PHOTOGRAPHY TUTORIALS & TIPS
Geoff Lawrence.com

Levels Adjustment

When you need to adjust the contrast in your photo the best tool for the job is 'levels'. In all flavors of Photoshop you can open the 'levels' window by using the keyboard shortcut ctrl+L in windows or cmd L on a Mac. Alternatively you can find it under enhance->adjust lighting in Elements or image->adjustments in Photoshop.

Although there is a separate 'brightness' & 'contrast' window, the 'levels' adjustment is a better option as you can really see what you are doing.

Here's a short video showing how it's done:-

If you are watching this on a tablet, you'll probably find it better to watch this video in full screen mode. Click on the little arrow icon in the bottom right of the player and rotate your pad to horizontal view.

Other tutorials in this section

Photo Editing

Introduction page.

Size

Scaling your files.

Contrast

Balancing those pixels.

Levels

A short video showing how to use the levels adjustment to control contrast.

Curves

A short video showing how to use the curves adjustment to control contrast.

Color

Dealing with color casts.

Processing RAW Files

An introduction to Adobe Camera RAW.

Processing RAW Files using HSL

Advanced use of Adobe Camera RAW.

Sharpening

Using the unsharp mask.

Using the Quick Mask

Masking parts of your picture to edit certain areas.

Adjustment Layer Masks

How to build accurate layer masks.

Straightening Horizons

A must for landscape and building photographers.

Replacing Boring Skies

Using layers in Photoshop.

Using the Channel Mixer

How to make a better job of changing images from color to black & white.

Using Curves on Adjustment Layers

Playing with contrast and tones to give a more dramatic effect.

High Dynamic Range

How to shoot and process HDR pictures with Photomatix Pro software.

Back to the main 'Photography Tutorials' page