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<ul class="navigation"><li class="prev"><a accesskey="p" class="prev" href="WSfd1234e1c4b69f30ea53e41001031ab64-7671a.html" title="Curves overview"><img src="images/blank.gif" alt="Previous" width="17" height="17" /></a></li><li class="next"><a accesskey="n" class="next" href="WSfd1234e1c4b69f30ea53e41001031ab64-766ca.html" title="Color correct using the eyedroppers"><img src="images/blank.gif" alt="Next" width="17" height="17" /></a></li></ul><div class="hierarchy" id="hierarchy"><a href="WSfd1234e1c4b69f30ea53e41001031ab64-7693a.html">Color and tonal adjustments</a> /
     <a href="WSfd1234e1c4b69f30ea53e41001031ab64-7676a.html"><b>Adjusting image color and tone</b></a> 
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                <h1>
                    Adjust color and tonality with Curves
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                <br clear="both" /><div id="minitoc"><div class="t"><div class="b"><div class="l"><div class="r"><div class="bl"><div class="br"><div class="tl"><div class="tr"><div><h3>Contents [<a href="#" onclick="return toggleMiniToc('minitoc-links', this);" class="hideLink">Hide</a>]</h3><ul id="minitoc-links"><li><p><a href="#WS24279850-B727-4d12-B4D8-D578869C2363a"><h1 class="topictitle1">Apply an Auto correction</h1>
</a></p></li><li><p><a href="#WS5B70E855-95D5-4424-8795-1924A1A6177Ca"><h1 class="topictitle1">Set black and white points using the black point and white point sliders</h1>
</a></p></li><li><p><a href="#WS176EE3D7-976C-4cf5-AD8E-4A5898BF4C5E"><h1 class="topictitle1">Set black and white points using the eyedropper tools</h1>
</a></p></li><li><p><a href="#WSfd1234e1c4b69f30ea53e41001031ab64-766ea"><h1 class="topictitle1">Keyboard shortcuts: Curves adjustment</h1>
</a></p></li></ul></div></div><br clear="both" /></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><br clear="both" /><div><div class="section"><p>You can adjust the tonality
and color of an image by changing the shape of the curve in the
Curves adjustment. Moving the curve upward or downward lightens or
darkens the image, depending on whether the dialog box is set to
display levels or percentages. The steeper sections of the curve
represent areas of higher contrast; flatter sections represent areas
of lower contrast. </p>
<p>If the Curves adjustment is set to display
levels rather than percentages, the highlights are represented in
the upper-right corner of the graph. Moving a point in the top portion
of the curve adjusts the highlights. Moving a point in the center
of the curve adjusts the midtones, and moving a point in the bottom section
of the curve adjusts the shadows. To darken highlights, move a point
near the top of the curve downward. Moving a point either down or
to the right maps the Input value to a lower Output value, and the
image darkens. To lighten the shadows, move a point near the bottom
of the curve upward. Moving a point either up or to the left maps
a lower Input value to a higher Output value, and the image lightens. </p>
<div class="note"><span class="notetitle">Note:  </span>In general, only small curve adjustments are necessary
to make tonal and color corrections to most images. </div>
</div>
<ol><li class="stepexpand"><span>Do
one of the following:</span><ul><li><p>Click the Curves icon&#160;<img src="images/curves.png" /> or
a Curves preset in the Adjustments panel.</p>
</li>
<li><p>Choose Layer&#160;&gt; New Adjustment Layer&#160;&gt;
Curves. Click&#160;OK in the New Layer dialog box.</p>
</li>
</ul>
 <div class="para"><div class="note"><span class="notetitle">Note:  </span>You can also choose Image&#160;&gt; Adjustments&#160;&gt;
Curves. But keep in mind that this method makes direct adjustments
to the image layer and discards image information. </div>
</div>
</li>
<li class="stepexpand"><span>(Optional)
To adjust the color balance of the image, choose the channel or channels
that you want to adjust from the Channel menu.</span></li>
<li class="stepexpand"><span>(Optional) To edit a combination of color channels at
the same time, Shift-click the channels in the Channels panel before
choosing Curves. The Channel menu then displays the abbreviations
for the target channels—for example, CM for cyan and magenta. It
also contains the individual channels for the selected combination.
