index.html

Installing PhotoKit Color on Windows 

NOTE: To automatically search and install PhotoKit Color 2.0, a U.S. or International 

English version of Photoshop CS or later must already be installed. PhotoKit Color 2.0 

cannot be automatically installed in any non-English version of Photoshop CS or later. 

You will need to manually select the install location if you are installing in a non-English 

version of Photoshop. 

Photoshop and PhotoKit Color 2.0 Requirements for Windows 

Windows 2000, or Windows XP Home/Professional 

192MB of RAM, 13MB of available hard-disk space 

Color display capable of displaying thousands of colors at a resolution of 

1024x768 or greater 

Internet Explorer 5.0, 5.5, or 6.0 (updated with applicable Service Packs) 

CD-ROM drive 

When installing PhotoKit Color 2.0 using a downloaded file, you will first need to UnZip 

the file by using a decompression utility. There are free unzipping utilities available for 

downloading. 

The icon of the download file looks like this. The file extension for the Windows version 

is .zip. If you have a .sit file, then you have the Macintosh version of the installer. Please 

check to make sure you have downloaded the correct version for your computer system.

After unzipping, you will find a simple folder icon as pictured above. Double-click on the 

folder to open it and run the installer. 

You will find the following files and folders; the PhotoKit Color 2.0 READ ME text file, 

and the PhotoKit Color 2.0 'Setup.exe'. The PhotoKit Color User Guide will be installed 

in the Installer Folder AFTER you run the Setup.exe as shown in the folder on the right. 

When you launch the PhotoKit Color 2.0 installer, you will be prompted by a splash 

screen, the PhotoKit Color 2.0 End User License Agreement (EULA), an installer Read 

Me as well as a warning that you should not install PhotoKit Color if Photoshop is al-

eady running. If Photoshop is already running, we suggest quitting the installer, quit 

Photoshop and re-launch the installer. 

The installer will automatically search for an installed version of Photoshop CS or later 

in your Program directory. If you have multiple hard drives with applications installed on 

a non-boot drive, you may wish to manually locate the 'Automate' folder. If you are installing 

in a non-English version of Photoshop, you MUST use manual navigation to select 

your language version's translation of the plug-in folder called 'Automate'. The 

proper location to install PhotoKit Color 2.0 is: 

Program Files/ Adobe/ Adobe Photoshop/ Plug-ins/ Adobe Photoshop Only/ 

Automate.

After the search, the installer will tell you where it has located the Photoshop 'Automate' 

folder. If this is where you wish to install PhotoKit Color 2.0, click on the 'Next' button. 

If you receive the above dialog box, it means that the PhotoKit Color 2.0 installer has 

found multiple locations where an 'Automate' folder has been found. Generally this 

would only happen if you have Photoshop installed in more than one location or different 

versions of Photoshop installed. Please select the specific location where you wish 

to install.

That's it. PhotoKit Color 2.0 should now be properly installed. If you received an Install 

Error, see below. After installing, launch Photoshop and read the next section on launching 

PhotoKit Color. 

If you received the error above when installing, the odds are you do not have a U.S. or 

International version of Photoshop installed correctly. The PhotoKit Color 2.0 installer 

can only install properly when a U.S. or International version of Photoshop can be found 

on your computer. PhotoKit Color cannot be automatically installed in any non-English 

version of Photoshop CS or later. You will need to manually select the install location if 

you are installing in a non-English version of Photoshop.

Installing PhotoKit Color on Macintosh 

NOTE: To automatically search and install PhotoKit Color 2.0, a U.S. or International 

English version of Photoshop CS or later must already be installed. PhotoKit Color 2.0 

cannot be automatically installed in any non-English version of Photoshop CS or later. 

You will need to manually select the install location if you are installing in a non-English 

version of Photoshop. 

Photoshop and PhotoKit Color Requirements for Macintosh Operating System: 

PowerPC® processor 

Mac OS X v.10.2.4-10.4.5 (or above) 

192MB of RAM, 13MB of available hard-disk space 

Color monitor capable of displaying thousands of colors at a resolution of 

1024x768 or greater 

CD-ROM drive 

When installing PhotoKit Color 2.0 using the downloaded file, you will need to doubleclick 

on the installer .dmg package.

After you double-click on the installer, this will mount the following installer on the desktop: 

The .dmg installer will open to reveal a folder containing the PK-Color-2-Installer_MAC 

VISE installer and a PKC-READ-ME-MAC.txt Read Me document. Double-click on the 

VISE installer to initiate the PhotoKit Color 2.0 installation on your computer. 

When you run the PhotoKit Color 2.0 installer, you will be prompted by a splash screen, 

the PhotoKit Color End User License Agreement (EULA) and an installer Read Me.

The following warning informs you that you should not install PhotoKit Color 2.0 if Photoshop 

is already running, we suggest quitting the installer, quit Photoshop and relaunch 

the installer. 

The next screen you will see will ask you if you wish to do an automatic search or 

manually locate the correct folder in which to install PhotoKit Color 2.0. We suggest an 

automatic search if your system and applications are all on one hard drive. If you have 

multiple hard drives with applications installed on a non-boot drive, or you are installing 

in a non-English version of Photoshop, you may need to manually locate the 'Automate' 

folder. If installing in a non-English version, you must select 'No' when asked about 

automatically searching.

The proper location, as shown below, is: Applications/ Adobe Photoshop / Plug-ins / 

Automate / Adobe Photoshop Only.

If you receive the above dialog box, it means that the PhotoKit Color 2.0 installer has 

found multiple locations where an 'Automate' folder has been found. Generally this 

would only happen if you have Photoshop installed in more than one location or different 

versions of Photoshop installed. Please select the specific location where you wish 

to install. 

That's it. PhotoKit Color 2.0 should now be properly installed. If you received an Install 

Error, see below. After installing, launch Photoshop and read the next section on launching 

PhotoKit Color 2.0.

