How do I make my graduation maps more poc friendly?
tl;dr: you want to be mindful of your shades when making a gradient map.
(on photopea) the left side is what’s replacing the dark colors, while the right side is what’s replacing the light colors. make sure they stay consistent, with dark colors replacing dark colors to avoid skin lightening. if you’re reversing the gradient map, then reverse the direction.
make sure your colors are within reason, either via the map itself, through changing blending modes, or fixing colors in future layers (if salvageable)
or… you could diversify your layers and coloring methods.
essential readings:
colorfloat’s poc friendly psd tutorial
canarysage’s dark skin friendly psd tutorial
canarysage’s blending mode guide
canarysage’s adjustment layers guide
my post on how to see if a coloring’s poc friendly
lumieron’s gradient maps, contract and more
cutesiplushi’s whitewashing. don’t do it.
