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

CHANGE THE HIGHLIGHTS AND SHADOWS
nondestructively
When you have a photo in which the background is
well exposed but the foreground is either too dark or
washed out, you can use the Highlights and Shadows
adjustment on a Smart Object layer to improve the
balance in the image without permanently altering
the original. The default settings in the Shadows/
Highlights dialog box can be a quick fix as shown in
task #51; however, the dialog box can be expanded
to show more options, giving you far greater control
over both the shadows and highlights, even in images
with problems at both extremes of the tonal range.
Make sure that the Preview option is selected in the
dialog box so the image is updated as you move each
slider. The Amount slider determines how much of a
correction to apply. The Tonal Width slider controls
how much of the tonal range will be modified. The
Radius slider controls the size of the area by
increasing or decreasing the number of neighboring
pixels to be included in the adjustment. Color
Correction increases or decreases the saturation of
the shadows or highlights being adjusted in a color
photo. If the photo is grayscale, a Brightness slider
darkens or lightens the areas. The Midtone Contrast
slider increases or decreases the contrast in the
overall the image.
2 1
3
1 In the menu bar, click Layer ➪
Smart Objects ➪ Convert to
Smart Object.
A The Background layer is
converted to a Smart Object.
2 Click Image.
3 Click Adjustments.
4 Click Shadows/Highlights.
4
A
6
5
The Shadows/Highlights dialog
box appears.
5 Click Preview ( changes to ).
6 Click Show More Options
( changes to ).
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