This tutorial will demonstrate the implementation of the Gradated Neutral Density (ND) filter effect in Photoshop. For this, only one gradient layer will be used. This will add brightness and contrast to the image.
Step 1.
Open the image in Photoshop.
Step 2.
Add a new blank layer. This is done by clicking on the corresponding button, which is located at the bottom of the layers palette.
Step 3.
This lesson will demonstrate working with only two layers, but for convenience and order, we will give the top layer a name. To do this, double-click on the name of the layer and enter your own, for example, Graduated ND Filter.
Step 4.
Now reset the foreground and background colors to their default values. This is done by pressing the D key. On the toolbar, select the Gradient. You can also do this by pressing the G key. On the upper settings panel, a linear gradient should be selected, and the transition should be from black to transparent.
Step 5.
Now we need to draw a vertical linear gradient. To make it strictly vertical, the Shift key must be held down while drawing. Draw the gradient from the top of the image to the bottom.
Step 6
In the layers palette, change the blending mode of the Graduated ND Filter layer to Soft Light (Soft light).
Step 7.
In some shots, this effect darkens or brightens areas of the photo too much. In this case, you need to change the opacity of the image to about 80%.
Step 8.
Now you can compare the result before and after processing. The colors in the picture become brighter and more saturated. The detail has increased.
Step 9.
The final result of the snapshot:
Based on materials from the site:
06/01/16 1.1KBefore you enlarge a picture in Photoshop, you need to adjust its brightness and contrast. In this article, I will show how, using correction Brightness / Contrast, increase the contrast, create a deeper and more cinematic image. We'll also cover the topic of adjustment layers and how to use them.
1. Corrections and adjustment layers
Before you increase the brightness of a picture in Photoshop, it is important that you understand that there is a difference between applying an adjustment directly to a layer and adjustment layers. Adjustment layers let you apply an adjustment to a separate layer, which you can always delete and modify, lower the opacity, or even add a blend mode. Better to make changes using adjustment layers rather than applying them directly to a layer or image.2. Brightness and Contrast
Use the brightness slider to lighten or darken the image. Using the contrast slider, you can increase or decrease the contrast of the image. By decreasing the contrast, you can bring out additional image detail, revealing information in dark and light areas.
3. Increasing contrast by decreasing contrast
Now I will tell you how to increase the quality of a picture in Photoshop. I added an adjustment layer to this image “ Brightness / Contrast". I'm going to increase the brightness, but I want to decrease the contrast level in order to reveal some details, which in general will give an overall increase in image contrast.
4. Adjustment layers with blending modes
I added another adjustment layer “ Brightness / Contrast"And set the blending mode to" Soft Light ". And also slightly reduced its opacity to soften the contrast, which increases the set blend mode.
5. Decrease the contrast in front of the gradient map
After sharpening the image in Photoshop with an adjustment layer, I applied a Gradient Map. It will increase the contrast because I set it to two colors and then set the Blending Mode to Soft Light for this adjustment layer. The Gradient Map adjustment layer added below will restore the reduced contrast of the image.
6. Non-destructive editing
All changes made using adjustment layers are reversible. You can always go back and adjust the transparency or other parameters. Therefore, it is better to apply exactly adjustment layers rather than direct adjustments to a layer or image.
This publication is a translation of the article " PHOTOSHOP: THE BEST BRIGHTNESS / CONTRAST ADJUSTMENT"Prepared by a friendly project team
This tutorial will demonstrate the implementation of the Gradated Neutral Density (ND) filter effect in Photoshop. For this, only one gradient layer will be used. This will add brightness and contrast to the image.
Step 1.
Open the image in Photoshop.
Step 2.
Add a new blank layer. This is done by clicking on the corresponding button, which is located at the bottom of the layers palette.
Step 3.
This lesson will demonstrate working with only two layers, but for convenience and order, we will give the top layer a name. To do this, double-click on the name of the layer and enter your own, for example, Graduated ND Filter.
Step 4.
Now reset the foreground and background colors to their default values. This is done by pressing the D key. On the toolbar, select the Gradient. You can also do this by pressing the G key. On the upper settings panel, a linear gradient should be selected, and the transition should be from black to transparent.
Step 5.
Now we need to draw a vertical linear gradient. To make it strictly vertical, the Shift key must be held down while drawing. Draw the gradient from the top of the image to the bottom.
Step 6
In the layers palette, change the blending mode of the Graduated ND Filter layer to Soft Light (Soft light).
Step 7.
In some shots, this effect darkens or brightens areas of the photo too much. In this case, you need to change the opacity of the image to about 80%.
