Brightness/Contrast, got better for editing photographs
A few years back when i seriously started to use Photoshop, i was a heavy user of the “Brightness/Contrast” adjustment, until some day i have read an article that said that’s incredibly wrong to use this adjustment because it shreds your histogram.
Increasing Brightness with any version of Photoshop until CS3 will add whatever you set the control at to every pixel in the image, shifting everything towards the right in the histogram. When are decreasing the brightness , all will be shifted equally darker. The tone of every pixel moved right or left equally with the same value, even when some parts of an image needed it more than others. The traditional version of Contrast adjustment was equally simplistic in how it operated, stretching or contracting contrast equally over the entire range of the histogram.
A photograph can contain 256 brightness levels ( from 0 which means pure black to 255 which means pure white). Let’s say that our photograph has a brightness level from 20 to 180. When we increase the brightness by let’s say 20, the new photo will have a brightness level from 40 ( the old vale + 20) to 200 (the old value +20). So the Whole histogram is move to the right, when decreased move to the left.
So for the last two and a half years i only used Curves and/or Levels adjustments for increasing contrast and brightness. Now I saw that “Use legacy” option and started googling to see what exactly does and I found out that…
… since Photoshop CS3, they changed the algorithm of the “Brightness/Contrast” adjustment and put that option “Use legacy” so if you want you can still use the old one.
The new “Brightness/Contrast” algorithm operates proportionally, much as Levels and Curves do, rather than operating equally, in a linear way, on all pixels in the photograph. Pixels that need more of adjustment receive more of the effects of any change you make.
A simple change, but an amazing useful one since it turns a basically useless control into one that just might have a place in image editing for some people. Levels and Curves are still better since you have more control, but at least “Brightness/Contrast” won’t wreck an image if you use it. If you are in a hurry or for a casual image editing, it can in fact work quite well now.
Here’s an example with an increase of brightness by 40 on both photographs.
Here is the original photograph (Shot in Dobrogea, Romania)
Adjusted with the new Brightness/Contrast Adjusted with the old Brightness/contrast
Interesant
Never knew that. I`ve worked in Photoshop since the first versions and mostly in photography area were I had to retouch different photographs, and always used curves and levels because of the poor quality I received from using brightness/contrast.
It’s good to knwo that this is improved, and it’s mostly useful in a quick retouch as you stated.
Well if you are a hard core photoshop guy, i am guessing that the curves and levels it’s like in your blood, so still might be hard of even thinking to use Brightness/Contrast in editing a photograph.
By the way, welcome to my blog
Thanks.
I followed you here from the The Photography Forum, I find quite interesting the way you explain things, maybe try a bit to reduce the size of the future post, some people might find this boring to read. Count me in for reading this, every time I can. Keep up the good work and good luck.
I’m glad you enjoy it
Interesant. Presupun. Sincer nu cred că voi avea prea curând răbdarea să citesc în engleză atâtea chestii tehnice, dar măcar admir pozele.
Oricum, bine ai venit pe blog. Să vedem cum facem loc prin blogroll.
Pai cu putin chin am reusit in asa fel incat sa poata fi citita si in romana. Ma rog e o traducere automata si unele chestii probabil vor fi traduse aiurea.
Hmm momentan ma limitez la chestiile tehnice pana imi dau drumu la mana, dar voi vorbi si despre lucruri mai interesante, cum ar fi compozitie si alte chestii similare. Timp sa fie
Yes I like!
Thank you, and welcome to the blog