Color Adjustments
What's new - Color Adjustments in Cs3

-Now I’m going to explain what each option of the above options does.

Levels : this gives you the ability to adjust the tonal range of the image you are working on when you choose the level option, this will automatically create a new layer, and it will also open levels box, in that box you can set the channels: RGB : Red, Green, Blue. You can also set the input levels by either moving the three points on the slide or enter the values of the levels in the three available boxes. And you can also set the output levels by moving the points on the slide or by filling the values of the output levels in the two available boxes. You also have the ability to save and load saved levels that you created earlier to use on the current project.

Curves : this effect like the levels give you the ability to control and adjust the total range of the image you’re working on. When you choose that option a layer will be automatically created, and will also open the curves box where you can set and adjust:

1. The presets:  where you have a variety of ready created curves, and they are:
a.      Color Negative (RGB).
b.      Cross process (RGB).
c.       Darker (RGB).
d.      Increase contrast (RGB).
e.       Lighter (RGB).
f.       Linear contrast (RGB).
g.      Medium contrast (RGB).
h.      Negative (RGB).
i.        Strong contrast (RGB).

            2. Channel: and they are
           a.      RGB.
           b.      Red.
           c.      Green.
           d.      Blue.

3. If you don’t want to choose any of the preset given by Photoshop, you can create your own curve, and there are three ways to do that:
a.      You can edit the points on the curve by clicking and dragging the points
b.      Draw to modify the curve by using the pencil tool.
c.       By entering the input and out put values in the available boxes.

 
Color balance : when you choose that option, a layer will be automatically created, and it will also open the color balance box. In that box you can adjust the balance of the following: Cyan – Red. Magenta – Green. Yellow – Blue.
You can also select the tone balance by choosing on of the following: Shadows.Mid tones. High Lights.
If you want to preserve luminosity check the box next to (Preserve Luminosity) if you don’t want to preserve it just unchecks the box.

Brightness/Contrast : When you choose the Brightness/Contrast option as all the other previous options a new layer will be automatically created, and also the brightness/contrast box will open, in that box you can move the slider of each option to adjust and edit the brightness and contrast of the image, in Photoshop CS3 adobe added a new formula for the brightness and contrast, by default you’ll be setting the brightness and contrast according to that new formula, if you don’t like the results and you’re used to adjusting the brightness and contrast according to the old formula all you have to do is to check the box next to (use legacy). and to know about what have changed in this option with the new Photoshop Cs3 please go to the Color Adjustments in Cs3 page.

Black and White : please visit Color Adjustments in Cs3 page.

Hue/Saturation : when you choose that option as in the previous examples a new layer will automatically be created, and also the Hue/Saturation box will open , in that box you can set the following options the way you see best for your project:
 - Edit: in the edit menu you can choose one of the following options:
a.      Master.
b.      Reds.
c.       Yellows.
d.      Greens.
e.       Cyans.
f.       Blues.
g.      Magentas.

- You can edit the hue, saturation and lightness levels by either moving the slider of each option or enter the value you want in the box next to each option, results may be different if you checked or unchecked the colorize box.
- You can save the Hue/Saturation settings you created, and you can also load previous created settings.

 
Selective color : this option is used to convert the colors from a scanned image mostly; its main job is to correct each of the primary colors separately, without effecting other primary colors. When you choose the selective color option, a new layer will automatically be created, and also the selective color box you can choose and edit the following options:
 - Colors : and they are the following
a. Reds.
b. Yellows.
c. Greens.
d. Cyans.
e.  Blues.
f.  Magentas.
g. Whites.
h. Neutrals.
i.  Blacks.

- You can also adjust the colors by moving the sliders or entering the percentage of each color next to:
a.      Cyan.
b.      Magenta.
c.      Yellow.
d.      Black.

- Select the method you want:
a.      Relative: this will give changes on the current colors (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black by the color’s percentage of the total.
b.      Absolute: this method will change and adjust the colors in absolute values.

