Welcome
What’s new
- What is Pixelmator Pro?
- Pixelmator Pro interface
- - What is Apple Creator Studio?
  - Subscribe to Apple Creator Studio
- Create a new document
- Open a document
- Create from templates and mockups
- Save, name, and close documents
- Edit from the Photos app
- Intro to layers
- Create layers
- Replace an image layer
- Select layers
- Organize and manage layers
- Navigate layers in the canvas
- Use rulers, guides, and other canvas overlays
- Rasterize vector layers
- Work with video layers
- Generate an image from a text description
- Intro to selection tools
- Make intelligent selections
- Make geometric selections
- Select areas by drawing in the canvas
- Modify selections
- Intro to color adjustments
- Apply a color adjustment
- Selectively adjust clarity and texture
- Color grade an image
- Add stylized finishing effects
- Sharpen an image
- Apply color adjustment presets
- Apply LUTs
- Intro to automatic image editing
- Automatically increase image resolution
- Remove or hide an image background
- Automatically enhance image color
- Automatically match image colors
- Remove color banding in an image
- Automatically reduce image noise
- Automatically crop and straighten images
- Decontaminate image colors
- Add and manage effects
- Adjust effects
- Use effects presets
- Apply styles to layers
- Adjust the opacity of a layer
- Change the blend mode of a layer
- Add an outline around a layer
- Fill a layer with a color or gradient
- Add an inner shadow to a layer
- Add a drop shadow to a layer
- Use layer style presets
- Transform a layer
- Warp a layer
- Intro to retouching and reshaping
- Repair, remove, and clone objects in images
- Lighten or darken areas of an image
- Sharpen and soften areas of images
- Smudge an image
- Adjust color saturation in areas of an image
- Reshape areas of an image
- Intro to painting
- Paint and erase using brushes
- Paint and erase with the Pixel Paint tool
- Fill a layer or selection with color
- Fill specific areas of an image with color
- Fill a layer with a color gradient
- Erase similarly colored areas of an image
- Manage brushes
- Customize brush settings
- Draw vector shapes and graphics
- Combine shapes
- Draw shapes with the Pen tool
- Draw shapes with the Freeform Pen tool
- Generate custom shapes
- Edit vector paths
- Manage shapes and collections
- Add basic text
- Add text on a path
- Modify fonts
- Format text characters
- Change the color of text
- Align and space text
- Use text style presets
- Convert text into an outline
- Convert text into a shape or pixel layer
- Intro to masks
- Add and edit bitmap masks
- Add and edit vector masks
- Make a clipping mask
- Convert a selection to a mask
- Crop and straighten images
- Rotate or flip an image
- Trim the edges of the canvas
- Reveal parts of an image beyond the canvas
- Resize an image
- Change the canvas size
- About color management
- Change the color profile of an image
- Change the color depth of an image
- Use histograms
- Export photos, videos, and documents
- Export a document for the web
- Slice documents into individual image exports
- Quickly export or share an optimized image
- Print a document
- Use presets from your Mac on your iPad
- Use the Pixelmator Pro toolbar
- Pixelmator Pro tools
- Use color controls
- Keyboard shortcuts and gestures
- Customize the Tools sidebar
- About the Pixelmator Pro file format
- Supported media formats
- Work with RAW files
- About Pixelmator Pro sidecar files
- Use the Pixelmator Pro Photos extension
- Restore an earlier document version
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Adjust color saturation in areas of an image in Pixelmator Pro on Mac

Use the Saturate and Desaturate tools to make colors more or less saturated in specific areas of an image. These advanced tools can adjust color intensity across all tonal values or within specific tonal ranges to fix exposure issues, such as a sky that lacks blue, or shadows that retain a strong color cast.

In Pixelmator Pro on Mac, select a layer in the Layers sidebar.
Choose Tools > Retouch > Saturate, or Desaturate.
You can also select or in the Tools sidebar.
In the Saturate pane or Desaturate pane, adjust the settings:
- Brush Size: Drag the slider to change brush size.
- Softness: Drag the slider to soften brush edges for blending.
- Strength: Drag the slider to adjust the intensity of the effect.
In the Saturate pane or Desaturate pane, select which tones the tool will affect.
- All: Affects shadows, midtones, and highlights equally.
- Shadows: Affects only the darkest areas.
- Midtones: Affects only the middle tones.
- Highlights: Affects only the brightest areas.
Drag in the canvas over the areas you want to saturate or desaturate.

You can see a before-and-after comparison of the adjusted image. To remove the adjustments you just made, click Reset at the bottom of the Darken or Lighten pane.

Helpful?

Pixelmator Pro User Guide for Mac

Adjust color saturation in areas of an image in Pixelmator Pro on Mac