Step 8.
Now you can compare the result before and after processing. The colors in the picture become brighter and more saturated. The detail has increased.
Step 9.
The final result of the snapshot:
Based on materials from the site:
In the last lesson, we looked at the Chroma blend mode, which blends the color (that is, hue and saturation) of one layer with the underlying layer or layers without changing the brightness of the image. This mode is especially useful for coloring black and white photographs. It is also often used to replace the color of a person's eyes or hair. The Color Blending Mode allows us to add or change colors in an image without affecting the brightness of the image.
Our fifth and final important blend mode for photo manipulation is called Luminosity. Just like the Color blend mode, it belongs to the group of component modes along with the Hue and Saturation modes and is the direct opposite of the Chroma mode. Whereas the Chroma blend mode blends the colors of the layer and does not take into account the luminance value, the Luminance blend mode blends the luminance values \u200b\u200band ignores the color information.
When processing photos, changing the blend mode to Brightness is often the final step. For example, it is very common to use Levels or Curves adjustment layers in image editing to enhance the contrast in images, and in many cases this is sufficient. The problem you may encounter with this technique is that the Levels and Curves layers affect not only the brightness of the image, but also the color. By increasing the contrast of the image, you also increase the saturation of the image, especially with reds and blues, and sometimes you may even see a color shift. Too much color saturation can lead to the loss of individual details in the image. By changing the blending mode of the "Levels" and "Curves" layers to "Brightness", we can easily avoid this drawback, since the color information will no longer be affected.
Applying the Brightness blend mode in real life
Below is a photo of the festive table set in red, orange and yellow colors:
Festive table set
I'm going to increase the contrast in the image using a Curves adjustment layer and a traditional S-curve. To do this, I will click on the icon New Adjustment Layer (New Adjustment Layer) at the bottom of the Layers panel and select from the list of adjustment layers that appear "Curves" (Curves):
Select a Curves adjustment layer
When you open the Curves Layer dialog box, a large 4x4 grid appears with a diagonal line inside it running from the bottom left to the top right. To reshape the diagonal line to a traditional S-curve, I'll click on the line near the top right corner and add a marker, then I'll move the marker up a bit by pressing the up arrow key on my keyboard a few times. After that I will click on the line near the bottom left corner and add another marker, I will move it down a little by pressing the down arrow key several times. As a result of such actions, the diagonal line will change to a curve resembling the letter S, also known as an S-shaped curve:
Increase the contrast in the image by changing the diagonal line in the Curves layer dialog box toS-curve
Next, I'll click OK to exit the dialog box. The S-curve added brightness to the highlights in the image and increased the depth of the shadows, resulting in increased contrast. This is what we can see now in the picture. Notice that the colors in the image have also become more saturated because the Curves adjustment layer affected not only shadows and highlights, but also saturation:
After applying the Curves adjustment layer, both the overall contrast of the image and the color saturation increased
In order for the "Curves" adjustment layer to affect only the degree of contrast and not affect the colors, all we need to do is change the blending mode of the adjustment layer from "Normal" (Normal) on "Brightness" (Luminosity):
Change the Blend Mode of the Curves Adjustment Layer to Brightness
Since the blend mode is now set to Brightness, the Curves adjustment layer no longer affects color. The contrast of the image is still increased, but the color saturation has become the same:
After the changethe Blending Mode of the Curves Adjustment Layer to Brightness, the color saturation is now the same
The images in this tutorial may not show much of a difference when you change the blend mode, so try toggling the blend modes from Normal to Brightness yourself and you'll see the difference more easily, especially if the image contains a lot of red and blue tints.
Often, the Brightness blend mode is also used to sharpen images. To make the photo sharper, many use the classic Photoshop filter. "Unsharp Mask"(Unsharp Mask), and this is of course a perfectly valid option. The only problem that can arise with this is that the Unsharp Mask filter sharpens both the brightness and color, which sometimes leads to noticeable halos around people and objects in the picture. To reduce the likelihood of ghosting when using this filter, we can use the "Brightness" blending mode along with the Photoshop "Fade" command so that it affects only the brightness of the image, and not the color.
After applying the Unsharp Mask filter, go to the menu "Editing" (Edit) at the top of the screen and select (Fade Unsharp Mask):
Choose Edit\u003e Ease: Unsharp Unsharp(Edit\u003eFadeUnsharpMask.)