This method does not work in a Curves adjustment layer. </span> <div class="para"><div class="note"><span class="notetitle">Note:  </span>select Channel Overlays in Curve Display Options
to see the color channel curves superimposed on the composite curve. </div>
</div>
</li>
<li class="stepexpand"><span>Add
a point along the curve by doing one of the following:</span><ul><li><p>Click directly on the curve.</p>
</li>
<li><p>Select the On-image adjustment tool&#160;<img src="images/on_image_adjustment_tool.png" />, then
click the area in the image that you want to adjust. Drag the pointer
up or down to lighten or darken the values for all similar tones
in the photo. </p>
</li>
</ul>
 <div class="tip"><img src="images/tip_help.png" />To identify areas in the image that are
being clipped (black or white), select Show Clipping in the Curves
dialog box or Show Clipping For Black/White Points from the Adjustments
panel menu. </div><p>You can add up to 14 control points to the
curve. To remove a control point, drag it off the graph, select
it and press Delete, or Ctrl-click (Windows) or command-click (Mac&#160;OS)
it. You cannot delete the endpoints of the curve.</p>
<div class="fignone"><img alt="" id="ct_13" src="images/ct_13.png" /><div class="figdesc">With the On-image adjustment tool selected, click three areas
of an image to add points to the curve. Increased image contrast
resulting from lightening the highlights and darkening displayed by
an S-curve.</div><br /></div><div class="tip"><img src="images/tip_help.png" />To determine the
lightest and darkest areas in an RGB image, drag across the image
with the On-image adjustment tool. The Curves dialog box displays
the intensity values of the area under the pointer, and the corresponding
location on the curve. Dragging the pointer across a CMYK image
shows the percentages in the Color panel, if it’s set to display
CMYK values.</div></li>
<li class="stepexpand"><span>Do one of the following to adjust the shape of the curve:</span><ul><li><p>Click a point, and drag the curve until
the tone and color look correct. Shift-click to select multiple
points and move them at once.</p>
</li>
<li><p>Select the On-image adjustment tool&#160;<img src="images/on_image_adjustment_tool.png" />. As
you move the mouse pointer over the image it changes to an eyedropper,
and an indicator on the curve shows the tonal value of the underlying
pixels. Click on the image at the desired tonal value and drag vertically
up or down to adjust the curve.</p>
</li>
<li><p>Click a point on the curve, and enter values in
the Input and Output text boxes. </p>
</li>
<li><p>Select the pencil at the left of the curve grid,
and drag to draw a new curve. You can hold down Shift to constrain
the curve to a straight line, and click to define endpoints. When
you are finished, click the Smooth icon&#160;<img src="images/smooth.png" /> to
smooth the curve (in the Curves Adjustments panel) or click Smooth
(in the Curves dialog box).</p>
</li>
</ul>
 <p>Points on the curve remain anchored until you move
them. As a result, you can make an adjustment in one tonal area
while other areas remain unaffected. </p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
<div id="WS24279850-B727-4d12-B4D8-D578869C2363a" class="nochunk"><a name="WS24279850-B727-4d12-B4D8-D578869C2363a"></a><h3 class="topictitle3">Apply an Auto correction</h3><div><div class="p"><span><img src="images/dingbat.png" />&#160;Click Auto in the Curves Adjustments
panel or in the Curves dialog box.</span></div>
<div class="section"><p>Auto applies an automatic color correction
using the current default setting. To change the default setting,
use options in the Auto Color Correction Options dialog box. You
can apply an Auto Color, Auto Contrast, or Auto Tone correction to
an image. For more information on these options, see <a href="http://help.adobe.com/en_US/Photoshop/11.0/WSfd1234e1c4b69f30ea53e41001031ab64-7647a.html" target="_blank">Set
Auto adjustment options</a>.</p>
</div>
</div></div>
<div id="WS5B70E855-95D5-4424-8795-1924A1A6177Ca" class="nochunk"><a name="WS5B70E855-95D5-4424-8795-1924A1A6177Ca"></a><h3 class="topictitle3">Set black and white points using the black point and white point sliders</h3><div><div class="section"><p>Use the Black and White sliders to quickly
set black and white points. For example, if you move the black point
slider to the right at input 5, Photoshop maps all the pixels at
input 5 and lower to level 0. Similarly, if you move the white point
slider to the left at level 243, Photoshop maps all pixels at level
243 and higher to level 255. The mapping affects the darkest and
lightest pixels in each channel. The corresponding pixels in the
other channels are adjusted proportionately to avoid altering the
color balance.</p>
</div>
<ol><li><span>Drag the black and white point sliders to any
point along the axis. As you drag, note that the input value changes. </span></li>
<li><span>To preview clipping as you adjust black and white points,
do one of the following:</span><ul><li><p>Hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac
OS) as you drag the sliders. </p>
</li>
<li><p>Choose Show Clipping For Black/White Points from
the Adjustments panel menu, or Show Clipping in the Curves dialog
box.</p>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ol>
</div></div>
<div id="WS176EE3D7-976C-4cf5-AD8E-4A5898BF4C5E" class="nochunk"><a name="WS176EE3D7-976C-4cf5-AD8E-4A5898BF4C5E"></a><h3 class="topictitle3">Set black and white points using the eyedropper tools</h3><div><ol><li><span>Double-click the Set Black Point Eyedropper
tool. In the Adobe Color Picker, select a value where R, G, and
B values are identical. To set the value to black, set R, G, and
B values to 0.</span></li>
<li><span>With the eyedropper, click on an area in the image that
represents the black point, or the area with lowest tonal values.</span></li>
<li><span>Double-click the Set White Point Eyedropper tool and
select a color with identical R, G, and B values.</span></li>
<li><span>Click in an image area with the lightest tonal values
to set the white point.</span></li>
</ol>
</div></div>
<div id="WSfd1234e1c4b69f30ea53e41001031ab64-766ea" class="nochunk"><a name="WSfd1234e1c4b69f30ea53e41001031ab64-766ea"></a><h3 class="topictitle3">Keyboard shortcuts: Curves adjustment</h3><div><div class="section"><p>You
can use these keyboard shortcuts in the Curves adjustment:</p>
<ul><li><p>To set a point on the curve in the current channel specified
in the Curves adjustment, Ctrl-click (Windows) or command-click
(Mac&#160;OS) in the image.</p>
</li>
<li><p>To set a point on the curve for the selected color in each
color component channel (but not in the composite channel), Shift+Ctrl-click
(Windows) or Shift+Command-click (Mac&#160;OS) in the image.</p>
</li>
<li><p>To select multiple points, Shift-click points on the curve.
Selected points are filled with black.</p>
</li>
<li><p>To deselect all points on the curve, click in the grid, or
press Ctrl‑D (Windows) or Command-D (Mac&#160;OS).</p>
</li>
<li><p>To move selected points on the curve, press the arrow keys.</p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div></div>

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