Beginning Photoshop Lesson: Oct 15

Automatic Adjustments, Contrast, Levels, Curves, Exposure, Saturation, Black & White

(After right-clicking the image from the blog and saving it to your desktop)

1. Open Photoshop (From your Start Menu > Programs > Adobe CS5)
2. Open your image by going to the File menu and selecting Open.
3. Choose File and click Open
4. Make sure the Layers Palette is visible, if not go to Window > Layers
5. Copy your background using the keyboard shortcut CNTRL + J (Command J)

Automatic Adjustments

6. With the Background Copy Highlighted, Go to the Image Menu > Adjustments > Auto Levels

7. With the Background Copy Highlighted, Go to the Image Menu > Adjustments > Auto Contrast

8. With the Background Copy Highlighted, Go to the Image Menu > Adjustments > Auto Color

Adjustment Layers

9. Click on the Background Layer and copy your background again using the keyboard shortcut CNTRL + J (Command J)

10. Turn off visibility on the Top Background Layer by clicking on the image of the eye.

11. Click and drag the new Background Layer above the one with the automatic adjustments.

12. Click on the Cookie and choose Levels. Adjust the Midtone slider to 93. Click OK.

13. Click on the Cookie and choose curves. Click three points on the line and adjust to make a slight S-curve. Click OK.

14. Click on the Cookie and choose Exposure. Drag the exposure slider to -0.45. Click OK.

15. Click on the Cookie and choose Hue/Saturation. Drag the Saturation slider to -0.50. Click OK.

16. Click on the Cookie and choose Black & White. Drag the Red to 35% and the Yellow to 170%. Click OK.

17. Click and drag Layer 1 (the layer with Auto Adjustments) to the top.

18. Turn on and off the visibility of Layer 1.

19. Turn on and off the visibility of the Adjustment layers to see the difference.

20. Turn off the Black & White Layer & Hue Saturation Layer to compare the Auto Adjustment Layer to your adjustments.

The End