Photoshop levels tutorial

An easy way to correct exposure problems in your digital photos is to adjust the levels of your image in Photoshop.

T's simple levels cheat:

1. In Photoshop click Image > Adjustments > Levels.
   
2. A dialog with a histogram appears.
3. There are three eye dropper icons in the lower left hand corner of the box. The far right allows you to set the white point of the image, the middle sets the gray point, and the left-most dropper sets the black point of your image.
   
4. Select the white dropper, and click on a point in the image that should be pure white.
   
5. Select the black dropper, and click on a point in the image that should be pure black (or the darkest point in your image).
   

This helps with images taken on dark/overcast days. It may not be 100% accurate, but if you play around with it, you can do a much better job than the automatic levels set by your camera.

Here are two before and after examples using a couple of my photos. The first photo was taken in full sunshine but the camera exposure was off. The second was taken in the hazy sunset light. The haziness is much less noticable after the levels have been adjusted.

In some cases there may not be an appropriate white point, black point, or a grey point that you can use in your photo. This is when a gray card comes in handy. I'm thinking about investing in one, but in the meantime I'll stick to using this simple levels cheat.

To learn more about levels you can see these more advanced tutorials:

• Cambridge in Color
• Twisted Tree Photography