Adobe Photoshop 6.0 User Guide

16
Adobe Photoshop Basics
Adjusting and retouching images
Making tonal and color adjustments
Upon first opening a scanned image or digital photograph in Photoshop or ImageReady, it’s common to notice
some problems with color quality and tonal range. The image may appear washed out, for example, or appear
too dark or too light in certain areas.
Open the Levels dialog box When making tonal adjustments to an image in Photoshop, it’s a good idea to
use adjustment layers. You can limit the application of flexible and reversible adjustments to an adjustment
layer, so that underlying layers show the effects of the adjustment without being permanently altered.
(You can even block areas from being adjusted by painting the adjustment layer with black.) To create an
adjustment layer that adjusts the tonality of an image, choose Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Levels.
Name the layer and click OK.
In ImageReady, you do not have the option of adjustment layers, so choose Image > Adjust > Levels.
Adjust tonal levels The Levels dialog box displays a
graph representing the tonal distribution of the
image—from shadows (on the left) to midtones
(in the middle) to highlights (on the right).
To achieve good tonal range, drag the black and
white sliders to where the graph begins at either
end. Then drag the middle slider to adjust
midtones to the desired level.
The Levels dialog box provides a useful way to Adjusting tonal levels
adjust your image’s overall tonal range. The Curves
dialog box represents another, more precise method, letting you adjust any point along a 0–255 tonal scale.
Make other adjustments If needed, you can use other adjustment features to correct for color casts and
sharpen details in the final image.