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PHOTOSHOP guide

LEVELS
& CURVES
You can master

&
Make instant improvements to your images with two of the
most powerful tonal commands that Photoshop has to offer
hatever you like to photograph, control over tones enables you to interpret a scene
tonal control is one of the most however you like, not just how the camera sees it.
fundamental skills you can learn in This ultimately gives you complete control: you can
digital photography. It’s important create dramatic contrast, cool the colours, or even
for a number of reasons. First, no introduce an entirely new atmosphere.
matter how competent or careful a photographer Two of the most powerful tools for tonal control are
you are, there will be times when exposure and Levels and Curves Adjustment Layers. This ebook is
white balance aren’t perfect. This is where tonal devoted to these two cornerstones of image-editing
adjustments can come to the rescue. Second, if you in Photoshop. As well as a complete guide to each
shoot in a raw format, you may have noticed that the command, we’ll give you practical advice on exactly
files can initially look a little flat compared with JPEGs. how to approach your tonal tweaks, from reading
That’s because, unlike JPEGs, raws aren’t processed a histogram to fixing colour channels. Plus, there are
in-camera – camera manufacturers expect users to plenty of effects, tricks and tips to try out. There’s
want to make their own enhancements. Naturally, also a fine selection of videos and images among the
a few tonal tweaks are therefore necessary. Third, project files for this ebook.
Get creative with Levels and curves

An introduction to... Where to begin?

levels and A typical Levels adjustment is a two-step
process. First, you drag the white and
black points inwards to meet the edges of the

histogramS
histogram, thereby making the most of the full
tonal range (unless, of course, there are clipped
whites or blacks already present).
Once the white and black points have been set,
use the midpoint slider to tweak the brightness by
shifting midtones towards either end of the range,
judging the effect by eye.
Learn how to fix flat scenes and give
your images an instant boost with Levels
The Levels command has bottom of the Histogram, which
been a key Photoshop allow you to adjust blacks, whites
feature since the early and midtones. Setting black and
days. Available in both CS and white points can help to boost
Elements, this stalwart tonal tool contrast by making use of parts watch
lacks the depth offered by its of the tonal range that are not video
more powerful cousin Curves. initially present in the image, Start image www.bit.ly/
dc174video
But simplicity has its advantages, while the midtone slider lets
especially if you want to make you tweak overall brightness.
quick, precise improvements to With these simple settings, it’s
your images. The key controls are possible to make a powerful array
three sliders running along the of tonal enhancements.

Adjustment Layer or
direct image adjustment?
Before you start using Levels or Curves, you need to
make a choice: do you want to apply the command
directly to your image (via Image > Adjustments), or would
you rather add it as an Adjustment Layer (Layer > New
Adjustment Layer)? The first option helps to keep things
simple, but the effect is permanent. A Levels Adjustment
Layer gives you far greater control: it sits on its own layer
in the Layers Panel and affects all the layers beneath, so you
can tweak the settings whenever you like, as well as adjust
Opacity, paint a mask or experiment with Blend Modes.

What is a histogram?
This is a graphical representation of all
the pixels in your image, sorted by
brightness on a scale of 0-255 (zero being black
and 255 white). The left of the graph shows the
shadow tones, the right displays the highlights,
with all the shades of brightness in-between.
Imagine all the pixels of a particular brightness
value have been stacked on top of one another
to form the peaks on the graph. Both Levels and
Curves commands display a histogram, but it’s
a good idea to check an image’s histogram on
your camera’s LCD when you take the shot, to
ensure you’ve recorded the scene correctly.
Too dark (underexposed) Too bright (overexposed)
 levels AND histogramS

Channel drop-down
The RGB channel lets you
control overall brightness, Presets Auto Options
Presets can be a useful starting point. Click the Auto Button to apply auto
while the Red, Green or Blue
Choose from the list, or save your own correction for colour and tone. Hold Alt
channels let you alter colours.
Levels settings as presets via the flyout and click the button to access the Auto
menu to the right of the drop-down. Color Correction Options box.

