Photoshop gradation curves: what's behind

Gradation curves are a tool in Photoshop that let you correct points throughout the tonal range of an image. You can save the gradation curve correction settings as presets and reapply them to edit multiple images with the same settings.

Understand and properly adjust gradation curves

In the Gradation Curves window in Photoshop, the tonal range of your image is represented as a straight, diagonal line in a graph. When you adjust an RGB image, the top right of the graph shows the highlights and the bottom left shows the lows. The horizontal axis shows the original image values and the vertical axis shows the corrected values.As you add control points to the line and then move those points, the shape of the gradation curve changes. When you do this, steep sections of the gradation curve show areas of high contrast, while flatter sections represent areas of low contrast.

How to adjust colors and tonal values in an image with gradation curves

To correct an image with the gradation curves, follow the steps below:

1. Open the gradation curves from the Corrections panel by clicking the gradation curve icon. Alternatively, access the menu with "Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Gradation Curves".
2. To correct the color balance, select the color channel you want to correct from the menu to the left of the "Auto" button in the Properties panel.
3. Click on the curve line and drag the control point while holding down the mouse button to change the tonal range.
4. Alternatively, you can select a preset from the Preset menu.

Downloads, Apps & Tips

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