After opening the command dialog "Let loose" change the parameter "Mode" (short for "Blending Mode") at the bottom of the window on "Brightness":
Change the Blend Mode in the Ease command dialog to Brightness
This step will change the Blend Mode of the Unsharp Mask you just applied to Luminosity, which will sharpen the image only within the luminance range and not affect the color. Do this every time you apply the Unsharp Mask filter and the result will be much better!
And now we're done! Despite the fact that there are up to twenty-five different blend modes in Photoshop, depending on the version you are working with, we managed to highlight five blend modes that you need to know. The Multiply mode darkens the image, the Screen mode brightens the image. Overlay mode simultaneously darkens and brightens the image, making it more contrast, the Color mode allows you to add or change colors in the image without affecting the brightness of the image, and finally the Brightness mode allows you to work with the brightness of the image without affecting to the color palette. By exploring just five blend modes, you will save a huge amount of time and can easily process, restore and retouch photos.
Transfer: Ksenia Rudenko
Curves (Curves) is an incredibly powerful tool. They provide the speed and efficiency of the post-processing process like nothing else. However, for a beginner, they may even be too powerful. Do not be afraid! The curves are not as complex or stunning as they might seem.
In this tutorial we will walk through the main functions curves Adjustment Layer (Curves Adjustment Layer), find out where its functionality comes from, and consider how to effectively use this tool for local photo correction.
Image BEFORE:
Image AFTER:
Before moving on to learning the technique, we will touch on a little theory. Here's what's going to happen in this tutorial:
- How Tone, Contrast, and Curves work
- How to read tone curves and histograms
- How to use checkpoints
- Order of operations
- How to make local contrast adjustments using Curves
Ready? Let's start.
Part 1. Dynamic range
When you create curves adjustment layer (Curves Adjustment Layer) in Adobe Photoshop, you get a tonal curve, a histogram, and many other settings and buttons. What is it all about?
It's all about Dynamic Range
First of all, remember one thing: every digital image is a grid of tiny pixels.
Dynamic range The (dynamic range) of an image shows how many shades of gray, from black to white, are in the image. In 8-bit monochrome photography, which we will discuss below, each pixel can have one (and only one) of 256 discrete intensity values, or, more simply, shades of gray. James Thomas recently reviewed color models, and I recommend reading deeper into how digital photography works.
bar graph (histogram) is a handy visualization. Basically, it is an image of your image. For any given intensity, it shows how many pixels of a particular shade of gray are in the image. This is a quick way to get an idea of \u200b\u200bthe dynamic range of a photo without looking at it. This separation of photographic meaning from visual information is very helpful. Below we will learn how to take advantage of this.
Curve (curve) is a way to manipulate the distribution of these tones using a graph, and is also a key point in our tutorial. Go ahead to find out more!
Part 2. Reading tone curves and histograms
As Harry Guinness explained: "The instrument Curves (Curves Tool) is a graph. On the X axis we have Input (Input) level, Y-axis - Output (Output) level. Each axis has values \u200b\u200bfrom 0 to 255. "Left to right and bottom to top:
- At the zero point, which is in the lower left corner of the chart, there is the black (black) color: pixels that have no intensity.
- Up and to the right of black go shadows(shadows), photographers often call them "darks".
- In the middle of the graph medium gray (middle gray), surrounded on both sides by "semitones".
- Even higher and to the right are the light zones, they are also "glare".
- At the very top right corner, with a value of 255, is white (white): pixels at full intensity.
The top of the curve controls the light, the middle controls the midtones, and the bottom controls the shadows.
The slope of the curve controls contrast
Contrast (contrast) expresses the difference between the tonal values \u200b\u200bof the image. We can designate two types of it: global for the entire image and local for a specific area.
Each new curve is initially a straight line with a 45-degree slope. This means that the ratio between By entering (Input) and Conclusion (Output) one to one, the filter does not affect the image.
Changing the slope of the line changes the ratio. If the tilt is greater than 45 degrees, the contrast is enhanced, if less, it decreases.
Moving the curve also controls the levels. Shifting the whole curve downwards lowers the output value: the photo becomes darker. Moving the entire line up increases the output value and brightens the image.
Looking at the histogram of our example, you can see that most of the pixels are in the middle of the tonal range, almost equally divided between shadows and highlights, with a depression in the midtones. There are also many pixels in the light and dark areas. This shows that we have an image with a relatively equal distribution as well as a good all-round exposure. Here's the shot itself so you can appreciate the original look:
An extremely flat shot straight from the camera is a pretty normal and desirable result. To protect glare and shadows, digital camera manufacturers are careful to interpret raw, linear information from sensors into the photograph itself. Better to start with a slightly flat result than lose important information for the sake of excessive contrast!