Black / white Eyedroppers

Select the White Eyedropper, then click
over a point in the image. Any pixels
lighter than this point will go completely
white. The Black Eyedropper works in Midtone Slider
the same way, but will make darker pixels Drag the Midtone slider
completely black. to lighten or darken
the image by setting a
new point for the pixels
that originally sat at
127 on the tonal range,
thereby compressing
or stretching the tones
towards the highlights
Grey or the shadows.
Eyedropper
Select the Grey
Eyedropper, then
click over a part of
the image to set its
colour as neutral. Slider values
All other colours These three boxes
will be remapped reflect the settings of the
around this new three sliders above. The
neutral point. white and black values
correspond to the tonal
range (0-255) while the
Midtone slider is set at
1.00 (a gamma value
rather than tonal value).
Black
Point Slider
Drag the Black Point
slider inwards to darken
the very darkest pixels
by setting a new point
White Point Slider
at which pixels go
Output Levels Drag the White Point slider inwards
completely black. Hold
Use the Output Levels slider to define the to lighten the very brightest pixels
Alt while dragging for
boundaries of the tonal range. This can be by setting a new point at which pixels
a view that displays
useful when preparing an image for printing, are completely white. Hold Alt while
any clipped pixels.
as it can help prevent loss of detail in the dragging to view any clipped pixels.
darkest and brightest areas.

What should I look

for when shooting?
The graph’s left and right edges show the
very brightest and darkest tones. When
capturing an image, it’s vital to record detail in
the highlights and shadows without blowing
out, or ‘clipping’ whites and blacks. To get a
pleasing exposure, check the histogram on
your camera’s LCD screen to make sure the
graph goes all the way down to the bottom line
at either end. If it doesn’t, it means you’ve got
clipped whites (on the right) or clipped blacks
(on the left), and you may find an adjustment
to the exposure will produce a better image.
Too flat Just right
Levels and curves

Learn how to
Fix colours
with levels Start image
Take control of tones, fix colours and boost skies
in landscapes with simple Levels adjustments
Sometimes a digital image looks adding depth, enhancing skies and fixing
different to the scene that you colours. As well as making universal
remember, particularly if there adjustments to improve the tonal range,
were problems with exposure or white we’ll also select the blue sky and use it to
balance. If colours look wrong and tones alter both the sky and land independently
lack punch, then the Levels command can of one another. With a few simple
come to the rescue. Here, we’ll show you adjustments, you can transform the
how to improve tones in seconds by image and do the scene justice.

Step-by-step Using Levels

1 Improve the tonal range 2 Correct the colours

Open levels_before.jpg. Go to the Layers
Panel (Window > Layers), click the Create
Click the grey point eyedropper next to the
histogram, then click over a point in the image
Adjustment Layer icon at the bottom and that should be a neutral colour, such as the
choose Levels. Hold down Alt and drag the rocks. Next, grab the Magic Wand tool, set
Black Point slider inwards until pixels begin to Tolerance to 20 and tick Contiguous. Click the
appear at around 19. Use the same technique to blue sky, then hold down Shift and continue
drag the White Point slider to around 228. clicking to select the whole sky.

3 Improve the sky

Go to Select > Refine Edge, then set Radius
to 1.9, Smooth to 2 and Output to Selection.
4 Tweak the land
Create a third Levels layer. Alt-drag the
Layer Mask thumbnail from the layer below
Next, add a second Levels layer. Set Black Point onto the new layer. Approve the Replace Mask
to 48, Midpoint to 0.82 and White Point to question. Highlight the new mask thumbnail
189. Click the RGB drop-down menu above then press Ctrl/Cmd+I to invert it. Click the
the histogram. Select Red and set Midpoint ‘Levels 3’ layer and set the RGB Midpoint to
to 0.92. Select Blue and set Midpoint to 1.15. 0.94; Red Midpoint 0.95; Blue Midpoint 0.95.
 Fix Colour & contrast

Shoot a grey card

The easiest way to correct a colour cast
is to pick the grey point eyedropper
(accessible in both the Levels and the Curves
settings), then click over a tone in the image
that should be neutral. Of course, this is only
possible if there’s an obvious neutral tone
available, such as in a road or a rock. If not, then
you may need to click repeatedly over a few
areas until you chance upon the right look.
Another technique that some professionals use
is to shoot a grey card under the same lighting
conditions. Once that shot is corrected, the
same settings can be applied to the main image.