If you received the error above when installing, the odds are you do not have a U.S. or 

International English version of Photoshop CS or later installed correctly. The PhotoKit 

Color installer can only install automatically when a U.S or International English version 

of Photoshop can be found on your computer. If you have your Photoshop installer CD, 

please do an install prior to running the PhotoKit Color 2.0 installer. If you are installing 

in a non-English version of Photoshop, you will need to manually select the install location.

Launching PhotoKit Color the First 

Time 

The first time you launch PhotoKit Color 2.0, you will see the following dialog box. Depending 

on whether you bought PhotoKit Color 2.0 on-line or you are merely running 

the demo, your choice of which button to choose is important. If you are running Photo- 

Kit Color 2.0 in 'Demo Mode' simply click on the 'Try PhotoKit' button. You will have a 

ten day demo period from the first time you launch PhotoKit Color 2.0. After that period, 

the dialog box will dim the Try PhotoKit button and the demo period will expire. 

If you purchased PhotoKit Color 2.0 and you already have your serial number, click on 

the 'Enter Serial' button. You will then see the following dialog box.

Generally, you can simply copy and paste the serial number from your emailed receipt. 

This works on Windows and Mac OS X. Depending upon which version of OS X you are 

running, you may have to manually enter in the serial number. Please note that you 

must enter the serial number EXACTLY as it is written in your receipt otherwise you will 

get a warning dialog. Note the serial numbers contain all "zeros" and no "oh's" and any 

letters are in all caps. If you have been running PhotoKit Color 2.0 in demo mode and 

you now wish to purchase it, you can do so directly from within the PhotoKit Color 2.0 

plug-in if your computer has an Internet connection. For more instructions on purchasing 

PhotoKit Color 2.0 directly from the plug-in, visit the Buying PhotoKit Color page. 



Buying PhotoKit Color 2.0 from the 

Plug-in 

The first time you launch Photo Color 2.0, you will see the following dialog box. If you 

are running in demo mode, you can purchase PhotoKit Color 2.0 directly as long as you 

have an Internet connection. Note: all transactions require a valid major credit card. If 

you wish to purchase PhotoKit Color 2.0 via a phone or fax order, please visit the PhotoKit 

Color 2.0 product page for details. You can also go directly to the Pixel Genius 

Web Store. Note, you will need to be connected to the Internet to visit the website. 

If you click on the 'Purchase Button' you will connect to the eSellerate on-line transaction 

service and see a Purchase Wizard. Note: eSellerate is a separate 3rd party on-line 

transaction and fulfillment service. Pixel Genius has selected eSellerate as our partner 

because of eSellerate's excellent service and security. For more information about eSellerate, 

you can visit their web site at: www.esellerate.net.

The screen above is the first step in the Software Delivery Wizard. To start the purchase 

process, please have your credit card handy and then click the 'Next Button' on Mac or 

the 'Start Button' on Windows. You will be guided through the purchase process and 

registration will happen automatically.

When filling out the 'Personal Information' it is important to use the same name and billing 

address as in your credit card records. Also note that for software delivery in 

Europe, a VAT tax is required. The amount of the tax varies by country. The VAT tax is 

collected by eSellerate and sent to the country in which you are located. Pixel Genius 

does not receive any amount of the VAT tax . To find out more about the VAT Tax, click 

HERE. Most major credit cards are accepted. 

Please be sure to review the final confirmation to make sure all the information included 

is correct. If you have a promotional coupon, please be sure to enter the coupon correctly 

in the 'Personal Information' page before finalizing the purchase.

As the final step, you are provided with a Receipt screen which you can print out or 

save for your records. A copy of your receipt will be emailed to the email address entered 

in your personal information. Please be sure to keep a copy for your records in the 

event you need to re-install PhotoKit Color 2.0 in the future. 



Opening PhotoKit Color 2.0 

After installing PhotoKit Color 2.0, you must first have an image open in order to run 

PhotoKit Color. PhotoKit Color 2.0 will ONLY run when a 24 bit RGB color image is 

open in Photoshop. Most digital color images will be in 24-bit color such as JPEGS, 

TIFFs and Photoshop's native file format, PSD. PhotoKit Color 2.0 will not run on grayscale 

nor Index Color (GIF) formats. To run PhotoKit Color 2.0 on these kinds of files, 

you must first mode change to RGB before running PhotoKit Color 2.0.

The File menu 

After opening an image, your Photoshop workspace should look something like the 

above image. To launch PhotoKit Color 2.0, you will need to navigate to: File > Automate 

> PhotoKit Color 2

The PhotoKit Color 2 dialog 

When you launch PhotoKit Color 2, you will see the PhotoKit Color 2 main dialog box 

shown below. If this is the First Time you've ever launched PhotoKit Color 2, you will see 

a different dialog box before seeing PhotoKit Color. For more information see the First 

Launch section of the site. 

Choosing a PhotoKit Color 2 set 

The 'PhotoKit Color 2 Set' contains a variety of commonly needed image adjustments 

grouped by adjustment type.

Choosing a PhotoKit Color 2 effect 

After selecting a Set, you next move to the 'Effects' drop-down menu. As shown below, 

the Effects menu is where you select the actual effects to apply to your image.

It's useful to remember that PhotoKit Color 2.0 will NEVER modify the original pixels in 

your image. PhotoKit Color accomplishes everything by way of creating new layers on 

top of your base image. Therefore, you are free to explore and play with your images 

without having to worry about screwing them up. You can always delete the PhotoKit 

Color 2.0 layers and go back to your original unmodified image. 



Using PhotoKit Color 2.0 

Applying PhotoKit Color 2.0 effects 

PhotoKit Color 2.0 is very simple to use. You open an image, and then open the Photo- 

Kit Color 2 plug-in and pick the 'Set' and then the 'Effect' that you wish to apply to your 

image and click 'OK'. To see how simple it is to use, let me show you how I was able to 

use PhotoKit Color 2.0 to improve the appearance of the image shown here. 

