Advanced Techniques - Adobe Photoshop Elements 11 for Photographers - page 224

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Info Palette + Levels:
With the aid of the details
in the Info palette locate
the darkest and lightest
points in your picture and
peg these with the black
and white point eyedrop-
pers from the Levels fea-
ture.

Make Levels changes in 16-bit mode
Levels changes can be performed and indeed should be performed when your photographs
are in 16-bit mode. Adjusting your contrast and brightness here will give you much smooth-
er gradation of tones and preserve more detail in your final picture.

Levels summary
Use this guide to help
you make tonal adjust-
ments for your images
using Levels.

To increase contrast - Move the Input black
and white controls to meet the first group of
pixels.

To decrease contrast - Move the Output
black and white controls towards the center
of the slider.

To make middle values lighter - Move
the Input midtone control to the left.

To make middle values darker - Move
the Input midtone control to the right.