[JMitchell]

Hi guys!
This guide is aimed at those who are relatively new to either digital photography or digital image processing, and the objective is to teach you how to get the best out of an image you have taken, without getting into scary + confusing detail (that's for later ). This does mean however, that I will not use technical language, and will use 'face value' terms, ie, each tool's function will be described in terms of the final output image, not what it is doing to the colour information.

This tutorial will explain basic but (IMO) vital usage of the following tools:
- Levels
- Basic curves
- Saturation (although more obvious than others...)
- Unsharp mask (hereby referred to as "USM")
These tools should manage to help to enhance your images, so even very drab looking pics taken on overcast days can be exciting!

#1 Levels
The levels tool is located in the Image menu, by going to Image --> Adjustments --> Levels, or alternatively, pressing CTRL + L.
In basic terms, it is used to bump the histogram (the wierd spiky graph thing) so that all the unwanted, potentially contrast reducing, colour de-enriching bits are lost, resulting in an image with enhanced highlights (but not blown), and enriched darks (without loss of detail). Some people confuse this with the curves tool, but I assure you, they are NOT the same thing!

Right, basic levels adjustment goes like this:

First, in most cases, you should adjust the end sliders until they match the end of the histogram, but as this one is so short, the far right slider should stay nearer where it is now. You will immediately see a change, and it is best if you fiddle a little bit, until you see what makes the most sense. Then mess the middle one around, to adjust the mid grey point, again until it 'makes sense'. Watch out for blown highlights (often very subtle, but still there!), and loss of shadow detail. (DO NOT under any circumstances press 'auto', it will often get completely the wrong idea, and do something very odd....). Once you've done all that, press 'ok' to apply the settings.


#2 Curves:
Whole books can be written about the curves tool, but in its most basic, and I stress really most basic form, it is a handy contrast adjustment tool. To get it, press CTRL + M, or Image --> Adjustments --> Curves. You should see a box with a straight line going diagonally upwards from left to right. What the general consensus to do is, make a very slight 'S' curve with the line by clicking half way between the middle point and the bottom of the line, and dragging down very slightly, and the same for the top, but dragging up. It should then look like this:



Again, the amount by which you gradate your curve is dependent on what you want from the final image, and, once again, what 'makes sense' to your eyes. Watch out for lost shadow detail, and blown highlights here also!
NOTE: It may not be necessary to use this tool as well as the levels tool, because, even though they don't do exactly the same thing, they do produce similar results, just via different control methods, and using both might be a bit of overkill.


#3 Saturation:
While this seems fairly obvious, it is often overlooked as a 'bad' tool. Generally, for nature and wildlife and that kind of area (me!), the idea tends to be to boost the saturation a little, and for portraits, reduce it somewhat. Access it by going to, yep, you guessed it Image --> Adjustments --> Saturation or via the keyboard CTRL + U. There are other ways of varying it, but this is the most simple, and quick!
That method is pretty straight forward, just vary it according to what you want, and use the separate colour channels, by opening the drop- down menu where it says “RGB”, and changing it accordingly.
Another method, that might be more subtle, and more controllable overall, is to make a saturation adjustment layer from here:



...and selecting hue / saturation. You may want to put it up quite high, and then vary the opacity of the layer, depending on the effect, or even use other layer blending modes, such as 'soft light' to really make the effect subtle. The same result applies, but this has more immediate control.
As I said there are many other ways of adjusting it, but this is simple, and gets good results, quickly!


#4 Unsharp Mask (USM):
The name suggests something much more complicated, but it's not. It's just a simple tool, that, when applied in moderation, can be used to give your image that extra edge that defines the detail.
To access it, this time we go to Filters --> Sharpen --> Unsharp mask, and a box should come up like this:



I've blacked out the image to save distraction, but basically, you'll see a portion of the image in that window, and you want to adjust the sliders accordingly:
Amount: Adjust this to vary the amount of sharpening, but just give a general idea with this, have a play with it, the fine tuning comes later.
Radius: Keep this low, between 0.5 and 3, otherwise the USM will become very obvious, and not perform the right task.
Threshold: Use this to fine tune the amount of sharpening by increasing it to dampen the amount, and decreasing it to make it have more effect.
Once again, fiddle until it looks 'right', and watch out for really bright white pixels, this makes it obvious USM has been used, which is not what we want.


If you have done this right, your resulting image should have gone from the former to the latter in this picture (border added + 1 bit of cloning, there are tutorials on that too):




This is the same image, and all I have done is apply the settings I took you through above!


So there you have it! I hope this tutorial will help you begin to make the best out of your images, without the complication! Any more questions, ask away
[EDIT2: Nice edit Dave, even sounds like me ]




Jack M

[Dave]

Excellent Tutorials Jack ...rep points added

[j sotelo]

very good it really pops the colors

[JMitchell]

Thanks Dave and, er..."j"?

[Loddonjohn]

Jack,

Thank you for that rundown, most useful for a beginner like myself, well done.

Take care
John

[silver]

good intro, USM is probably one of the most complex things and depends on output format as well as other stuff,. really a nice tutorial in 6 parts at Sharpening -- Part I

Sil

[JMitchell]

Originally Posted by silver

good intro, USM is probably one of the most complex things and depends on output format as well as other stuff,. really a nice tutorial in 6 parts at Sharpening -- Part I

Sil

Thanks for that Sil, although, I think what I was trying to say really, was that if you were assuming one was outputting to jpeg, then it is quite easy to get a good enhanced effect, rather than something more complex, to do with prints...

[EDIT: And also, that tutorial was exactly the type of one that I was trying to avoid producing, as this is a beginners' guide, and I stated I wouldn't talk about what the program does to the colour information....]

[silver]

it was really a 'further reading' link, tutorial gives a good general intro,. USM is a bit of an art form (as are most things w/ photo stuff I guess)

Sil

[JMitchell]

Originally Posted by silver

it was really a 'further reading' link, tutorial gives a good general intro,. USM is a bit of an art form (as are most things w/ photo stuff I guess)

Sil

Yeah, it would be interesting to know (not here, maybe a thread should be started), whether the ins and outs of USM being adjusted in that much detail is considered as much 'cheating' by some as cloning / healing....

[Pentaxbuff]

Very good tutorial J !!
I have tried a few tips and, by Gosh! It works!
Would you know/have anything for me-beginner; I really need to start from the very beginning, also with Elements 4!
Cheers!

[JMitchell]

Well I assume you've got the photos off the camera , then I think that to be honest, this really is the most basic of starting points, but one that will vastly improve many images you thought were hopeless. I'm not sure if I answered your question, but if you have a more specific question, feel free to ask it. Like i said, if you start from the top and work through this entire tutorial, then you should be fine. I mean, look how crappy that honeysuckle shot was at first!

[WOODY]

Jack, Great Tutorial, Something I Can Learn From.
Being A Beginner At Digital Photography And Processing .

I Use Elements 5 Which I Assume Is The Same Process.