Introduction
Adobe Photoshop is a widely used photo editing software with a variety of features and tools. One of the most important and commonly used features is the ability to adjust levels and curves. This can be used to improve the overall look of an image, or to correct specific problems such as underexposure or overexposure. In this article, we will take a look at how to adjust levels and curves in Adobe Photoshop.
What are Levels and Curves?
Before we get into how to adjust levels and curves in Adobe Photoshop, it is important to understand what these features are and how they work. Levels and curves are both ways of adjusting the brightness and contrast of an image. Levels works by mapping the darkest and lightest pixels in an image to the black and white points respectively. This has the effect of stretching out the tones in an image, which can be useful for correcting underexposure or overexposure. Curves, on the other hand, works by adjusting the brightness of an image based on a curve. This can be useful for fine-tuning the brightness and contrast of an image.
How to Adjust Levels in Adobe Photoshop
Now that we know what levels and curves are, let’s take a look at how to adjust them in Adobe Photoshop. The first thing you need to do is open your image in Photoshop. Once your image is open, go to the “Image” menu and select “Adjustments” and then “Levels.”
You will now see the “Levels” dialog box. In this dialog box, you will see a graph with a black line running through the middle. This graph represents the tones in your image. The left side of the graph represents the shadows, the middle represents the midtones, and the right side represents the highlights. You will also see three input boxes at the bottom of the dialog box. These input boxes represent the black point, the white point, and the midpoint respectively.
To adjust the levels in your image, you need to move the black point and white point input boxes. You can do this by clicking and dragging the input boxes. As you move the input boxes, you will see the black line on the graph move correspondingly. The goal is to move the black point input box to the point where the shadows start to clip, and to move the white point input box to the point where the highlights start to clip. Clipping is when the shadows or highlights are so dark or so light that they lose all detail. You can usually tell when an image is clipping because the shadows or highlights will appear as a solid black or white color.
Once you have adjusted the black point and white point input boxes, you can then adjust the midpoint input box. This input box controls the overall brightness of the image. You can move this input box to the left to make the image darker, or to the right to make the image brighter.
Once you are happy with the levels in your image, click “OK” to close the “Levels” dialog box.
How to Adjust Curves in Adobe Photoshop
Now that we know how to adjust levels in Adobe Photoshop, let’s take a look at how to adjust curves. The first thing you need to do is open your image in Photoshop. Once your image is open, go to the “Image” menu and select “Adjustments” and then “Curves.”
You will now see the “Curves” dialog box. In this dialog box, you will see a graph with a black line running through the middle. This graph represents the tones in your image. The left side of the graph represents the shadows, the middle represents the midtones, and the right side represents the highlights. You will also see a grid in the middle of the graph. This grid is used to control the brightness of the image.
To adjust the curves in your image, you need to click on the black line and drag it up or down. As you drag the black line, you will see the brightness of the image change. You can use this to fine-tune the brightness and contrast of your image. For example, if you want to increase the contrast of your image, you would drag the black line up in the shadows and down in the highlights. If you want to decrease the contrast of your image, you would do the opposite.
Once you are happy with the curves in your image, click “OK” to close the “Curves” dialog box.
Conclusion
In this article, we have looked at how to adjust levels and curves in Adobe Photoshop. We have also looked at what levels and curves are and how they work. Adjusting levels and curves is a great way to improve the overall look of an image, or to correct specific problems such as underexposure or overexposure.
The first thing you need to do is open your image in Photoshop. Then, go to the “Image” menu and select “Adjustments”. From here, you will see a number of options, including “Levels” and “Curves”.
If you want to adjust the levels of your image, click on the “Levels” option. This will bring up a window with a histogram. The histogram shows you the distribution of tones in your image. The left side of the histogram represents the shadows, the middle represents the midtones, and the right side represents the highlights.
To adjust the levels, you will need to move the sliders underneath the histogram. The left slider controls the shadows, the middle slider controls the midtones, and the right slider controls the highlights. By moving the sliders, you can lighten or darken the shadows, midtones, and highlights.
If you want to adjust the curves of your image, click on the “Curves” option. This will bring up a window with a graph. The graph shows you the relationship between the input values and the output values.
To adjust the curves, you will need to click on the graph and drag it up or down. Dragging the graph up will make the image lighter, and dragging the graph down will make the image darker.
That’s all there is to adjusting levels and curves in Photoshop!
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