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Selecting Images for Same Size Prints

Color correction can be done several ways. One is by using the tools in the Image tab in

Photoshop and working right on the background layer. This corrects the pixel information in the

image layer itself, and when you have saved and closed the file it cannot be undone.

The second way is to create layers that adjust the image layer. You can think of these as plastic

overlays on a photograph. They change the color, but you can adjust them or delete them and the

original photo information is unchanged.

Both ways to color correct the image use the same tools (brightness/contrast, hue/saturation, etc.)

I want to adjust the

lower part of the photo

to be brighter, and the

upper part to be darker.

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Image Color Corrections Tools

To make color corrections

directly to the background

layer choose

Image>Adjustments, and the

type of color correction you

want to make.

To create an adjustment

layer select Image>New

Adjustment Layer, and then

the type of color adjustment

you wish to perform.

Here are the directions for making a color correction to photograph using adjustment layers.

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Using an Adjustment Layer

Select the portion of the

photograph you want to

adjust by using one of the

selection tools.

Feather the edge of the

selection so there will not

be a sharp line at its edge.

The Feather tool is located directly on the Select menu in earlier versions of Photoshop.

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Choose the number or

pixels you want the feather

to affect. The Feathering

affect extends on both sides

of the selection line.

Create a New Adjustment

Layer. Here I am creating

and adjustment layer for

Brightness/Contrast.

A mask is created for the adjustment layer using the area you have selected on the image.

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The dialogue box that

appears lets you name the

layer and select options.

This dialogue box looks

different in earlier versions

of Photoshop.

The adjustment layer is

created and here you can

see the sliders for adjusting

brightness and contrast.

After I adjust the brightness

the lower part of this image

is lighter and clearer.

Older versions of Photoshop have the adjustment sliders in their own dialogue box, which can be

re-opened by clicking on the circle icon in the layers palette.

Now I am going to adjust the upper part of the image that is over exposed.

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I select the upper part of the

image and feather is as I

did the last time. Then I

create a second adjustment

layer that is named

Brightness/Contrast 2.

A layer mask is created in

the new

Brightness/Contrast layer to

adjust the upper part of the

image.

There is not much color

information in this part of

the image to adjust, and I

cannot get the definition I

would like, but the

adjustment does pull up

some of the color in the

trees.

Use this procedure to create the color correction you want in your images. After you have saved

the Photoshop files, you can always go back and adjust the image color again through the

adjustment layers.