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In this video we’ll take a look at a few of the photos our client provided to us and make some quick adjustments to ensure the image looks its best.
New Terms:
- Histogram - Displays the tonal range for colors within the photo, providing information about the exposure.
- Adjustment Layer - Layers that allow for image adjustments in a non-destructive method.
Further Reading:
How to Use Levels in Photoshop
Levels Adjustment
How to Read & Use Histograms
[MUSIC]
0:00
For this stage, we're gonna do a bit
of roleplay as we create some ads for
0:04
a client.
0:09
The client is Nature Light Studios,
0:10
a small photography team that
specializes in photos for realtors.
0:12
They'll be providing us with the imagery,
their logo, and even the copy, or
0:17
text, that we'll need to use for
all three deliverables.
0:21
They're looking for a banner for
a website, an ad for
0:26
a mobile device, an ad for
a use in Twitter.
0:29
So we'll need to make sure
their imagery looks good,
0:33
and all the content is formatted
properly for each use case.
0:36
You can download all the assets
we'll use in the teacher's notes.
0:40
Within the ZIP file,
you'll find the image and
0:44
logo we'll be using, let's get started.
0:46
The first thing we'll want to do is
have a look at the image they sent
0:49
of the property.
0:52
So, let's open the file,
Naturelightimage-raw.jpg.
0:53
The first thing I notice is,
1:03
there's an unnecessary whitespace
around the image itself.
1:04
Let's go ahead and use the Crop tool
to isolate just the image content.
1:08
Once selected,
the Crop tool gives us an overlay,
1:13
with handles on each side we can adjust.
1:16
In our top toolbar, we can take advantage
of some popular preset aspect ratios, or
1:19
the relationship of the width to height,
and the crop will constrain to that ratio.
1:24
For this image, let's go ahead and
1:29
manually crop the image by selecting
width by height by resolution.
1:31
It's okay if we crop just a little
bit of the edges of the image,
1:48
as it probably won't end
up in our final product.
1:51
Press Enter to commit
to your crop changes.
1:54
Next, let's have a look at
the histogram for this image.
1:58
To bring up the histogram, if you're not
seeing it, select it from the Window menu.
2:01
The histogram gives us the tonal range for
all the colors within the photo,
2:08
giving us an overview of the exposure.
2:12
Along the horizontal axis,
we'll see the distribution of tones and
2:15
colors lying within the range black to
white, or shadows to captured light.
2:18
The vertical axis tells us how much
we're seeing of a specific tone.
2:24
Generally, when looking at a histogram,
we see all colors RGB-combined by default.
2:28
If an image is overexposed, it'll be
quite a bit of white, and look blown-out.
2:35
The histogram would then appear heavier
on the right-hand side of the graph.
2:40
If it's underexposed,
the image will appear dark, and
2:44
have more peaks to the left
end of the histogram.
2:47
Our image here appears to
be quite overexposed, and
2:51
that's not always a bad thing.
2:54
This whitespace will actually come
in handy for our end product.
2:55
We can make a few adjustments,
2:59
however, to bring out some of
the natural colors of this image.
3:01
To do so,
we're gonna use a few adjustment layers.
3:04
Adjustment layers allow us to modify
an image in a non-destructive method.
3:07
Meaning we can delete the layer,
if we don't like the adjustments we made.
3:12
If we were to use the Levels adjustment
from within the Image Image menu,
3:16
That would be a destructive adjustment,
that would immediately affect our image.
3:23
For the most part,
3:27
sticking to non-destructive
techniques is best practice.
3:29
As it allows us to undo or
modify any adjustments we make.
3:32
So let's add an adjustments layer,
and see how those corrections work.
3:37
From the Layers panel, let's go ahead and
3:42
select Adjustments Layer, and
select the Levels adjustment layer.
3:45
As you can see, the levels
adjustment looks like our histogram,
3:51
providing us a tonal range of the image.
3:55
We're able to make
adjustments to this range,
3:58
either in RGB together or individually.
4:01
I'll make some adjustments to help bring
out the reds and blues in the image.
4:06
Slightly decrease the midpoint of the red.
4:13
The highlights as well, just a hair,
and then now I'll select Green.
4:18
Gonna adjust the shadows of the greens,
again just a hair.
4:25
And the highlights.
4:35
Finally we'll adjust the blue.
4:40
I'll choose to adjust the midpoint on
this one as well, And the highlights.
4:45
The one thing to think about
when making adjustments.
4:56
Is, the gradient below will give you
a good idea of whether you're adjusting
4:59
the highlights or
shadow areas of a specific channel.
5:03
If you'd like to read more
about adjusting levels,
5:06
check out the links in
the teacher's notes.
5:09
So this is looking pretty good.
5:12
We can preview our adjustments
later by turning it on and
5:14
off within the Layers panel.
5:16
Let's add just one more adjustment layer,
to bring up the contrast of our colors.
5:21
Again, selecting Adjustment Layer and
choosing Brightness/Contrast this time.
5:26
This panel only has two adjustments,
5:33
similar to the one you may find on a TV,
Brightness and Contrast.
5:36
By increasing the contrast, we'll see
the difference between colors, and
5:41
bring about additional detail.
5:45
And we'll bring up the brightness
just a hair as well.
5:53
Okay, that's looking pretty good as well.
5:59
We can also, again, turn on and
6:01
off our levels together, and see them
combined, or one on top of each other.
6:04
Okay, this is looking pretty good,
let's go ahead and save it,
6:09
click File, then Save.
6:13
Since we've added some layers, it'll
default to saving in the PSD extension.
6:17
For now,
I'll choose to save this on my desktop,
6:22
and I'll make sure that
the layers are indeed preserved.
6:25
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