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Get creative
Levels and curves
with Levels and curves

An introduction to...
curve Control watch
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Get to grips with the king of tonal control – the Curves command www.bit.ly/
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The Curves command remains one of points, Curves lets you place up to 14 points
the most potent tools in Photoshop’s (although you’ll rarely need more than four or
arsenal. Versatile, powerful and five) to make precise adjustments to different
intuitive, it’s the weapon of choice for most parts of the tonal range. The fluid curve line
tonal tweaks. Unlike Levels, which only allows ensures a smooth transition between these
you to adjust the whites, blacks and midtone different tonal shifts.

How Curves work

Click on the diagonal curve line
to add a point, then drag this up or
down to lighten or darken the image. It’s
important where you place points along
the curve line: this affects different parts
of the tonal range, from blacks (on the
left) to whites (on the right). Add more
points along the line, then use them to
target and adjust the brightness of
different tones. Anywhere the curve goes
above the initial diagonal starting line will
mean the tones will be made brighter, and
in any parts where the line goes below it,
they will be made darker.

Curves values explained

Curves work by giving you intuitive
control over brightness, which is mapped
out on a scale of 0 (black) to 255 (white). The
horizontal axis represents the original tonal
values; the vertical axis represents the values
after the curve settings are applied.
In a sense, the Curves box shows a ‘before
and after’ of the tonal tweak, with the
horizontal axis the ‘before’ and the vertical axis
the ‘after’. The curve line is initially at a 45-
degree angle because the input and output
tonal values start off the same, so each
X-axis value has an identical Y-axis value,
resulting in a 45-degree line.
If you click right in the centre of the line then
drag the point to three quarters of the way up
the box, you’re targeting the midtone pixels
that were originally at a brightness value of 127
along the tonal range and giving them a new
brightness value of around 191, or 75% white.
If you make a second point a quarter of the way
in from the left and drag this down to the
starting line, you’re effectively resetting the
pixels in that part of the tonal range to their
initial value.

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 Xxxxxxxx
CURVE CONTROL
xxxx

Hand Icon Presets Channels

Toggle the Hand icon Click the Preset drop-down to choose from a list of Access different colour
on, then click over parts pre-made Curves settings such as Strong Contrast, channels via this drop-down
of the image to set Cross Process or Negative. Click the fly-out menu to menu. For RGB images, you can
control points at their save new Curves presets. choose Red, Green or Blue.
specific value on the
tonal range. Drag up or
down to lighten or darken
these points.

Auto Options
Click the Auto Button to
apply auto-correction, or
Alt-click it for more options.

Black/White
Eyedropper
Use the White Eyedropper
to sample a point in the Steep line
image to make it – and The steeper the curve line,
any brighter pixels – the greater the contrast in
completely white. The that part of the tonal range;
Black Eyedropper will the more horizontal the line,
make darker pixels the less contrast there is.
completely black.

Control Point
Click along the curve to add up
to 14 control points, then drag
Pencil and these points up or down to
Smooth Values adjust the shape of the curve.
The pencil icon lets you
draw a freehand curve
line (or alternatively
Shift-click between
points to draw a straight
line). Once drawn, the White Point Slider
Smooth Values option Drag the white point inwards
automatically improves to set a new point at which
the line. pixels become completely
white. Hold Alt while dragging
to view clipped pixels.

