Creative Photography Ideas: Using Adobe Photoshop: Making Simple Tonal and Colour Changes

By Tony Worobiec

In-computer editing is now as important as in-camera shooting; this book provides ingenious creative techniques to immediately enhance images through this medium.
Presents 75 comprehensive workshops that have been specifically designed for photographers; each offers a clever and creative technique that can be immediately applied.
Takes a specific, unique slant to provide a wide range of creative tips and tricks designed to appeal primarily to photographers, but also to other ‘creatives’ using the programme.
From basic techniques to more advanced, all guidance is ‘best practice’ and shown via clear explanatory texts, photos, ‘before, during and after’ manipulations and screen grabs.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Aug 15, 2012
• ISBN: 9781446358825

Book preview

Introduction

The principal purpose of Photoshop is to allow the user to make accurate tonal and colour adjustments, which it is able to do extremely well. Using the many selection methods coupled with a host of Adjustment Layers, you should be able to ‘interpret’ your file in any way you wish.

Manipulating Contrast Using Curves

Photoshop has numerous editing tools, but Curves is possibly the most flexible and is fundamental when aiming to change the tone or contrast of an image. To access Curves go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Curves.

Start image. This is a typical image likely to be shot when using a DSLR. While all the important shadow and highlight detail has been captured, the image still appears a tad dull.

Using Curves. Curves offers the most versatile set of controls for making both colour and tonal adjustments in Photoshop. When you call up Curves, the graph will default to a straight diagonal line indicating 0 (black) to 255 (white). The horizontal axis of the graph represents the input values, while the vertical axis represents the output or adjusted values. Contrast is controlled by the incline of the curve: the steeper it is, the greater the contrast; the shallower it is, the lower the contrast.

Reducing contrast. In order to reduce contrast, select and drag the darkest point upwards, and then select the lightest point along the graph and drag it downwards, so that the incline of the overall graph is reduced.

Increasing contrast. To do this, apply an ‘S’ curve. Select a point about a quarter of the way down the diagonal line and carefully drag the point slightly upwards. This will have the effect of lightening the image. Then, select a point about a quarter of the way up the diagonal line and pull the curve gently downwards.

Midtones. The next task is to think about the midtones; once again these can be either lightened or darkened merely by placing an ‘anchor’ in the middle of the curve and pulling it upwards to lighten the midtones and downwards to darken them.

Selective adjustment. Using Curves you can be very specific about which part of the tonal range you wish to alter. You might find the highlights are fine and only the darker tones require attention. In this case, peg the lightest part of the curve by placing an anchor a quarter of the way down the curve and a second one halfway down. With the lightest tones pegged, you are now free to manipulate just the darker tones. In this example I chose to increase contrast using the ‘S’ curve, but only in the darker tones.

Finished image. Once you get used to Curves, you will quickly appreciate