Curves in Photoshop

Curves in Photoshop

 The curves adjustment tool is an integral part of every professional’s knowledge base and image editing package.

The curve tool in photoshop are used for:

     1. Adjust overall Contrast or tonal range.

     2. Adjust local contrast or tonal range

     3. Adjust color

Inside Phtotoshop Curve

1 Anchor points

Plot these point along the Curves line, then drag them up to lighten and down to darken.Check the first image to understand better.

2 White and black points
Drag these inwards to set new white and black points. Hold Alt while dragging for a view of any clipped pixels.

3 RGB dropdown
Select different colour channels .We can access the red, green or blue Curves lines.

4 Preset
Choose from a list of handy presets, or use them as a starting point for further tweaks.

5 Pencil and smooth
Toggle the Pencil tool on to draw a freehand Curve. Use the ‘Smooth Curves values’ option to smooth the line.

6 Adjust brightness
Toggle the Hand icon on, then drag up or down over tones in the image to control brightness.

7 Histogram
A graphical representation of all the tones laid out in a ‘tonal range’, with shadows on the left and highlights on the right.

8 Eyedroppers
Toggle the eyedroppers on, then click over a tone in the image to set it as white, black or midtone grey.

9 Input and Output
Input represents the original tones in the image (the X-axis), while Output represents the new brightness value on a scale of 0-255 (the Y-axis).