Curves Tutorial

[Jorge Alvarez]

Hi there,

I've never used the full Photoshop (Elements 2.0 is my first photo-editing
software) and I am looking for a curves tutorial for beginners. I use Levels
to tweak my photos, but I've been told that Curves gives better results.
I've just installed the Shipley Extras.

Thanks in advance for any pointers,

-Jorge

[David Thompson]

"Jorge Alvarez" <correoschafa@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:bdpvd9$v60co$1@ID-116944.news.dfncis.de...
Hi there, I've never used the full Photoshop (Elements 2.0 is my first
photo-editing software) and I am looking for a curves tutorial for
beginners. I use Levels to tweak my photos, but I've been told that Curves
gives better results. I've just installed the Shipley Extras. Thanks in
advance for any pointers,
-------------------
It's only my opinion, but Levels has a significant advantage when it comes
to matching the captured image luminance range to the available display
range. Moving those two little pointers to the beginning of the shadows and
the end of the highlights on the histogram is simple in Levels, but pure
guess work in Curves. Curves' value is in tweaking the gradient across the
luminance range. (Maybe contrast is a better term, but where the
input/output gradient is steep, the contrast is locally higher, or if it's
shallow the contrast is lower). For instance, making the curve slightly "S"
shaped will allow more contrast in the midtones without completely
sacrificing contrast in the shadows & highlights. On the other hand if much
of the detail you wish to display is in the shadow area, you can increase
the gradient there and flatten the midtones and/or highlights slightly.
This is very much a "try it" exercise, not a science. Just load an
adjustment layer and have at it.

My work process always includes a Levels layer, then usually a Curves layer
on top of that to do the final tweaking. If color correction is needed, I
usually do that in the Levels layer, before tweaking in the Curves layer.

Regards, David Thompson
Canon G1 + PS 5 + PSE 2 + Epson 3200i