Launching PhotoKit Color 

Before launching the PhotoKit Color 2.0 plug-in, the image must be in RGB mode and 

either 8 or 16 bit/channel bit depth. It does not matter how many other layers you have 

in the image or which layer you have selected, but the the title bar must say 'RGB'. If the

image is in Grayscale, Lab or CMYK color, PhotoKit Color will not be able to process 

your image. 

Once the image was open in Photoshop, I navigated to the File > Automate menu to 

launch PhotoKit Color 2. Because the image was rather dark, I began by choosing the 

Tone Enhance Set and selected the Plus 1 Stop PhotoKit Color effect. Note than when 

the Preview box is checked, you will see the effect applied in the preview area. 

Removing the color cast 

Now that the image had been lightened I could then look at removing the strong yellow 

cast. Because I wished to produce a cumulative effect here, there was no need to click 

OK to add the effect and relaunch the PixelGenius Toolbox. Instead, I clicked on the 

Show Batch Options checkbox. This revealed the Batch interface below. I then clicked 

on the Add button to add the Tone Enhance > Plus 1 Stop effect to the batch list. Next, I 

went back to the Set menu and selected the RSA Gray Balance Set. RSA Gray Balance 

Standard is the most effective tool to choose for most images. But to remove a 

strong cast such as the one in this photograph here, I selected the RSA Neutralize effect 

and clicked the Add button again to add the RSA Neutralize effect to the list. I then 

clicked OK to process the image.

PhotoKit Color 2.0 will process the image in the order the effects are listed in the Batch 

list. And here is the end result, which as you can see, shows a much improved photograph 

that has been lightened by 1 stop and where the yellow cast has been removed 

completely. The Layers palette will contain the effects as distinct layers or layer groups, 

so you can still vary the opacity of the layers and fine-tune the result.



Batch Processing 

Applying PhotoKit Color 2.0 effects as a batch process 

One of the most powerful new features in PhotoKit Color 2.0 is the batch process option. 

When the Show Batch Options box is checked, the PixelGenius Toolbox will expand 

to reveal the Batch list at the bottom of the Toolbox. You can add PhotoKit Color 

2.0 (and other PhotoKit version 2.0 product effects as they become available) by simply 

clicking on the Add button.

In the example shown here, I began by selecting a Film Effects > Vivid Chrome effect 

and clicked on the Add button to add this to the list. I returned to the top of the dialog, 

selected the Burn Tone set, chose the Burn 4 Corners effect and clicked on the Add button 

again to add this as well to the batch list.

Saving a batch Set 

You can also save batch Sets. If you click on the Save... button, you can save individual 

PixelGenius Toolbox batch settings. In the example shown here, I saved the above 

batch Set and named it "vivid chrome + burn corners". 

Loading a batch Set 

Once you have saved a Batch Set you can load it by opening the PixelGenius Toolbox 

and clicking on the Load... button. In the above example I had several Batch Sets saved 

already and have highlighted the "vivid chrome + burn corners" Set. In the Set Contents 

list you can see the effects listed in the order they will be applied.

Film Effects

Note: Roll your mouse cursor over the effects names above to see the indicated PhotoKit Color effect. 

Film Effects 

The Film Effects contain a series of film simulation filters that are designed to match the 

characteristics of some common types of film. For example, the Classic Chrome filter 

can be used to simulate the contrast and highlight color of the old Kodachrome film 

emulsion. The Vivid Chrome filter matches the saturation and contrast of Velvia. And the 

other three filters: US Chrome. Asian Chrome and European Chrome are based on the 

standard 100 ISO Ektachrome, Fujichrome and Agfachrome film emulsions. 

Film Effect Layers 

When you apply any of the above film simulation effects, PhotoKit Color 2.0 will add a 

layer group that contains a color layer and a contrast layer. The contrast layer simulates 

the tonal contrast that is typical of each film emulsion. Note that if you wanted to simulate 

the film emulsion effect as accurately as possible, the Contrast layer should ideally 

be set to 100% opacity. However, although more accurate, our testing has shown that 

this would normally be considered too contrasty for most purposes. The default setting 

is therefore set to a less accurate (but aesthetically more pleasing) 50% opacity. The 

Color layer is set to 100% opacity and will adjust the colors to match the color characteristics 

of the chosen film effect.

RGB Workspaces 

The above film effects are precision adjustments and are dependent on the RGB space 

of the file you are working on. PhotoKit Color 2.0 is able to detect and recognize the following 

RGB spaces: Adobe RGB, Color Match RGB, ProPhoto RGB and sRGB. The 

effect applied will be tailored to match the RGB space the file is in. If you are using 

some other flavor of RGB, PhotoKit Color will default to applying the Adobe RGB effect. 

High Grain Contrast 

The High Grain Contrast effects are designed to simulate the use of high speed color 

film that has been push processed. The High Grain Contrast effect is provided in PhotoKit 

Color with two strength settings and produces a layer group that contains three 

layers. The Color layer modifies the colors to make them appear more muted. The 

Contrast layer applies increased contrast. Lastly, the Grain layer applies a realisticlooking 

film grain texture to the image. All three layers are set to a default opacity of 

50%. You can use the layer opacity slider to increase or decrease the strength of each 

layer.

Note: Roll your mouse cursor over the above image to see the indicated PhotoKit Color effect. 

High Grain Pastel 

The High Grain Pastel effects are designed to simulate the use of high speed color film 

that has been under processed. The High Grain Pastel effect is provided in PhotoKit 

Color with two strength settings and produces a layer group that contains three layers. 

The Color layer modifies the colors to make them appear more muted. The Contrast 

layer applies a contrast mask. Lastly, the Grain layer applies a realistic-looking film 

grain texture to the image. All three layers are set to a default opacity of 50%. You can 

use the layer opacity slider to increase or decrease the strength of each layer.

