Adobe Photoshop CS6 Top 100 Simplified Tips and Tricks by Lynette Kent

IMPROVE AN OVEREXPOSED PHOTO in three steps
An overexposed photograph is impossible to
salvage with traditional darkroom techniques.
Too much light means that there is nothing in
the film to print. Digital photography is
different. The image sensor in the camera
sees more of the lighter values, and it records
more tonal differences in the brighter areas,
or the right side of the histogram. As long as
the highlights are not completely blown out or
showing no information, you can improve an
overly bright photograph with a variety of
tools in Photoshop.
You can use the Shadows/Highlights
command in the basic mode to effectively
reduce the highlights.
With most dialog boxes in Photoshop, when
you move the slider to the right you increase
the amount. When you use the Shadows/
Highlights adjustment to reduce the
highlights, it works in the opposite fashion.
As with every project in Photoshop, you can
accomplish the task in a variety of ways. By
applying the Shadows/Highlights command
on a Smart Object layer, you can continue to
adjust the exposure nondestructively. This
three-step technique for reducing the
highlights and improving an overexposed
photo is so easy that it is always worth
testing before spending time with other
methods or discarding the photo.
# 51
••••
DIFFICULTY LEVEL
1
3 4 2
5
A
1 Open an overexposed photo.
2 Click Filter ➪ Convert for Smart
Filters.
A The Background layer is
converted to a Smart Object
layer.
3 Click Image.
4 Click Adjustments.
5 Click Shadows/Highlights.
The Shadows/Highlights dialog
box appears.
7
9
6 Click Preview ( changes to ).
7 Click and drag the Shadows
Amount slider to the left to 0%.
8 Click and drag the Highlights
Amount slider to the right until
the image looks the way you
want.
9 Click OK.
The image exposure is improved.
8
6
Chapter 5 117