Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
2. Go to Enhance Adjust Lighting Shadows/Highlights .
Elements opens the Shadows/Highlights dialog box and makes your photo several
shades lighter. (You may need to drag the dialog box out of the way to get a good
view of your image.) Don't panic—as soon as you select this command, the Lighten
Shadows setting automatically jumps to 35 percent, which is way too much for most
photos. Just shove the slider back to 0 to undo this change before you start making
corrections.
3. Adjust the sliders in the Shadows/Highlights dialog box until you like the result .
The sliders do exactly what they say: Lighten Shadows makes the dark areas of the
photo lighter, and Darken Highlights makes the light areas darker. (Midtone Contrast
is discussed in a moment.) Dragging the sliders to the right increases their effect.
4. When your photo looks good, click OK .
TIP
If you're applying Shadows/Highlights on a duplicate layer, you can use a layer mask
( Layer Masks ) to restrict your changes to only certain areas of the image.
The Shadows/Highlights dialog box is a cinch to use because you just make decisions based
on what you're seeing. When you're using it, keep these tips in mind:
You may want to add a smidgen of the opposite tool to balance things out . For ex-
ample, if you're lightening shadows, you may get better results by giving the Darken
Highlights slider a teeny nudge, too.
The Midtone Contrast slider can help keep your photo from looking flat after you
adjust the other sliders, especially if you've made big adjustments . Move the
Midtone Contrast slider to the right to increase the photo's contrast. Doing so usually
adds a bit of darkening, so you may need to adjust one of the other sliders after you use
it.
You can overdo the Shadows/Highlights feature . If you see halos around the objects in
your photo, you've pushed the settings too far.
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