Note: Roll your mouse cursor over the above image to see the indicated PhotoKit Color effect.

Cross Processing

Simulating film cross process effects 

It was around the 1980s that photographers began experimenting with film cross processing. 

The basic idea was to take a color emulsion film and develop it using the wrong 

chemical process. For example, you would develop color negative (C41) film as if it 

were a color transparency (E6). And vice versa, one could develop color transparency 

film as if it were a color negative. The results were unpredictable and only a few film 

types were suitable for the cross processing treatment. 

The PhotoKit Color 2.0 Cross Processing series will enable you to recreate these types 

of film effects in Photoshop. Also included are some interesting variations of the basic 

cross processing technique, including six Lab Color effects, that take the concept of 

cross processing to a new level. 

Cross Processing Layers 

When you apply a Cross Processing effect, it will create a layer set containing three 

separate layers. The lowest of these is always the base effect layer. This contains the 

main color effect and is set to an opacity of 75%. You can adjust the layer opacity to increase 

or decrease the effect's strength. 

The layer above that is the tint layer. This is a semi-transparent layer which adds a 

highlight tint color to the base effect. The default opacity is 50%. You can increase or 

decrease the opacity to strengthen or lessen the tint color. Try experimenting by varying 

the opacities for both these layers to obtain different variations of each effect. 

The uppermost layer is called the contrast layer, which will enable you to restore all the 

luminosity information in the original image. The default opacity is 0%. This default setting 

will produce a recognizable cross processing effect, which will include the characteristic 

pale yellow/orange coloring in the whites. The E6-C41 effects will also have a 

more pronounced high contrast at this 0% setting. Raising the opacity of the contrast 

layer can help soften the contrast and remove the white cast color, if so desired.

Lab Color Layers 

The Lab Color effects produce a layer set containing two layers marked A and B channel 

layers. Again, you can vary the layer opacities to obtain different results. It is particularly 

worth while experimenting with these, because you can obtain a wide range of 

variations within each Lab Color effect. 

Of all the effects in PhotoKit Color 2.0, the Lab Color effects produce the most dramatic 

color changes. Some images will look great afterwards, but others may show noticeable 

blotches or banding, particularly in areas of gentle, tonal transition. This is because 

there is always a trade-off between pushing the colors to extremes to achieve dramatic 

color results and amplifying defects, which are caused by 'stretching' the levels in the 

original image. For best results, don't use the Lab Color effects with low resolution pictures 

or images that have been saved as JPEGs with heavy compression. As with all 

the other PhotoKit effects, if you don't like the result, just delete the layer set. Applying a 

PhotoKit effect will never damage the original image.



Color Overlay


Color Overlay effects 

This series has been designed to provide a series of nine strong colored overlays. 

There are several ways you can color an image in Photoshop, but these mostly tend to 

upset the tonal balance, causing unwanted clipping of one or more color channels, or 

produce a flat color result. The PhotoKit Color 2.0 Overlays will preserve all the tonal 

information in the original image. If you examine the effects closely you will notice they 

apply dual colors and are returned as a layer group containing two layers. These color 

combinations have been carefully chosen to provide subtle color shifts between the 

highlights and the shadows. 

Color Overlay layers 

When you apply a Color Overlay effect, it will create a layer group containig two layers. 

The lower layer produces the main coloring effect and is set to an opacity of 50%. Increasing 

or reducing the opacity will produce a stronger or gentler coloring effect. 

The layer above that is the tint layer, which is also set to a 50% opacity. The tint layer 

adds a gentle color tint (mainly to the highlight colors). The tint colors are chosen to 

gently enhance the main coloring effect. You can increase or reduce the opacity as desired.

Split Toning


Photograph: © Jeff Schewe 

Split Toning effects 

Split toning refers to the traditional black and white darkroom techniques that used 

chemical processes to color a black and white print. By using different combinations of 

chemicals, one could achieve a split color effect that made the shadow tones one color 

and the highlights another. The PhotoKit Color 2.0 Split Toning set allows you to replicate 

these types of effects in Photoshop. These effects will work well on any monochrome 

photographs, but the image you are working on must be in RGB mode.

Split Toning layers 

When you apply a Split Toning effect, it will create a layer group containing two layers. 

The lower layer produces the shadow to midtone coloring effect and is set to an opacity 

of 50%. Increasing or reducing the opacity will produce a stronger or gentler color in the 

blacks to midtone areas of the image. 

The layer above that is a semi-transparent layer (also set to a 50% opacity), that applies 

a second color to the midtone to highlight areas. By adjusting the opacity of these two 

layers you can fine-tune the split tone effect as desired. 

Working with full color images 

Although the Split Toning series were designed to colorize monochrome images in RGB 

mode, they will also work nicely on full color images as well. 

You can experiment with PhotoKit Color 2.0 by applying more than one effect to the 

same image. After applying each effect click on the layer set eye icon to hide the layers 

and then choose a different effect. You can achieve many different color combinations 

by hiding or revealing different layers in the layer stack. 

Try rolling the mouse over the two Layer palettes displayed on the right to see what the 

split toning treatment can do to a full color image.



Tone Enhance


Tone Enhance effects 

This series of effects was in the original Pixel Genius PhotoKit program and has been 

added to PhotoKit Color 2.0. They are all fairly self explanatory. The Tone Effects enable 

you to make various tonal adjustments using terms that all photographers will be familiar 

with, such as increasing or decreasing the exposure by what are commonly referred 

to as 'f stop' increments. 

The Contrast Masks gently reduce contrast in the shadows and highlights. The Boost 

Contrast effects do the opposite, they will increase contrast in the highlights and shadows. 

The Midtone Contrast effects increase contrast in the midtone areas only, leaving 

the highlights and shadow tones unaffected.