The strength of contrast
Our gaze always clings to contrasting areas. Think of a polar bear in the snow. It's hard to notice, isn't it? This is a low contrast. Now imagine a panther in the snow; it is much easier to see it: it is high contrast. The whole trick to getting the right amount of contrast (and this is pretty subjective) is to make the white not too white and the black not too black.
In simple terms, contrast is the difference between the light and dark parts of a photo. Increasing this difference will make the picture more voluminous, and reducing it will make the picture flatter or dimmer. Global contrast corrections are generally useful, but they are not as powerful when you need to make certain photos look perfect. For this we need local corrections.
We use local contrast corrections to add emphasis to an image or portions of it, increasing or decreasing the difference. We adjust the distribution of tones in the image to make the most of the dynamic range and, more importantly, to guide the viewer's eye. How you will do this depends entirely on the content of each photo.
Part 3. How to use checkpoints
You might think that it all looks like a tool Levels (Levels) and you will be right. However, there is a key difference: Curves (Curves) lets you use control points to make fine adjustments instead of coarse adjustments to the black, white, and gray ranges.
Control points (Control points) are the coordinates on the curve. They can be dragged up or down to change the relationship between By entering (Input) and Conclusion (Output). The location of the point affects how much of the tonal spectrum needs to be changed.
To demonstrate this, I made three control points in our demo photo: one near the bottom, one in the middle, and one near the top. I adjusted them to get an S-curve. You can see how this affected the image:
The shadows are darker, the highlights are brighter, and the mid-tones are almost intact, but they get more contrast. The S-curve adds contrast to the midtones, reducing it for highlights and shadows. (It also increases the saturation of the color image.) This curve is a frequent step for global adjustments.
Moving control points may not seem intuitive, but you just need to click on them and then drag to the desired location.
When a point is selected, it can also be moved using the arrows on the keyboard. This helps with subtle corrections. Click Tabto switch between points.
Drag the point outside the graph if you want to remove it.
Part 4. Order of operations
Now that we've gone over the basics of curves and control points, let's look at the process of adjusting local contrast.
Step 1. Make all global corrections and adjustments
I know you can't wait to start enhancing your photos right now, but make sure every shot goes through global adjustments before moving on to local work. If you start local adjustments on one photo before the general work is finished on other shots, your group of images will not be harmonious, and the process of their correction will become more difficult. Always place photos from a group in the same post-processing step.
In the case of our example, as well as in most of your photographs, a smooth S-curve will be enough for global improvements.
Step 2. Make the necessary local corrections
Some photos need additional processing. Before you do local adjustments, make local corrections... This includes vignetting, barrel distortion, edging, chromatic aberration, and more. Correcting these things after making local adjustments will be much more difficult, so fix them now.
Step 3. Evaluate the photo and make a plan
Okay. Global corrections and adjustments are ready, local corrections are made. Now you can clearly see your photo. ... What is it about? What's so special about her? How does it feel? Write a note about these things in your work journal.
What does this photo need? What elements do you want to emphasize? Are there specific areas of the image that need more contrast? Maybe there are areas where the contrast needs to be reduced! These are the questions you should ask yourself when deciding how you want your photo to look. Record the answers to these questions in your work journal.
The adjustment process can become intuitive when one change leads to another, but it should always be based on your assessment of the image, your imagination about it, and how far you want to go.
Step 4. Make local adjustments
For each large area you want to enhance, create a new adjustment layer. More on this process below.
Step 5. Reevaluate and Compare
After a few adjustments, stop and look at your photo again. Did you get the image that you presented when creating the plan? Perhaps the understanding of the shot has changed. This is normal! If this happens, write a note in your work pad.
Also compare the image with the rest of the group. Are they still consistent? If not, try to fix some corrections.
Part 5. How to make local contrast corrections using Curves
As you can see in the previous steps, the S-curve gave a good result for our shot at a global level. However, there are several parts that need local adjustments.
The sky is still quite flat, I would like to make it more dramatic. I really like the varied and contrasting textures in the image - the hardness of the wood, the opulence of the clouds, and the way they create an atmospheric sense of depth. I want to visually highlight all of this. How can we achieve what we want? My goals are to make the sky darker, the clouds more voluminous, and also bring out darker shadows around the boat and the beach. Each of the sections must be adjusted separately.
Step 1: add a Curves adjustment layer
Create Curves Adjustment Layer (Curves Adjustment Layer), you will find it in the menu Newadjustment layer (New Adjustment Layer) on the panel Layers (Layers Panel). Add a control point on the curve in the tonal range you want to adjust.