Grey
Eyedropper
Grab the Grey
Eyedropper then
sample a tone in the Output
Black Point Slider Input The Output box shows the
image to remap it as Drag the black point inwards The Input box shows the value
neutral – useful for resulting change in tone over
to set a new point at which of the tones over the currently
correcting colours. a currently selected control
pixels become completely selected control point before
point after an adjustment has
black. Hold Alt while dragging any changes are made.
been made. Essentially, it’s the
to view clipped pixels. Essentially, it’s the X-Axis value.
Y-Axis value.

Curves in Camera Raw and Lightroom

Camera Raw and Lightroom’s Develop Module Parametric displays a set of sliders that let you
both feature the Tone Curve Panel which – bar tweak different parts of the tonal range, like shadows
a couple of minor differences – works in the same way and highlights. It’s a useful control if Curves
as the Curves command in Photoshop. confuses you, as you can see exactly how the curve
Camera Raw’s Tone Curve Panel offers two tabs for line relates to tones.
curve control: Parametric and Point. (In Lightroom, you For greater precision, head straight to the Points tab,
can toggle parametric sliders open via the panel’s which lets you place and drag points to adjust the curve
bottom-right square icon.) in the same way as Photoshop Curves.
Levels and curves
Start image

How to control
TONES &
contrast
Learn how to control contrast using Curves
for maximum impact in all your images
Images with punch will jump anchors the midtones.) This curve
out of the screen compared brightens the highlights and darkens
with those with lifeless flat the shadows, resulting in greater
tones. The amazing S-curve will give contrast. There’ll be greater contrast
your images this vitality with almost wherever a curve is steeper, so the
no effort. Create a new Curves more pronounced the S-curve, the
Adjustment Layer, then drag a point stronger the effect. Take a look at
up in the top half of the line and a the Curves adjustments below to see
second point down in the bottom how different curves affect the
half. (A third point at the centre highlights and shadows.

Use selective
Closer look The S-Curve
Adjustments
Add some make-up to your images
One of the great things about applying Curves as an
Adjustment Layer is the opportunity for selective
control with masks. Adjustment Layers automatically
come with an active Layer Mask attached. It’s usually easiest if
you make this mask completely black, then paint with white to
reveal the effect. Once you’ve added a Curves Adjustment Layer
(Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Curves) and tweaked the
curve, press Ctrl/Cmd+I to invert the mask to black, hiding the
change in tone. Then simply grab the Brush Tool and paint with
Inverted S-Curve Shallow S-Curve white to reveal the change in the areas of your choosing. This
Result: Reduced contrast Result: Light contrast selective control is very effective on portraits because you can
use masks to change different parts of the face, such as the eyes
and lips, and even introduce colour shifts to enhance make-up.

Overall
An S-shaped curve boosts
contrast, while dragging
down on the red curve
adds cyan. Raising the
lower part of the blue
curve adds a hint of blue
to the shadow tones.

Deep S-Curve Angled S-Curve

Result: Heavy contrast Result: Contrast overkill
 digital makeup

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Eye make-up
Dragging up on
the blue channel
introduces blue.
A Layer Mask
restricts the effect
to above the eyes.

The Eyes
A pronounced
S-curve boosts
contrast, while a
mask restricts the
effect to the irises.

Lashes
A slight downwards
drag on the curve
darkens the image,
then a mask
restricts the effect
to the lashes.

Blusher
Dragging the reds
up and the greens
down adds red and
magenta, while a
mask restricts the
effect to the cheeks.

The Lips
An increase in reds
combined with a
boost in overall
contrast gives the
lips extra impact.
Levels and curves

You can master

Curves and
colour channels Start image
Take precise creative control over the individual
colour channels of your photos with Curves
Both Levels and Curves enable the main RGB curve gives you precise
you to tweak an RGB image’s Red, brightness control, you can similarly
Green and Blue colour channels. restrict colour changes to parts of the
This is useful if you need to correct a tonal range by manipulating the individual
colour cast or remedy a white balance channel curves. For example, dragging the
mistake, and also for creative or dramatic bottom part of the Blue curve up then
colour shifts to change the atmosphere pinning the top half back into place will
of a scene. While Levels are fine for basic add a blue cast to the shadow tones only.
colour correction, the Curves command’s You can also get dramatic colour shifts
more intuitive interface makes it the best by dragging the top-right or bottom-left
choice for creative colour shifts. points on each colour channel to shift
By tweaking the colour channels you the brightest or darkest tones towards
can make a huge range of effects. Just as different colours.