- Here you can also save the settings you created, and you load previously saved settings.

Channel Mixer : this option is used to create sepia, gray scale, and some other tinted images, when you choose that option a new layer will automatically be created, and the channel is mixer box will open giving you the following options that you can set and adjust, and these options are:

l.  Preset: which will give you the following options to choose from:
a.      Black and white infrared (RGB).
b.      Black and white with blue filter (RGB).
c.       Black and white with green filter (RGB).
d.      Black and white with orange filter (RGB).
e.       Black and white with red filter (RGB).
f.       Black and white with yellow filter (RGB).

2. Out put channel: and you can use one of the following three options
a.      Red.
b.     Green.
c.     Blue.

3.The source channels box; which contains three sliders red/green/blue that you can move to change and adjust the channels you can also enter the values you want in the percentage box next to each channel.

4. Constant: This slider would give the color that you chose and it's opposite if you move the slider to the left.

5.You can choose monochrome option by checking the box at the bottom of the channel mixer box.
- Gradient map: what that option does is create an equivalent gray scale map of the image you’re using to the colors of a specific gradient fill that you chose. When you choose the gradient map option, a new layer is automatically created, and also a gradient map box will open where you can set and edit the following options:

1.  Select a gradient from the menu called gradient used for gray scale mapping.

2.  Choose one or both of the following:  Dither, Reverse.

Photo filter : this command will give you the effect as if you added a filter on your camera lens, it will give you a colored almost transparent page all over the image that you have. When you choose that command, a new layer will be automatically created and also the Photo Filter dialog box will open, in that box you can choose and set the following options:
- Filter >> here you can select the type you want from the following types:
a. Warming filter (85).
b. Warming filter (LBA).
c. Warming filter (81).
d. Warming filter (80).
e. Warming filter (LBB).
f. Warming filter (82).
g. Red.
h. Orange.
i. Yellow.
j. Green.
k.Cyan.
l. Blue.
m. Violet.
n. Magenta.
o. Sepia.
p. Deep Red.
q. Deep blue.
r. Deep Emerald.
s. Deep yellow.
t. Under water.

- If you don’t want to choose any of the types mentioned above, you can select a color from the color picker box for your filter.
- Density: you can enter the percentage of density you want in the box next to the density option, or you can move the slider to specify the density percentage that you want.
- If you want to preserve luminosity make sure to check the box next to (preserve luminosity) and if you don’t want that just uncheck the box.

Exposure : this command is specifically made to make tonal adjustments to HD2 images (high dynamic range) when you choose that command, a layer will be automatically created, and also the exposure dialog box will open giving three options that you can adjust either by moving the slider of each option to the left and to the right  or by entering the  value you want to make the exposure correction; these options are:
1. Exposure: this will affect the highlight end of the tonal scale but you won’t see any clear changes on the shadows.
2. Offset: here the parts that will be affected are the shadows and mid tones but you won’t see any clear affect on the high light.
3. Gamma: as it’s name implies, this option will give you the ability to adjust the image gamma.

 
Invert : it’s simply the process of reversing the colors of all the pixels that you have in the image that you created or exported. You can see it best if you open a file and draw a black line on a white background.

Threshold : what that command does to colored images and gray scale images also is converting these images to high contrast black and white images.
1. The pixels in the image that are lighter than the threshold will automatically be converted to white.
2. The pixels in the image that are darker than the threshold will be converted to black.
When you choose that command a layer will be automatically created, and also the threshold dialog box will open where you can enter the value of the threshold level in the box available for that move the slider created for that purpose.

Posterize : this command will give you the ability set the brightness level for every channel in the image that are you using , then it will match it to the closet level by mapping the pixels when you choose that command, a layer will be automatically created, also the posterize dialog box will open giving you the ability to enter the value of the posterize level, or use the slider to specify the level you want to apply to the image.