Using an in-image selection (hand with index finger), I selected the sky:
This tool shows me where on the curve the tonal range of the sky is. By clicking and dragging the point down, I darkened it. Be careful - the changes affect other areas with the same tonal range, in my case they affected some parts of the rocky beach. As you create new corrections, you will need to compensate for this change.
Specifically, you can do a lot more with curves than with levels.
Step 2.Use a layer mask to constrain adjustments to specific areas
As with all adjustment layers, we are not working directly on pixels. Curves layer has white Mask (Layer Mask). It can be painted over to remove the effect of the layer in certain areas of the photo.
Now remove unwanted corrections from the image with Maskslayer(Layer Mask) and Brushes (Brush).
Using a soft brush with low opacity (opacity) as shown below, paint over the areas that don't need adjustments. In the case of our example, you can see that the wheel in the foreground and the shadows on the boat have become too dark.
This is the layer mask shown in red (click and hold Alt in the mask thumbnail), so you can see which areas I've painted over. I brushed some areas harder, with a brush at about 50% opacity, to get a gradual effect without rough transitions.
In the upper image, the places where the filter is blocked by the mask are marked in red. Everything else lends itself to effect. Here's the result:
After corrections
The sky looks much better now. The next step is to make the boat, clouds, beach and water highlights stand out. Therefore, we will create a new Curves Adjustment Layer (Curves Adjustment Layer).
Step 3. Repeat!
Following the same method, I used an in-image selection to find the highlight point on the boat (circled) and dragged it up to lighten the area.
This correction affected the tonally similar areas of the entire image. Clouds, beach and sky highlights are now brighter. This is not what I wanted, so we will need masks again.
Since we're adjusting smaller areas this time, it's easier to invert the layer mask ( Ctrl + I), and then work, painting over the necessary areas, rather than hiding unnecessary ones.
In the image above, the areas where the changes are not applied are painted over in red, and in the lighter pink areas the image is lightened; I focused mainly on the boat, and also slightly enhanced the rocks, reflections on the water and some of the clouds.
After applying the correction
Potential problems
As with all editing methods, there must be a trade-off here. With curves, you stretch or contract tones. Going too far will produce strange results; this is often referred to as posterization. It happens if the weekend tones are stretched:
If you try to lighten and darken areas with a similar tone, get posterization.
The above is a gross exaggeration (you will never use a curve like this), but demonstrates the effect that can be obtained if you overdo it with a certain section of one layer of curves.
When in doubt, work from big to small
If you can't solve everything on one layer, don't worry: just add a new one. It is much easier to work with one layer for each "problem", treating large areas first and then smaller ones.
Use different layers and focus each on a specific task. This will help you stay organized (remember to name the layers!) And also allow you to make edits as you build the image.
Almost ready
As with most of these adjustments, it is often best to go a little further, knowing that you can later reduce the opacity of the layer if you need to decrease its effect. Try to combine your edits into a group. Just click on the folder icon at the bottom of the Layers panel, and then drag the desired layers into it:
Then you can cut opacity (opacity) of the group - this will affect all layers that are in it. Alternatively, you can adjust each individual Curve. I reduced the opacity of all my layers to 75% .
Done
Okay, breathe out. Let's take a look at our shot again.
The original photo looked a little flat, with the histogram grouping everything around midtones. There was not much difference between light and dark areas. Adding a little global contrast helped, but it was just the beginning! Sometimes we don't need to change the whole photo. If you have a lot of key in a similar range, as in our example, local adjustments will be needed to grab the viewer's eye.
The image I started with had little distinction between boat, bus, beach or sky. Each of these elements had its own distinctive feature, so it was wise to use local corrections to emphasize them. Since the clouds were already light enough, the darkened sky helped them stand out. Also, by focusing on the highlights of the boat, beach and water with curves and layer masks, we were able to create brighter areas to grab attention without going overboard with areas that were already light. Now I like the contrasting textures of these areas.
You can now subtly own curves
Curves (Curves)! What a great tool. They get better with every version of Photoshop. I highly recommend taking on this feature and familiarizing yourself with the settings and effects that appear for different types of photos.
It's easier to start in black and white because you don't have to worry about oversaturation and it's easier to see changes. Also, monochrome images are great for high contrast, so it's easy to practice with them. Of course, not all images need extra contrast, and curves can be used equally effectively to reduce it!
First, try working with presets and observe the effect of each of them, then use this knowledge to more accurately adjust your pictures. Remember to keep adjustments light and realistic. Otherwise, you will get anomalies in the image. All adjustments can be corrected by using a layer mask and removing any errors.