Red Curve
Dragging the Red curve upwards
adds red, and dragging it down adds
cyan, so increasing the bottom half
of the line adds red to the shadows,
while lowering the top half
introduces cyan into the highlights.

Blue Curve
An upwards shift of the
bottom-left point on the
blue curve makes the
blacks in the image look
blue, thereby changing the
colour of the background
to a dark blue.

Green Curve
Dragging one point downwards
on the Green curve here adds
a Magenta cast, which is
particularly noticeable on the
stem of the flower, because this
is where most of the midtones are.

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Levels and curves

Secrets of the pros

20 tips & TrICKS
to try today Start image

Improve your image editing workflow instantly with

our pick of the top 20 tips for Levels and Curves

1 Better print detail 5 Preserve colours

Printers can struggle to produce detail An S-curve boosts both the contrast
in tones above 245 or below 10 on the and the saturation. If you would like to
0-255 tonal range, so these tones may come change the contrast while leaving colours
out completely white or black on the print. unaffected, apply Curves as an Adjustment
If your prints lack detail in the shadows and Layer, then change the Blend Mode of the
highlights, experiment with Output Levels layer to Luminosity.
in the Levels command. Make a test print to
determine the limits of your printer, then adjust
the Output Sliders accordingly. 6 Curves on Layer Masks
Curves can tweak masks. Highlight a
mask, then press Ctrl/Cmd+M. Drag the
2 Use the Info Panel bottom-left black point up to make the mask
When correcting colours, the Info Panel more transparent, or drag the top-right point
(Windows > Info) makes it easier to down to make the layer more transparent. 10 Add control points
determine which colours need adjusting by When using the Tone Curve in
displaying the R, G and B values of the tones Camera Raw or Lightroom, hold down
beneath your cursor. Equal amounts result in 7 Selective masking Ctrl/Cmd and click areas of the image to set
grey, so if an area that should be neutral Once you’ve made an Adjustment Layer, control points at the associated values along
displays unbalanced values, you’ll know press Ctrl/Cmd+I to invert the Layer the Curves X-axis.
which colours to adjust. Mask to black, then paint with white to
selectively reveal the adjustment.
11 Duotone effects
3 Speedy S-curves To make a duotone effect, first convert
Speed up your workflow with an S-curve 8 Clip the Curves an image to mono, then apply Levels or
action. Go to the Actions Panel and click To restrict an Adjustment Layer so that Curves. Double-click the black eyedropper and
on the New Action icon. Assign a function key, it only affects the layer directly below, choose a colour, then click over a black point in
then click Record, make a shallow S-curve and make a clipping mask by holding down Alt and the image to remap the colours. Do the same
click Stop. Now you can incrementally boost clicking the line between the layers. with the white eyedropper for the lighter tones.
contrast by repeatedly pressing the function
key that you defined.
9 Find neutral grey 12 Parametric Curve
If you’re struggling to find a neutral When using Camera Raw’s Parametric
4 CMYK Curves control tone for your colour correction, try this: Curve sliders, you can change the tonal
Curves work differently depending on make a new layer, fill it with 50% grey (with Edit parameters of each slider (Highlights, Lights,
whether your image is in RGB or CMYK. > Fill), then set the Blend Mode to Difference. Darks, Shadows) by dragging the three
Dragging up on the curve lightens an RGB Next, add a Threshold Adjustment Layer and triangles directly below the Curve box.
image, but darkens a CMYK image. (This is drag the slider all the way to the left. Now, as
because RGB values are measured in you start to drag back to the right, the first
brightness, whereas CMYK values are pixels to appear are the ones most likely to be 13 Camera Raw tool
measured in ink.) If you find this irritating, you neutral in tone. Grab the Color Sampler Tool, ACR’s Targeted Adjustment tool can be
can always set the CMYK curve to show light click to mark the point, then delete both layers. used to adjust the Tone Curve. Right-click
rather than ink via Curve Display Options in the Use the grey point eyedropper in Levels or with the tool, choose Parametric Curve, then
fly-out menu in the top-right of the panel. Curves to fix the colours. drag over the image to adjust the tones.
 20 tips and tricks