Special Effects


Special effects 

This series offers a varied range of special effect color transformations. The effect descriptions 

are fairly self-explanatory but we have highlighted below some of the effects 

that are available in this set and provided some background information and suggestions 

on how best to use them. 

Most of the effects in this set will return a single layer result, while the Faded print and 

Nocturnal effects will return a layer group containing adjustable layers. 

Sky and Sunshine effects 

These will work well on most landscape images. The blue sky can be used to make a 

photograph look more summery. The Smog Sky effect will dull the sky and produce a 

slightly solarized look. The Sunshine effects are good for adding a late evening glow to 

a scene.


Infrared effects 

A lot of photographers are probably already familiar with the black and white infrared 

effect, but the color infrared film process is perhaps less well known. Kodak still manufactures 

the EIR Ektachrome E-6 film which is primarily designed for scientific as well as 

artistic purposes. The Infrared simulation effects in PhotoKit Color 2.0 are inspired by 

the use of this film emulsion. The five effects on offer here will produce a single layer 

result, so you can fade the result by simply reducing the opacity of the layer.


Color Transfer effects 

These two effects are designed to emulate the dye transfer process that were used in 

the early days of color cinematography. These effects were partly inspired by the movie, 

'The Aviator', in which the colorists working on the film colorized some of the film footage 

to match these early color processes.


Faded Print effects 

The Faded Print effects are designed to reproduce the appearance of old C-type prints 

that have aged over time through natural fading. You can use these effects to simulate 

the look of photographs that have been hanging around in a photo album for several 

decades. To get a really faded print look, pay attention to the instructions below on adjusting 

the Contrast layer.


Faded Print effect layers 

The Faded Cyan and Faded Magenta Print effects will return a layer group containing 

three layers. The Base color layer and tint layers are set to a default opacity of 75%. 

You can adjust the opacity of these layers to make subtle changes to the color effect. 

The Contrast layer is set to an opacity of 100% . This default setting will preserve all 

the luminosity characteristics of the original image, but note that as you reduce the 

opacity of the Contrast layer you will see more coloration of the white borders. As you 

tweak the opacity of the Contrast layer you can further simulate the appearance of a 

faded C-type print. Roll the mouse cursor over the palette shown on the right to see 

what the Faded Cyan Print effect looks like with the Contrast layer set to 0%.

The same layer structure is utilized for the Faded Magenta effect. If you roll the mouse 

cursor over the second layers palette on the right, you can see what the effect looks like 

with the Contrast layer set to 0%. 

And lastly, we have the Faded Red Print effect which consists of a Base color and Contrast 

layer only. Roll the mouse over the palette below to see what the effect looks like 

with the Contrast layer set to 0%.

Nocturnal effect 

With the Nocturnal effect you can take a normal daylight photograph and give it the appearance 

of a night time shot. In the example shown below you can see the Nocturnal 

effect applied using the default settings to a picture that was shot at midday under 

cloudy lighting conditions.

Note: Roll your mouse cursor over the image to see the indicated PhotoKit Color effect. 

Nocturnal effect layers 

The Nocturnal effect attempts to create a night time look by filtering the image in two 

ways. The Luminosity layer aims to match the color sensitivity of human vision under 

low light levels and at the same time make the image darker. The default opacity is set 

to 90%, but you can adjust this if you wish. If you rollover the layers palette on the right, 

you can see how the same image would look with the luminosity layer set to 55%. 

The Color layer is set to Color blend mode at 25% and this layer applies a blue tint to 

the image. If you would like to have a more neutral looking night image, then try reducing 

the opacity of this layer.

Dodge


Dodge Series 

The Dodge effects were first shipped with the original PhotoKit plug-in and have now 

been added to the PhotoKit Color 2.0 module. 

The Dodge series can be used to lighten specified portions of the image as indicated in 

the list shown here. The Dodge effects will add a single layer to your image and the default 

settings will add new layers that are applied using the Screen blend mode at 40%.

If you want a stronger Dodge effect then all you have to do is to increase the opacity of 

the layer. If you roll the mouse cursor over the Layers palette on the right you can preview 

the result of adding a Dodge Top 1/3 effect, but with the opacity set to 100% instead 

of 40%. 



Burn


Burn Series 

The Burn effects were first shipped with the original PhotoKit plug-in and have now 

been added to the PhotoKit Color 2.0 module. 

The Burn series can be used to darken specified portions of the image as indicated in 

the list shown here. The Burn effects will add a single layer to your image and the default 

settings will add new layers that are applied using the Multiply blend mode at 40%.

If you want a stronger burn effect then all you have to do is to increase the opacity of 

the layer. If you roll the mouse cursor over the Layers palette on the right you can preview 

the result of adding a Burn Bottom 1/2 effect at the default 40% setting plus a further 

Burn Top 1/3 effect, but with the opacity set to 100% instead of 40%. 



Color Enhance 

Blue Enhance | Green Enhance | Red Enhance | Skin Tone Enhance | Blue/Amber Grad | Warm/Cool 

Blue Darken/Lighten


Blue Darken 

Blue Darken/Blue Lighten 

The Blue Darken effect is very effective at darkening blue skies and increasing cloud 

contrast. It works by isolating the blue colors on two separate layers. The lower layer 

contains the main Blue Enhance effect. The default opacity is set to 50%. As you increase 

the opacity of this layer, the blue colors will darken and you should see more 

contrast appear between the clouds and the sky. Above this is the Blue Saturation 

layer. The default opacity for the Saturation layer is 25%. This provides a gentle saturation 

boost to the blues in the picture. By adjusting the layer opacity you can make the 

blue saturation stronger or weaker. The Blue Lighten effect will do the opposite and 

lighten the blue content, not just skies, but any blue color that you wish to make lighter. 

