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Open
your photo. If the image has multiple layers,
flatten it (Shift-Ctrl-E). Name the one
layer containing the photo "Original"
(1) This
layer will stay as is and will contain your
original image so you don't destroy it and can
return to it at any time. |
This image of
Tinker's Falls is well exposed but because
it was taken under overcast skies it looks a
little dull. |
Double-click the layer
to rename it. |
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Open your Channels palette
(2).
It is usually located in the same window as the
Layers palette. If you can't find it, turn it on
from the Window menu.
The channels palette shows all the different
color channels for the image. Hold down the
Ctrl key and click the RGB channel
(3).
Photoshop will now draw a fuzzy selection around
every bright pixel in the image. The brighter
the pixel, the more solid the selection, the
closer the selection is to black, the fuzzier
and less affective the selection. |
Selecting the bright portions
of the image. |
In
the channels palette, Ctrl-Click the RGB
channel. |
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We're now going to create a new
layer with just these bright pixels.
Switch back to the Layers
(4)
palette and press Ctrl-J on your
keyboard
(5). This will create a new layer with what
was selected: the bright pixels.
Name this layer Contrast
Boost
(6).
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The selection
disappears. |
A new layer is created based
on the selected bright pixels. it only contains
the bright pixels from the image. The brighter
the pixel, the more of it appears on this layer. |
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With the Contrast Boost
layer selected, set the blending mode to Soft
Light (6).
You will notice the highlights of
the image get a slight boost adding more depth
and character to the image. |
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Set
the blending mode to Soft Light. |
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As you can see contrast boosting
is a quick and easy way to boost the highlights
in image in a way that often difficult to do
using standard contrast enhancement methods. The
resulting effect adds more death and vividness
to an otherwise dull photo.
For more PhotoShop tutorials, visit our
Articles section.
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