Colour dodging is an alternate method to boost colour saturation.
Here are the basic PS steps. You can add to the routine as you see fit.
- Duplicate the RGB layer twice, so you have three layers.
- On the top layer, set the blend mode as “colour dodge” and leave the second layer as a “normal” blend.
- Uncheck the original layer (select the eye icon) so it’s no longer visible, then go to Menu | Layer | Merge Visible. This will obviously merge only the visible layers (the top two layers).
- Now you’ve got two layers, the top one will look heavily saturated. Set this as “colour” blend and recheck the eye on the original layer (bottom layer). You can alter the opacity of the colour blend layer to taste (50% is a good start) – be careful you don’t wash out the star colours. I usually apply a hide-all mask to the layer to selectively apply the colour enhancement, but the choice is yours.