Blue Darken + Mask/Blue Lighten + Mask 

The Blue Enhance layer is automatically masked during the PhotoKit Color process and 

in most cases this does a very good job of deleting everything except those blue colors 

we wish to see enhanced. If you apply the Blue Darken + Mask or Blue Lighten + Mask 

effect, the mask is preserved as a layer mask, which masks the Blue Enhancement 

layer (the Blue Saturation layer does not require a mask). The reason we provide this 

additional effect is that some users may prefer to edit the mask to fine-tune this Color 

Enhance adjustment.

Blue Darken 

Blue Darken + Mask

Top | Blue Enhance | Green Enhance | Red Enhance | Skin Tone Enhance | Blue/Amber Grad | Warm/Cool 

Green Darken/Lighten 


Green Lighten 

Green Darken/Lighten 

The Green Lighten effect is very effective at lightening dark green colors, such as 

wooded landscape images. It works by isolating the green colors on two separate lay-

ers. The lower layer contains the main Green Enhance effect. The default opacity is set 

to 50%. As you increase the opacity of this layer, the green colors, especially the dark 

greens, will lighten. Above this is the Green Saturation layer. The default opacity for the 

Saturation layer is 25%. This provides a gentle saturation boost to the greens in the picture. 

By adjusting the layer opacity you can make the green saturation stronger or 

weaker. The Green Darken effect targets the green colors in an image and is also effective 

on landscapes and woodland scenes where you wish to make the green colors 

richer. 

Green Darken + Mask/Green Lighten + Mask 

The Green Enhance layer is automatically masked during the PhotoKit Color process 

and in most cases this does a very good job of deleting everything except those green 

colors we wish to see enhanced. If you apply the Green Darken + Mask/Green Lighten 

+ Mask effect, the mask is preserved as a layer mask, which masks the Green Enhancement 

layer (the Green Saturation layer does not require a mask). The reason we 

provide this additional effect is that some users may prefer to edit this mask to fine-tune 

the Color Enhance adjustment.

Green Lighten 

Green Lighten + Mask


Red Darken/Lighten 


Red Lighten 

Red Darken/Lighten 

The Red Lighten effect is effective at lightening dark red colors, such as in the landscape 

shown here. It works by isolating the red colors on two separate layers. The 

lower layer contains the main Red Enhance effect. The default opacity is set to 50%. As 

you increase the opacity of this layer, the red colors, especially the dark reds, will

lighten. Above this is the Red Saturation layer. The default opacity for the Saturation 

layer is 25%. This provides a gentle saturation boost to the reds in the picture. By adjusting 

the layer opacity you can make the red saturation stronger or weaker. The Red 

Darken effect produces the opposite effect, by selectively darkening the red colors in an 

image. 

Red Darken + Mask/Red Lighten + Mask 

The Red Enhance layer is automatically masked during the PhotoKit Color process and 

in most cases this does a very good job of deleting everything except those red colors 

we wish to see enhanced. If you apply the Red Darken+ Mask/Red Lighten + Mask effect, 

the mask is preserved as a layer mask, which masks the Red Enhancement layer 

(the Red Saturation layer does not require a mask). The reason we provide this additional 

effect is that some users may prefer to edit this mask to fine-tune the Color Enhance 

adjustment.

Red Lighten 

Red Lighten + Mask


Skin Tone Enhance 



The Skin Tone Enhancement is designed to help correct reddish skin tone colors, a 

problem often associated with point and shoot digital cameras. The Skin Tone Enhance 

effect creates two layers. The lower layer contains the main Skin Tone Enhance effect. 

This layer can be used to lighten the skin tones by increasing the layer opacity beyond

the default 50% opacity. Above this is the Yellow Tint layer. The default opacity for the 

tint layer is 0%. As you increase the opacity this will cause the skin tones to become 

more yellow. In most cases you should only want to increase the opacity of this layer to 

around 10-15%. 

Skin Tone Enhance Masks 

The Skin Tone Enhancement layers are automatically masked during the PhotoKit process 

and in most cases this does a very good job of deleting everything except the skin 

tone colors we wish to see enhanced. If you apply the Skin Tone Enhance + mask effect, 

the mask is preserved as a layer mask on both the Skin Lighten and Yellow Tint 

layers. The reason we provide this additional effect is that some users may prefer to edit 

this mask to fine-tune the Color Enhance adjustment. For example, in the above image I 

edited the Skin Lighten layer mask, by adding black paint to the background areas as 

was felt necessary so the skin tone enhancement effect was concentrated mainly on the 

skin tones only.


Skin Tone Enhance + Mask


Blue/Amber Grad 


Blue/Amber Grad 

The Blue/Amber Grad offers a classic graduated filter effect that can be applied to any 

image in Photoshop. This is effect is most suited to sunny, blue sky landscapes such as 

the photograph shown here. There are three types of Blue/Amber Grad effect. The 

numbers indicate the ratio percentage of blue to amber color. So in the example above, 

a Blue coloring layer is applied to the top 70% and an Amber coloring layer is applied 

the bottom 30%. The Blue/Amber Grad ratios are: 50/50 and 30/70. The uppermost luminosity 

control layer preserves the tonal balance of the picture.


Warm/Cool


Warm/Cool Effects 

The Warm/Cool effect comes in three strength settings. These enhance the shadows 

and highlights by creating an Amber layer that colorizes the highlights, and a Blue layer 

that colorizes the shadows. Use the layer opacity slider to adjust the balance between 

the shadow and highlight coloring. The uppermost luminosity control layer preserves 

the tonal balance of the picture. If you reduce the opacity of the Luminosity control layer 

you lose control of the tones, but will obtain a stronger coloring effect in the shadows 

and highlights.

