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 01/05/2009 06:03:13 AM · #1
Hello Everyone,

I'm still very new to Photoshop. What's the difference between "level" and "curve". I read a bit on "curve" and I found it quite complicated. What can "level" do that "curve" cannot do, and vice versa? Which do you prefer? Thanks.

Ang Kok Weng
 01/05/2009 07:00:48 AM · #2
here is a tutorial on curves from a DPC member.

Simplified, with levels one can make the lights lighter (moving the white point) and the darks darker (moving the black point) and the image as a whole lighter or darker (central slider).

With Curves, one can do all the above plus make minute incremental changes in either or both directions (light or dark) simultaneously.

Levels gives one simple control over the total light value of the image. Curves gives one more complex control. There are others that can probably answer better, I just want to give you a place to start.

edit to correct lazy fingers

Message edited by author 2009-01-05 07:01:29.
 01/05/2009 08:52:58 AM · #3
Lets see how it sounds in my words. I struggled with understanding the difference for a while.

Levels adjusts the dynamic range of the image, stretching the range of tones out from a pure black to a pure white.

Curves gives you more graduated control over the lightness or darkness of the tones at various points within the image.

I always do levels first, before any other color adjustments.
 01/05/2009 10:30:12 AM · #4
Hello dahkota,

Thank you so much for referring me to the tutorial. It's easier to understand! Now I understand better, and I shall learn more about the curve with my photo. Thank you so much!

Ang Kok Weng

Originally posted by dahkota:
here is a tutorial on curves from a DPC member.

Simplified, with levels one can make the lights lighter (moving the white point) and the darks darker (moving the black point) and the image as a whole lighter or darker (central slider).

With Curves, one can do all the above plus make minute incremental changes in either or both directions (light or dark) simultaneously.

Levels gives one simple control over the total light value of the image. Curves gives one more complex control. There are others that can probably answer better, I just want to give you a place to start.

edit to correct lazy fingers
01/05/2009 10:31:27 AM · #5
Hello yospiff,

Thanks for your explanation! I will explore your technique of adjusting the level first, and then curve :) Thanks!

Ang Kok Weng

Originally posted by yospiff:
Lets see how it sounds in my words. I struggled with understanding the difference for a while.

Levels adjusts the dynamic range of the image, stretching the range of tones out from a pure black to a pure white.

Curves gives you more graduated control over the lightness or darkness of the tones at various points within the image.

I always do levels first, before any other color adjustments.
01/05/2009 10:51:57 AM · #6
A quick hi-jack for a quick related Q:

When adjusting RAW there are a few ways to change tone levels; exposure adjustment, contrast, levels, to name three. The problem I'm having is that they all affect each other, so my usual PS process of adjusting levels first might not be the best approach.

Let's say I've got an image where the histogram peaks slightly to the left of mid-point, bunched in the middle, with not many tones at either end.

So in this case, I would be tempted to adjust contrast first to stretch the tonal range, followed by exposure adjustment to boost the brightness, and finally levels adjustment to cut off any flat histogram on the ends of the scale (and give proper black and white points)

Is this the right approach?
 01/05/2009 11:16:32 AM · #7
Originally posted by JH:

Is this the right approach?


I've found when doing my RAW adustments in Canon DPP, that when I adjust the exposure level to look right to me, when I pull it into PSP and look at the histogram, it rarely needs levels adjustments, and then only minor if any.

I leave contrast for later on in the adjustments, since contrast can also be a detail killing adjustment, it is one of my last adjustments prior to resizing and sharpening. I've also taken to using a high radius unsharp mask to do my contrast adjustments. It seems to give me finer control and hurts the visible detail less.

Are you using adjustment layers? If you use it that way, you can go back and non destructively change those adjustments later on if something else affects them in a way you don't care for. I don't use too many adjustment layers right now because my 5 year old computer slows to a crawl with too many layers.

Message edited by author 2009-01-05 11:17:36.
 01/05/2009 11:24:46 AM · #8
Originally posted by yospiff:

Are you using adjustment layers? If you use it that way, you can go back and non destructively change those adjustments later on if something else affects them in a way you don't care for.

Yes, I used to use mainly adjustment layers in PS as the first step in my editing (levels, curves, brightness/contrast adj. layers) - But started getting confused when I moved this part of the workflow over to the RAW editor.

I might be better off using the RAW editor only for basic exposure adjustment and white balance, and then sticking to my normal PS workflow after that.

Thanks for the reply.
 01/05/2009 11:57:12 AM · #9
I find I tend do far fewer adjustments in PSP since I started shooting RAW. The image is closer to the way I want it when it gets out of my RAW converter.
 01/05/2009 12:10:51 PM · #10
Originally posted by JH:

I might be better off using the RAW editor only for basic exposure adjustment and white balance, and then sticking to my normal PS workflow after that.


That's certainly what I do. I save whatever I can for adjustment layers in CS3, so I can fine-tune non-destructively.

R.
 01/05/2009 12:35:15 PM · #11
Originally posted by Bear_Music:
Originally posted by JH:

I might be better off using the RAW editor only for basic exposure adjustment and white balance, and then sticking to my normal PS workflow after that.


That's certainly what I do. I save whatever I can for adjustment layers in CS3, so I can fine-tune non-destructively.

R.

+1 from me on that, too.

Additionally, when converting from RAW, make sure that you convert it to a 16-bit image file (e.g. TIFF, PSD), and not to an 8-bit image. Only convert to 8-bit before saving to JPG, or simply use "Save for web..." (which automatically converts to 8-bit) if the JPG is for DPC.

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