14 Move multiple points

When using Curves, hold down Shift and
click multiple control points, then use the
arrow keys on your keyboards to nudge all the
points at once.
Texture
s
15 Last used Curve
Press Ctrl/Cmd+M for the Curves
command and Ctrl/Cmd+Alt+M to
display Curves with the last used settings.

16 Nudge control points 19 Channel shortcuts

Use the arrow keys to nudge Curves Press Alt+2-5 to display the different RGB
control points by increments of 1. Hold curves channels (or Alt+2-6 for CMYK).
down Shift for bigger nudges.

20 Create the look

17 Clipped pixels To create the punchy treatment for this
Hold down Alt and drag white and black flower image, we made an S-Curve on the
points in Levels and Curves for a view RGB and Blue Channels, then dragged down on
that shows clipped pixels. the Red and Green channels. Then we added a
texture image, with the Blend Mode set to
Multiply, to finish.
18 Change the grid size
Hold down Alt and click the Curves graph Type this into your browser’s Address bar to
to toggle between two grid sizes. download the image: www.bit.ly/dc174files
Levels and curves

Amazing effects with...

Creative Curves
Curves make it easy create a wide variety of vintage
and contemporary colour effects in seconds

Mimic a light leak

What is it? Recreate an effect
that used to plague budget
cameras, but – thanks to apps like
Instagram – is now all the rage. Light
leaks occurred in cheap camera
bodies, fogging the edges of film
and shifting colours.

How to do it First, use a Curves layer

to skew the colour channels by adding
yellow and green. Next, add another
Curves layer and drag the Red Channel
right up and the Blue channel down
to make bright orange, then press
Ctrl/Cmd+I to invert the mask. Paint
with a low-opacity white brush to
reveal the orange around the edges,
and experiment with different colour
shifts to build up the effect.

Start image

e
Start imag

Recreate classic solarisation

What is it? Accidentally discovered when a light was
turned on in a darkroom, and championed by the
surrealist photographer Man Ray, solarisation has the effect
of inverting part of the tonal range to negative.

How to do it First, convert the image to mono then add a

Curves Adjustment Layer and click on the Curve Pencil Tool.
Click in the top-left corner of the Curves box then Shift-click
at the bottom-middle and top-right to make a V-shaped curve
(or try an upside-down V if you like). Next, add a second Curves
layer, select the Red channel and drag the bottom-left and top-
right points inwards slightly. Finally, select the Blue channel and
drag the top-right point downwards.
 Creative curves

Start image

Get the cross-processed look

What is it? Cross-processing involved either developing slide film in negative C-41
chemicals, or negative film in slide film E-6 chemicals. The results were punchy
over-saturated tones and unpredictable colour shifts.

How to do it As the cross-processing effect traditionally had unpredictable results,

you’re free to experiment with colour shifts using the Red, Green and Blue channels. Try
making an angular S-shape on the Green channel and a hump-shaped curve on the Blue
channel, then add punch and saturation with an S-curve on the RGB channel.

Start image

Make bleak modern art

What is it? Turn simple photos into contemporary art by mapping blocks of
colour onto the highlights. The effect works best on high-contrast scenes such
as silhouetted subjects against bright skies.

How to do it First, crop to a square, then add a Curves Adjustment Layer and plot an
S-curve to boost contrast. Next, double-click the White Eyedropper on the left of the
Curve graph then choose a bold colour from the Color Picker. When asked if you want
to save colours, choose No, then simply click on the brightest part of the image to
remap the tones around the new colour.