CC Correction


CC Corrections 

This series of effects were in the original Pixel Genius PhotoKit program and have since 

been added to PhotoKit Color. These replicate the use of what are referred to by photographers 

as 'color compensating' filters (which is what the CC stands for). You will notice 

that when you use these effects the color changes will be very subtle. The CC corrections 

in this set are precisely measured and you can add these effects in a series of 

combinations to achieve precise color corrections which will match the use of conventional 

CC camera lens filters.






some other flavor of RGB, PhotoKit Color will default to applying the Adobe RGB effect. 

Combining the CC Correction layers 

You can achieve combined CC corrections by applying the CC correction effects as a 

sequence of effects. For example, let's say you wished to apply a .45 red + .15 yellow 

CC correction. Open PhotoKit Color 2.0, choose the .30 red CC effect and click the Preview 

checkbox to preview the result in the PixelGenius Toolbox. Now check the Show 

Batch Options box and click on the Add button to add this effect to the list. Now select 

the .15 red CC effect and click Add. And lastly, choose the .15 CC yellow effect and click 

Add again. After you click OK, the layer stack should look like the Layer palette shown 

on the right. Roll the mouse over the Layer palette to see a before and after of what the 

combined correction will look like. If you clicked on the Merge results checkbox in the 

PixelGenius Toolbox, the effects will be returned as a single, merged layer.

CT Correction


The CT range of effects provide a means to warm or cool a photograph in varying 

amounts. The CT stands for 'Color Temperature' and these filters aim to match the light 

filters which go by the same name and use the same increments as shown here. These 

filters are no substitute for using the white balance controls in Camera Raw to adjust the 

white balance of a raw shot image, but they do provide a means in Photoshop to apply 

a warming/cooling type of color correction. 






some other flavor of RGB, PhotoKit Color will default to applying the Adobe RGB effect.

RSA Color Correction 

RSA Corrections 

The RSA corrections provide a brand new way of automatically color correcting your 

photographs. They are intelligent color correction tools that use a proprietary Pixel Genius 

'Rule Seeking Algorithm' to analyze the image, and based on this, apply a precise 

curves color correction. RSA corrections strive to preserve the tonal balance of the 

original image. If your original image has a nice soft contrast, the RSA corrections won't 

try to make it more contrasty by reassigning the endpoints. RSA corrections intelligently 

remove a color cast from most photographs, without being fooled into correcting colors 

that don't need correcting. That being said, there are some images, such as sunsets, 

which have color casts you definitely don't want to neutralize! 

RSA and the Pixel Genius Toolbox (Macintosh) 

If you select any of the RSA effects from the menu options in the Toolbox, Macintosh 

users will notice that the Toolbox will disappear temporarily while the RSA preview is being 

created.

The reason for this happening is due to certain limitations of the Adobe Dialog Manager, 

and as such, this is the only way we are able to generate a preview and maintain consistency 

of generating previews for all the effects within the Pixel Genius Toolbox. 


RSA Neutralize 

RSA Neutralize is a drastic effect designed to correct images with strong color casts 

such as the one above, where you wish to make the colors as neutral as possible. RSA 

Neutralize is the most powerful of all the RSA effects, but is generally too strong an effect 

to use as a general gray balance tool. Use it for removing the heaviest casts-if it 

you run it on an image with only a slight color cast, the results may be disappointing. 

RSA Gray Balance: Standard and Fine

RSA Gray Balance is designed to handle color casts ranging from slight to extreme. It 

comes in two flavors: Standard and Fine. The Standard setting works well on most 

types of images. RSA Gray Balance Fine takes a longer time to process and produces a 

more accurate gray balance (though not necessarily a 'better' image) than the standard 

RSA Gray Balance. For those situations where you find the Standard Gray Balance correction 

is lacking, use the Fine Gray Balance. RSA Gray Balance Fine first executes the 

RSA Gray Balance Standard algorithm, and returns that result on a layer, then it makes 

a second, more detailed pass on the corrected image and returns a second correction 

layer for fine-tuning. 

The intelligence built into RSA Gray Balance makes it ideal for batch processing, because 

the degree of correction is calculated for each image. Images with little or no cast 

receive a very gentle correction, while a stronger correction will be applied to those images 

with heavier casts. 


RSA Gray Balance Fine: layers 

For unattended batch operation, RSA Gray Balance Fine is the best choice if you're willing 

to save the images with the layers intact, since it incorporates RSA Gray Balance 

Standard. For those images where RSA Gray Balance Fine produces too strong a correction, 

you can reduce the opacity of the RSA Gray Balance Fine layer, or even delete 

it entirely, once the batch has executed. If you need to save flattened files, we recommend 

that you use RSA Gray Balance Standard instead, and as with all batch corrections 

that produce flattened files, we recommend that you don't overwrite the original 

images.

RSA Gray Balance Error 

While unlikely, there is a chance that the RSA Gray Balance may cause the following 

error: 

The reason for this error message appearing may be because the image already contains 

all neutral tones (and therefore does not need to be auto-corrected). For more information 

on this subject, please go to the section on PhotoKit Color Errors.

PhotoKit Color 2.0: Saving Images 

Once you learn how to use PhotoKit Color 2.0, saving your images will be a very important 

consideration. If you open up an image from a basic, compact digital camera, the 

odds are that the file format is JPEG, which is a common file format for digital cameras. 

JPEGs are useful for situations where an image's file size is important such as when 

being written to a compact flash card or put up on a web site. However, JPEGs are not 

an ideal file format for digital imaging. 

The way that JPEGs are created is to compress the color information while trying to 

preserve the luminance information. This compression process is called "lossy" because 

some information in an image is 'lost'. While the initial compression you get from a digital 

camera is not severe, opening a JPEG in Adobe Photoshop and re-saving as a 

JPEG will add to the loss of image integrity. Repeated opening, modification and resaving 

should therefore be avoided.

Saving a layered image 

When you run a PhotoKit Color 2.0 effect on an image, the result is a layer sitting on top 

of the original image. This is extremely useful for the purpose of image corrections and 

manipulations. However, adding layers not only adds to the size of the saved file, it also 

limits your choice of file formats when saving. 

