This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Brightness/Contrast
If you've done much study of Photoshop, you've probably repeatedly encountered the maxim that you should never use Brightness/Contrast to perform tonal corrections. Or perhaps you've tried using it on your own and been frustrated with the results.
The problem with Brightness/Contrast is that it's never been very intelligent about preserving the black and white points in your image. In CS2, for example, if you use Brightness/Contrast to apply a brightness adjustment to a grayscale ramp, it brightens everything, so you no longer have black tones (Figure 3.9).
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Figure 3.9 If you use Brightness/Contrast in CS2 to brighten a gray ramp, you end up with a ramp that has no real black and blown-out whites.
Usually, when you brighten an image, you're concerned mostly about brightening the midtones. In CS3, Brightness/Contrast will do a more intelligent job of brightening your image without compromising your shadows and blowing out your highlights. The same edit applied in CS3 yields the result shown in Figure 3.10.
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Figure 3.10 In CS3, Brightness/Contrast does a much better job of brightening an image without compromising its blacks.
Similarly, the Contrast slider in the CS2 Brightness/Contrast could wantonly wreck both your black and white points (Figure 3.11). In CS3, Adobe fixed this problem, so the same contrast adjustment yields a healthier result (Figure 3.12).
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Figure 3.11 Lowering the contrast with Brightness/Contrast in CS2 moves both the white and black points.
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Figure 3.12 In CS3, the same contrast-reduction operation reduces contrast without compromising black and white points.
The new Brightness/Contrast won't replace your current Levels or Curves use, but it's a handy tool to have around, especially for beginning users who aren't comfortable with those advanced options.