Photoshop Elements - Curves Adjustment
When you need to adjust the contrast, your first choice for the job is should be levels. However, when there is no spare room at the ends of the histogram, it's time to turn to the 'curves' tool where you can adjust selected parts of the tonal range.
You can open the 'curves' window by using the keyboard shortcut ctrl+M in windows or cmd M on a Mac. Alternatively you can find it under enhance->adjust color in Elements or image->adjustments in Photoshop.
Although there is a separate 'brightness' & 'contrast' window, the 'curves' adjustment is a more professional option as you can really see what you are doing.
Here's a simple video tutorial showing how it's done:-
If the picture looks a little bit fuzzy, check the quality setting of the player. Sometimes, depending on your connection speed, this will default to a lower setting. For best quality viewing make sure the quality of the player is set to HD. The video controls are only available after you have started playing the video. If you have problems watching the video on a slow connection, allow the video to download first before watching it.
Other tutorials in this section
A short video showing how to resize your images for the web.
A short video showing how to make color corrections.
A short video showing how to use the levels adjustment to control contrast.
A short video showing how to use the curves adjustment to control contrast.
A short video showing how to use the Quick Mask mode to select areas of your photo.
A short video showing how to blend two layers together using a clipping mask to remove unwanted parts of the image.
A video demonstrating how to use the sliders in ACR
A video demonstrating how to use the tools in ACR
A video explanation of non-destructive editing.