Richard Ditch has been trying to get me to be able to do this for a while now, but he has Photoshop and I have Photoshop Elements. I just can't figure it out in Photoshop Elements. The only place I see to do that is when you open the raw file you have an opportunity to set the level of blacks. Is that where I need to be raising that level or is that painting with too broad a brush?
(Note that Photoshop Elements does NOT have curves.)
With Photoshop, and likely with Elements as well, there are usually more than one way to do many things.
When I refer to the black point in your images, or to the image looking washed out, I'm really referring to the way the histogram of tones is distributed in the image. The first place you should be looking with any of your images is the histogram. For most images you want a nice distribution of tones: the plot should cover most of the range from 0 to 255 without bunching up against either the left (0) side or the right (255) side. If you check the histogram of one of your recent posts you'll see that the curve doesn't really begin to climb until it is some distance from the left side.
Here's your "ibis tree" image open in PS with a Levels adjustment layer added. I've pulled the black point 20 points to make the dark parts of the image darker, as you can see is happening to the image itself.
You should be able to address this in raw conversion, although I don't know how many of the options are dumbed down in ACR for Elements. Watch the histogram in ACR and if the image on screen looks washed out try reducing overall exposure and/or move the black point.
If the image coming out of ACR still looks weak then fix it with levels.
Thank you, Richard. I've never understood until now about pulling the black point. Tonight or tomorrow I'm going to process this one again from the beginning and do a repost. Thank you!
Be careful when adjusting the darker values, especially those at the low end of the scale. It doesn't take much to have them look unnaturally light-toned and noisy, especially if these areas are large. You will also need to adjust the mid tones and the high values, most likely, to get an image with a pleasing tonal scale.
In PSE you just need to apply a levels adjustment layer.
If you click the blacks slider and hold the alt key while sliding, the photo will go all white and you'll see when you start blocking up the blacks. You'll want to then back off from that point until you like the results.
Posted by Lance Warley on July 20, 2011 at 6:21 AM
This is off topic, but with your enthusiasm and desire to learn, you really should consider biting the bullet and moving to CS5.
I went from Elements to CS2 or 3 a few years ago. I wish I had done it sooner.
I agree with Lance. CS5 is very powerful and has more tools that Elements for post processing. If you can see your way clear from a financial standpoint to upgrade, doing so is a good idea.
First, check the Adobe site to see if your version of Elements qualifies you for the upgrade price.
Second, be sure your computer is up to running CS5. You'll probably need to update your video driver with the latest version from the maker of your video card. You may also need to increase the amount of RAM in your machine. RAM is pretty cheap these days, and the video driver can be downloaded for free. Note that I would do this even if I wasn't going to upgrade my photo editing software.
I don't know Elements from rare gases, but if possible within it's set of tools, I'll pose another route for adjusting blacks.
Go to Image-->Adjustments-->Selective Color and use the black slider on the black channel.
It might or might not work from one photo to the next, but it's much simpler than Curves or Levels to adjust blacks without additional changes occurring in other places.
Discussion
7 replies(Note that Photoshop Elements does NOT have curves.)
Thank you for any help with this.
When I refer to the black point in your images, or to the image looking washed out, I'm really referring to the way the histogram of tones is distributed in the image. The first place you should be looking with any of your images is the histogram. For most images you want a nice distribution of tones: the plot should cover most of the range from 0 to 255 without bunching up against either the left (0) side or the right (255) side. If you check the histogram of one of your recent posts you'll see that the curve doesn't really begin to climb until it is some distance from the left side.
Here's your "ibis tree" image open in PS with a Levels adjustment layer added. I've pulled the black point 20 points to make the dark parts of the image darker, as you can see is happening to the image itself.
You should be able to address this in raw conversion, although I don't know how many of the options are dumbed down in ACR for Elements. Watch the histogram in ACR and if the image on screen looks washed out try reducing overall exposure and/or move the black point.
If the image coming out of ACR still looks weak then fix it with levels.
Be careful when adjusting the darker values, especially those at the low end of the scale. It doesn't take much to have them look unnaturally light-toned and noisy, especially if these areas are large. You will also need to adjust the mid tones and the high values, most likely, to get an image with a pleasing tonal scale.
--P
In PSE you just need to apply a levels adjustment layer.
If you click the blacks slider and hold the alt key while sliding, the photo will go all white and you'll see when you start blocking up the blacks. You'll want to then back off from that point until you like the results.
I went from Elements to CS2 or 3 a few years ago. I wish I had done it sooner.
I agree with Lance. CS5 is very powerful and has more tools that Elements for post processing. If you can see your way clear from a financial standpoint to upgrade, doing so is a good idea.
First, check the Adobe site to see if your version of Elements qualifies you for the upgrade price.
Second, be sure your computer is up to running CS5. You'll probably need to update your video driver with the latest version from the maker of your video card. You may also need to increase the amount of RAM in your machine. RAM is pretty cheap these days, and the video driver can be downloaded for free. Note that I would do this even if I wasn't going to upgrade my photo editing software.
--P
Go to Image-->Adjustments-->Selective Color and use the black slider on the black channel.
It might or might not work from one photo to the next, but it's much simpler than Curves or Levels to adjust blacks without additional changes occurring in other places.