If you go to save an image that has a PhotoKit Color layer on it, you will not be able to 

save as a JPEG because JPEGs cannot have layers. So, you have several options, 

either flatten the image and allow Photoshop to re-compress the image as a JPEG or 

save the image using a different file format.

Because Photoshop tries to prevent you from accidentally saving over a file, Photoshop 

will add the word "copy" when you try to save an image as a JPEG with a layer in the

file. This will prevent you from accidentally over-writing your original file. This is a good 

thing, but can be annoying.

Saving a copy of the original 

At this point when saving, you can choose to manually remove the word "copy" and 

therefore over-write your original file. However, this will flatten the file and eliminate any 

layers. If you are absolutely sure you do not wish to do any additional work on the image, 

you may wish to do this. This will re-compress the image as a JPEG and replace 

your original image with your new version of the image. We recommend, however, that 

you give serious consideration to this decision. If there is any chance you may wish to 

do additional work on the image or that you may need to go back to the original image 

for any reason, we suggest you either leave the word "copy" in the file name or use another 

name addendum such as "ADJ" to preserve your original. 

Preserve all PhotoKit layers using the PSD format 

As an alternative, you may decide to keep your image with all the PhotoKit Color layers 

intact. This will allow you to come back to the image and make additional changes 

without having to worry about problems you may have with JPEG artifacts from repeated 

saves while preserving your layers for later editing. 

Photoshop’s native file format is .PSD (Photoshop). With a PSD file, anything you create 

in a Photoshop file can be saved including image layers, adjustment layers and type 

layers. The PSD file format includes a level of compression using a completely lossless 

scheme so you can be assured that you'll never suffer recompression artifacts.

Preserve all PhotoKit layers using the TIFF format 

While many applications can open PSD files, there is another format that has even 

wider acceptance called TIFF. It should be noted however that while Photoshop can indeed 

save layered files in the TIFF file format, layered TIFFs can only be read by Photoshop 

at this time. TIFF files, therefore do not have the same interchangeability that 

PSDs have. However, TIFFs do offer additional lossless compression schemes that can 

make the saved file size smaller. 

A TIFF can use LZW, ZIP and even JPEG compression. Note that the JPEG compression 

inside a TIFF is still lossy. If you select ZIP compression, this is the most efficient 

type of TIFF compression.

Summary 

To recap, running a PhotoKit Color 2.0 effect on a file will add a layer or layer set containing 

several layers. Not all file formats can save layers so you need to choose 

whether or not to save the layers or flatten. If you do flatten, consider adding a file name 

addition to avoid saving over your original file. If you need to save in a JPEG file format, 

understand that it will compress your file in a lossy manner. You should avoid re-saving 

over and over as a JPEG. 

Both PSD and TIFF file formats can save layers. TIFF has a ZIP compression which is 

the most efficient lossless compression scheme.

PhotoKit Color 2.0 Errors 

The odds are, if properly installed, PhotoKit Color 2.0 will rarely cause any errors or any 

warnings. If you received an error when installing, please scroll to the bottom of the 

page. There are a couple of possible situations where you might see an error or warning 

when using PhotoKit Color 2.0. 

No command available 

If the PhotoKit Color plug-in should accidentally get deleted or moved into the wrong 

folder and you are running an action that calls PhotoKit Color 2.0, you will see the following 

dialog. This means you need to check that the PhotoKit Color 2.0 plug-in is correctly 

installed in the Photoshop application > Plugins > Adobe Photoshop only > 

Automate folder directory. 

Installation Errors 

If you received the error below when installing, the odds are you do not have a U.S. or 

International version of Photoshop installed correctly. The PhotoKit Color 2.0 installer

can only install properly when a U.S. or International version of Photoshop CS or later 

can be found on your computer. 

If you have your Photoshop installer CD, please do an install prior to running the Photo- 

Kit Color installer. The PhotoKit Color 2.0 installer will only automatically locate the correct 

install location on U.S. or International English versions of Photoshop. Non-English 

versions of Photoshop will require a manual install. 

Install error from the Macintosh PhotoKit Color 2.0 installer. 

Install error from the Windows PhotoKit Color 2.0 installer.

PhotoKit Color 2.0 Resources 

The primary resource for information about PhotoKit Color 2.0 is the Pixel Genius Web 

Site and the PhotoKit Color 2.0 Info Page. Note, you will need to be connected to the 

Internet to visit the website. 

On the Info Page, you will find a variety of resources including; 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) 

Information about how to contact Tech Support 

Product updates 

Links to digital imaging resources 

Buying PhotoKit Color 2.0 

If you are running PhotoKit Color 2.0 in demo mode and wish to purchase it, you can do 

so directly from within the PhotoKit Color 2.0 Plug-in. For more information about buying 

PhotoKit Color 2.0, visit the Buying PhotoKit Color 2.0 page. 

Follow this link if you wish to buy PhotoKit Color 2.0 from the Pixel Genius Web Store 

If you would prefer to purchase PhotoKit Color 2.0 by phone or fax, please visit the PhotoKit 

Color 2.0 Product Page. Note, you will need to be connected to the Internet to visit 

the websites. 

Legal Stuff 

PhotoKit Color End User License Agreement (EULA) 

Pixel Genius Standard Terms of Sale.

Information about Pixel Genius,LLC. 

Pixel Genius,LLC is a collaboration of industry leading experts. We are dedicated to 

creating leading edge products and services designed for the photographic and digital 

imaging industries. 

The Pixel Genius Members are: 

Martin Evening 

Bruce Fraser 

Seth Resnick 

Andrew Rodney 

Jeff Schewe 

Pixel Genius,LLC. 

624 West Willow Street 

Chicago, IL 60614

Introduction to PhotoKit Color 2.0 - Pixel Genius

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