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CHAPTER 4
90
Making Color and Tonal Corrections
•
With a low-key image, you might want to set the
highlight to a lower value to avoid too much
contrast. Experiment with Brightness values
between 96 and 80.
6
In the image, click the highlight you identified
in step 4. If you accidentally click the wrong
highlight, hold down Alt (Windows) or Option
(Mac OS), and click Reset in the Levels dialog box.
The pixel values throughout the image are
adjusted proportionately to the new highlight
values. Any pixels lighter than the area you clicked
become specular white. The Info palette shows the
values both before and after the color adjustment.
Double-click the Set Gray Point eyedropper
7
tool (
) in the Levels dialog box to display the
Color Picker. Enter the color values you want to
assign to the neutral gray area in the image, and
click OK. In general, assign equal red, green, and
blue values to produce a neutral gray in an RGB
image.
8
In the image, click the neutral gray you
identified in step 4.
9
Double-click the Set Black Point eyedropper
tool (
) in the Levels dialog box to open the
Color Picker. Enter the values you want to assign
to the darkest area in the image, and click OK.
Follow these guidelines:
When you're printing on white paper, you can
•
achieve a good shadow in an average-key image
using RGB values of 10, 10, 10. An approximate
grayscale equivalent is a 96% dot.
•
You can approximate these same values quickly
by entering 4 in the Brightness (B) text box under
the HSB section of the Color Picker.
•
With a high-key image, you might want to set the
shadow to a higher value to maintain detail in the
highlights. Experiment with Brightness values
between 4 and 20.
10
In the image, click the shadow you identified
in step 4.
11
Click OK.
To use Threshold mode to identify the lightest and
darkest areas in an image:
1
Do one of the following:
Choose Enhance > Brightness/Contrast >
•
Levels.
Create a new Levels adjustment layer, or open an
•
existing Levels adjustment layer. (See "Using
adjustment layers and fill layers" on page 181.)
Click Preview in the Levels dialog box.
2
Hold down Alt (Windows) or Option
3
(Mac OS), and drag the white or black Input
Levels triangle.
The image changes to Threshold mode, and a
high-contrast preview image appears. The visible
areas of the image indicate the lightest parts of the
image if you are dragging the white slider, and the
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