From the course: Photoshop: Advanced Adjustment Layer and Blend Modes

Improving contrast with Auto Levels - Photoshop Tutorial

From the course: Photoshop: Advanced Adjustment Layer and Blend Modes

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Improving contrast with Auto Levels

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- Now, Levels is typically used for contrast, and let me show you what we can do to fix contrast issues. The Levels adjustment offers very similar choices to the Curves adjustment. So, no matter which tool you prefer using, you'll be able to solve contrast issues with a variety of techniques. And if you're working with an image, and you decide to take the route of Levels, you can quickly enhance contrast in the photo. Now, there are several presets here, including methods for simply increasing contrast. And these are just presets that you can try, if you want, that will target a particular area and make the shift. But I recommend holding down the Option or Alt key and clicking on the word Auto. Now, you can take advantage of different contrast options. The monochromatic option works quite well, and Per Channel can remove color cast a bit. Just don't worry about snapping the midtones. I generally find, though, that the light and dark color option or the brightness and contrast options both work quite well to preserve detail. What this will do is evaluate the image and attempt to get the maximum contrast and proper brightness levels set for you. These automatic methods work quite often. And even though I'm capable of doing them manually, I strongly suggest starting with the auto values. Then you can easily take a look here and just refine moving the midpoint usually to get where you want. Remember, if a value is too intense, you can also clip the output value. In this case, I'm toning down the brightest highlights so they're a little bit darker, giving me the sense of early evening. But these auto tools are incredibly useful and a quick and easy way to get results.

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