Adjustments

Levels, Curves, Hue/Saturation, Brightness/Contrast, Color Balance, and adjustment layers.

Levels

Adjust the tonal range of the image by mapping input shadow/midtone/highlight values to output values. A histogram shows the current distribution.

1. Press Ctrl+L or go to Image → Adjustments → Levels.
2. Select the channel: RGB (all), Red, Green, or Blue.
3. Drag the input sliders: black point (left), gamma/midtone (center), white point (right).
4. Optionally adjust the output levels to limit the tonal range.
5. Click OK to apply.

Levels Controls

Curves

The most powerful tonal adjustment tool. Edit a spline curve to map input values to output values with full precision. The histogram is shown as an overlay.

1. Press Ctrl+M or go to Image → Adjustments → Curves.
2. Select the channel: RGB, Red, Green, or Blue.
3. Click on the diagonal line to add control points.
4. Drag points up to brighten, down to darken that tonal range.
5. Create an S-curve for increased contrast.
6. Click OK to apply.

Hue/Saturation

Adjust the hue, saturation, and lightness of the image or specific color ranges.

1. Press Ctrl+U or go to Image → Adjustments → Hue/Saturation.
2. Drag the Hue slider to shift colors (-180 to +180 degrees).
3. Drag the Saturation slider to increase or decrease color intensity.
4. Drag the Lightness slider to brighten or darken.
5. Optionally select a color range (Reds, Yellows, Greens, etc.) to target.
6. Check "Colorize" to apply a single hue to the entire image.

Brightness/Contrast

Simple adjustment with two sliders for overall brightness and contrast.

1. Go to Image → Adjustments → Brightness/Contrast.
2. Drag Brightness (-150 to +150) to lighten or darken.
3. Drag Contrast (-50 to +100) to increase or flatten contrast.
4. Click OK to apply.

Color Balance

Shift colors in shadows, midtones, and highlights independently. Useful for correcting color casts or adding creative color grading.

1. Go to Image → Adjustments → Color Balance.
2. Select the tonal range: Shadows, Midtones, or Highlights.
3. Drag the sliders between complementary color pairs (Cyan-Red, Magenta-Green, Yellow-Blue).
4. Click OK to apply.

Adjustment Layers

Apply adjustments non-destructively as special layers. Adjustment layers affect all layers below them and can be edited, disabled, or deleted at any time.

1. Go to Layer → New Adjustment Layer, or click the adjustment layer button in the Layers panel.
2. Choose the adjustment type (Levels, Curves, Hue/Saturation, etc.).
3. Configure the settings in the Properties panel.
4. The adjustment appears as a layer in the Layers panel with its own visibility and opacity.

Keyboard Shortcuts