Summary:
In this tutorial we will be explaining what a Histogram is and how to use the Levels adjustment option. With Levels, you can adjust the highlights, midtones, and shadows of the image. By understanding how to read the Histogram, you will be able to make the correct adjustments to either all 3 primary colors (RGB) or to only the reds, greens or blues. Along the way we will be showing you some important tips and tricks on how to make your image look great.
If you are unfamiliar with certain areas that are not covered in this tutorial, feel free check out the other tutorials on our website. We have many different types of tutorials that can be downloaded (Video, PDF) or viewed online that will train you for free! Once you have the knowledge, feel free to come back and go through this tutorial again.
You will be using the image of the ducks which we have used in past tutorials. If you do not have this image, please scroll down to the “Click Picture To Download Supporting Files” and download the image. Please open the image PE-DUCKS in the Photoshop Program.
There is a nifty little palette called the histogram. Basically a histogram will show you how strong the Highlights, Midtones, and Shadows are. If you would like more information about these areas, please refer to the Straight To Curves tutorial.
A). This is your shadow portion of the chart. | |
B). This is your midtones portion of the chart. | |
C). This is your highlights portion of the chart. | |
D). The higher up in the graph the stronger that area is. |
A). Very large incline/decline. | |
B). A flat line. |
A).
To the right side of the tabs (in the light gray bar), you will see a
down arrow. Left click this down arrow and you will see a sub-menu. | |
B). To view the different colors, Left click the “All Channels View” command. |
Now that you understand how to read the histogram and the knowledge you have learned in the Straight To Curves tutorial, the following will be easy to understand. Left click the “Image” menu and move the mouse pointer down to the “Adjustments” option. From that sub-menu, Left click the “Levels…” command. Photoshop Tip – You can also use the keyboard shortcut of CTRL-“L” to get to the Levels dialog box.
A). Presets (pre-programmed features). Left click the drop down box to view the options. | |
B). Channels are all your primary colors (RGB). | |
C). Output Levels allow you to change the starting black and starting white colors. | |
D). The 3 eye droppers will help you sample colors from the image. | |
E). With the Preview option checked, you will be able to see the changes as you change the levels. | |
F). For a quick adjustment, Left click the Auto button. | |
G). Left click the “OK” button if your happy with the changes or “Cancel” button. |
A). The dark up arrow (stopper) and the numeric value below will change the shadows. | |
B). The gray center up arrow (stopper) and the numeric value below will change the midtones. | |
C). The white up arrow (stopper) and the numeric value below will change the highlights. |
Even though it is not perfect (play with each channel separately), you will notice a huge improvement after we made the simple changes in the Levels dialog box.
The next few areas we will be discussing some tips and tricks on how to improve your image even more.
Sometimes it is easier to see what areas will become darker or lighter before it makes the changes. On this example, re-open the PE-DUCKS. Now proceed to the Levels adjustment. Move your mouse to the dark up arrow on the left hand side. Now hold down the ALT key on the keyboard. Hold down the Left mouse button and drag it to the right. You will notice the screen will be all white. As you drag the mouse to the right hand side, you will notice that dark areas will be displayed. This is telling you that these are your darkest areas. Release the Left mouse button when you are satisfied with the changes. Release the ALT key on the keyboard. You can also use this trick with the other areas.
This trick was covered in the last 2 tutorials and basically if you have a certain area that looks good, than make a selection around the area you want to enhance and once selected it will change only that area. Give it a try. Try selecting only the ducks and make the Level changes. You will notice that the grass will still show washed out.
The histogram in the palette will tell you what colors that you need to fix. As you make adjustments, look at the histogram. Do you still see steep inclines/declines or perfect flat lines? If so, work on those individual colors. By working on a specific channel you will get better results!
You will find each image will need to be tweaked differently. Play with the settings. If you feel it looks worse, than undo the changes.
As of this tutorial we have gone through the auto adjustments and the curve adjustments for Photoshop CS4. There are many more tools that Photoshop has to offer to enhance your images. To get a perfect image, we usually will start with Levels and work on each channel. Once we have it looking great, we will than make fine tweaks using the Curve adjustments (we fix 1 channel at a time). There is not 1 perfect tool and you will want to mix and match tools to get the best results.
You should now understand the basics to the Levels adjustment. Along the way, we even showed you some important tips and tricks to enhance your photos even more.
A). CTRL-“L”. | |
B). ALT-“L”. | |
C). “L”. | |
D). ALT-Shift-“L”. |
A). Image. | |
B). Palette. | |
C). Window. | |
D). File. |
A). A chart that goes smoothly up and down. | |
B). When you see a small sloop (either incline or decline). | |
C). A line that gradually sloops down. | |
D). A flat line. |
A). All Colors View. | |
B) All Channels View. | |
C). All Primary Colors View. | |
D). All View. |
A). The far left up arrow which is a white up arrow. | |
B). The far left up arrow which is a dark up arrow. | |
C). The middle up arrow. | |
D). The right up arrow. |
A). Hover over the up arrow and Right click and select “Adjust”. | |
B). Below the up arrow, Left click the text box and enter a value. | |
C). Hover over the up arrow and enter a numeric value. | |
D). Move your mouse pointer to the Levels chart and drag a pointer from the far right to a new location. |
A). The “Preview” option is not checked.. | |
B). In the Preferences menu (CTRL-“K”) the “Auto Show” is not turned on. | |
C). The “Auto Preview” option is not checked. | |
D).
Confirm that you are logged in as an Administrator on your computer,
because if you do not have the authority it will not auto preview for
you. |
A). Make sure that the histogram graph has a steep incline/decline. | |
B). Only use Levels to enhance your photos. | |
C). Make sure you have a histogram chart showing a lot of flat lines. | |
D). Change the Level channels for Reds, Greens, and Blues separately. |
A). Make the adjustment and then create a Layer Mask to add to portions of the adjustment. | |
B).
We recommended that you use the Slice tool and to Slice up the image
into sections, which will allow you to fix a specific area. | |
C). First make a selection of the incorrect area and then make your correction. | |
D). The only way to make a correction is enhance the whole image. |
A). Image. | |
B). Adjustment. | |
C). Adjustments. | |
D). Levels. |
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