How To Use The Variance Slider In Lightroom

I’ve only been using Lightroom’s new Variance slider for a few days but already it’s proved useful enough to change the way I develop some of my photos. I’m going to share my discoveries with you, including a technique that you’re unlikely to find elsewhere.

I’ve got four great examples, including one showing you how to use Variance to enhance autumn colors in your landscape photos (useful for this time of year). I’ve added each photo to my Adobe Community profile so you can see the settings used and develop them yourself using Remix (the links are in the article).

Where is the Variance slider in Lightroom?

Adobe added the Variance slider to the Point Color tools in the Lightroom Classic 15.0 (October 2025) update. It also added the Variance slider to Lightroom desktop, Lightroom mobile and Adobe Camera Raw (ACR), but not Lightroom mobile (hopefully that will come in a future update).

In Lightroom Classic you’ll find it in two places. The first is under Point Color in the Color Mixer panel, where you can apply it as a global adjustment (left, below). The second is under Point Color in the Masks panel, where you can apply it as a local adjustment (right, below).

The same applies to Lightroom desktop, Lightroom web and ACR, where you’ll find it under Point Color in the Color panel (left, below) and under Point Color in Masking (right, below). The screenshots below are from Lightroom desktop. The other apps have similar interfaces.

What does the Variance slider do?

The Variance slider affects color contrast. The best way to explain what it does is to give you an example, using the photo of a flower below.

I used Select Subject to mask the flower.

Then I used the eyedropper to select a color from the flower.

The Point Color swatch shows the sampled color.

When you move the Variance slider left, Lightroom moves colors that are similar to the sampled color closer to the sampled color. It reduces color contrast.

When you move the Variance slider right, Lightroom moves colors that are similar to the sampled color further from the sampled color. It increases color contrast.

These screenshots show the difference. The screenshot on the left shows what happened to the purple flower when I moved the Variance slider left to -70. The colors of the flower are smoother, more uniform.

The screenshot on the right shows what happened when I moved the Variance slider right to +70. There are more colors, and more contrast between the colors.

The large color swatch in Point Color shows you colors similar to the sampled color, so you know what colors will be affected by the Variance slider adjustment. You can move the Range slider right to expand the range of colors affected by the adjustment, or left to reduce the range. You can also check the Visualize Range box to see the affected colors. The best way to learn is to play with the Variance and Range sliders and see what effect they have on the photo. You’ll soon figure it out.

What’s the best way to use the Variance slider?

So far, I’ve found the best way to use the Variance slider is as a local adjustment using masks. You get better results when you apply it selectively. Otherwise, your adjustments can affect parts of the photo you didn’t want to change. You can see how it works in the following examples.

Variance slider example #1: Blue skies

The first use of the Variance slider is to make a blue sky a more even color. You can get variations in color when you use a wide-angle lens. Polarizing filters make it worse. Here’s an example. The sky is a much deeper blue at the top of the photo than the bottom.

Here’s what you can do about it.

1. Go to the Masks panel and make a Sky mask with Select Sky.

2. Go to Point Color and use the eyedropper to sample a mid-blue color from the sky. Lightroom makes other colors look like the sampled color, so think about how dark or light you want the sky to be.

3. Move the Variance slider left to even out the blue tones in the sky. You can see the result below.

Click here to see the photo on Adobe Community.

Variance slider example #2: Skin tones

Portrait photographers will love this. If you have a portrait where the model has blotchy skin, or red patches on their skin, or the otherwise uneven skin tones, you can fix it with the Variance slider. We’ll use this portrait as an example.

Here’s how you fix it.

1. Go to the Masks panel and use Select People to make a mask combining the Facial Skin and Body Skin options. Check the Facial Skin and Body Skin boxes, and leave the Create 2 separate masks box unchecked. See the screenshot below for details.

That gives a mask something like this.

2. Go to Point Color and use the Eyedropper to sample a suitable color from the model’s face. Remember that Lightroom will adjust similar colors to look like the one you select.

3. Move the Variance slider left to even out the skin tones. You can see the results in the photos below. It’s a subtle adjustment, so you need to look carefully to see the difference.

Click here to see the photo on Adobe Community.

Variance slider example #3: Autumn colors

Here’s an example for landscape photographers that shows how to use Variance to adjust autumn colors. This is the original photo.

Here’s how you can adjust the colors.

Tip: Set White Balance to Cloudy or Shade for warmer colors.

1. Go to the Masks panel and use Select Sky to create a sky mask. Then click the ellipse (three dot) icon and select Invert. That creates a mask something like this.

2. Go to Point Color and use the eyedropper tool to select a suitable color. Remember, Lightroom adjusts similar colors to match the one that you select.

3. Move the Variance slider left to smooth out the colors. You can experiment with the other Point Color sliders too. In this case I moved the Luminance Shift slider right to brighten the colors as well.

You can also move the Variance slider right to add color contrast. There’s no right or wrong – it depends on the colors in your photo and your personal taste. Look at the photos below to see the difference that adjusting Variance makes.

Click here to see the photo on Adobe Community.

Variance slider example #4: Purple flower

This final example shows how you can use the Variance slider with photos of flowers. Here’s the photo I started with. I’d already made some local adjustments, but no Point Color adjustments.

And here’s the result after making three Point Color adjustments. See if you can guess what I did.

First I made two masks, one for the flowers and the other for the background.

For the flower mask, I used the eyedropper to sample two colors – the purple petals and the yellow stamen. For the background mask, I used the eyedropper to sample a mid-green from the background. For each sample I moved the Variance slider left. You can see the sampled colors and the slider adjustments in the screenshots below.

You can see the results in the photos above. Here’s a summary of what I did.

1. I sampled the purple petals and moved the Variance slider left to smooth out the colors.

2. I sampled the yellow stamen and moved the Variance slider right to increase color contrast.

3. I sampled the green background and moved the Variance slider left to smooth out the colors.

Click here to see the photo on Adobe Community.

Summary

I hope these examples inspire you to experiment with the Variance slider in your photos. Play around with it to see if it’s a useful addition to your developing toolbox. Try it on different subjects, like I did with the flower photo, to see if you can find a use for it.

And don’t forget you can learn more about masks in my newest ebook Mastering Masks (more info below).

Mastering Masks

Lightroom’s masking tools have changed the way photographers develop photos forever. My newest ebook, Mastering Masks, teaches you how to create stunning photos using masks and local adjustments. It covers all the latest tools and techniques, and has fourteen Case Studies for you to follow. 

Click here to learn more or buy