Setting black & white points in Camera Raw or Photoshop

[vicky leon]

I've been told that even if the image looks right I should still set the black

and white points by holding down the Alt key (PC) and moving the slider until I

get just a small amount of color in levels (PS) or in Exposure/Shadows (Camera Raw).

 

Why is this important and how little is little? Can I slide it until I only see

a dot?

 

I hope this makes sense!

 

Vicky :)

[frank_dzambic]

Let your eyes be the final judge as to whether you're happy with the image or not. If you think it looks right even if the histogram isn't touching the far left and right edges, then it's right.

 

By expanding the histogram to the far left and right, you'll be making blacks darker, and whites brighter. In other words increasing the contrast.

 

You can always save two versions of the file. One where you already think it looks right, and another where you've held down the ALT key and moved the sliders. Then switch back and forth between them and see which one you prefer.

 

Note that not all images will even have info that far to the left and right of the histogram. A shot of a grey card is the only example I can think of at the moment, but you get the idea.

[peterlyons]

I don't think it's right to say you should ALWAYS do anything. Sure, slide your black and

white points around and see what looks best to you. You can even do this individually by

color channel. But in the end it's all about getting what you wanted. I don't always do it.

Sometimes it's not what I want at all.

[hashim a]

Vicky...

 

check this out.

 

http://www.layersmagazine.com/color-correcting-images.html

 

Hashim

[jim_doty]

<p>Vicky,</p>

<p>

The video that Hashim provided the link to is very helpful. Like all things Photoshop, it works very well on some images but not on all images.</p>

<p>

It would also be worthwhile to look at Bruce Fraser's book, <i>Real World Camera Raw with Adobe Photoshop</i>.</p>

<p>Jim</p>