Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
Once we've made our edits in the Basic panel, next we head down to the
Tone Cur ve panel to adjust the overall contra st in our photos (I recommend
doing your basic edits in the Basic panel, then using the tone curve to finish
things off). We use this tone curve rather than the Contrast slider (in the
Basic panel), because this gives us much more control, plus the tone curve
(1) helps keep you f from blowing out your highlights , (2) actually helps you
see which areas to adjust, and (3) lets you adjust the contrast interactively.
Step One:
If you scroll down past the Basic panel,
you'll find the Tone Curve panel (shown
here), which is where we apply contrast
to our photo (rather than using the
Contrast slider in the Basic panel, which
seems too broad in most cases). As you
can see, there's no Tone Curve contrast
automatically applied (look at the bottom
of the Tone Curve panel, and you'll see
the word Linear [shown circled here in
red], which just means the curve is flat—
there's no contrast applied).
Step Two:
The fastest and easiest way to apply
contrast is just to choose one of the
presets from the Point Curve pop-up
menu. For example, choose Strong
Contrast and then look at the difference
in your photo. Look how much more
contrasty the photo now looks—the
shadow areas are stronger, and the high-
lights are brighter, and all you had to do
was choose this from a pop-up menu.
You can see the contra st cur ve that
was applied in the graph at the top
of the panel.
Continued
