What is the difference between saturation and vibrance in photo editing?

In photo editing, saturation and vibrance are both adjustments that affect the intensity and richness of colors in an image, but they operate in slightly different ways.

Saturation:

Saturation refers to the overall intensity of colors in an image.
Increasing saturation enhances all colors equally, making them more vivid and vibrant.
Decreasing saturation results in a black-and-white or grayscale effect, removing the color from the image.
Vibrance:

Vibrance is a more subtle adjustment that targets the less saturated colors in an image.
When you increase vibrance, it enhances the intensity of muted colors without affecting already vibrant ones.
Vibrance is designed to prevent the over-saturation of colors, making it a more nuanced tool for adjusting color balance.
In summary, while both saturation and vibrance enhance colors, saturation affects all colors uniformly, while vibrance targets less saturated colors to create a more balanced and controlled adjustment. When working with photos, it's common to use both adjustments in combination to achieve the desired color effects without causing certain colors to appear overly saturated or unnatural.