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You're reading from  Mastering Adobe Photoshop Elements 2023 - Fifth Edition

Product typeBook
Published inDec 2022
PublisherPackt
ISBN-139781803248455
Edition5th Edition
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Robin Nichols
Robin Nichols
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Robin Nichols

Born in the UK, Robin Nichols has always had a great love for recording the world with a camera. After finishing school, he studied fine art, before moving on to study at Nottingham Trent University, where he gained a degree in creative photography. He subsequently worked in the advertising industry for several years, before emigrating to Australia in 1985. Robin has always worked in photography: as a black and white printer, a cameraman, a stock photographer, and a freelance photographer. During the 1990s, Robin contributed to several photo-centric publications in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and the UK.
Read more about Robin Nichols

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My contrast looks 'greyish', what's wrong?

A lack of contrast (i.e. no deep black or bright whites) usually produces flat-looking, lacklustre images. This is usually fixed quite easily with a simple contrast boost.

Low contrast photos are more common that those that are too dark. It's usually caused when the light meter 'overreacts' to the scene brightness. In this picture, taken at a local wildlife park, the slightly darker than average scene forced the meter to over-expose, and that's why the koala looks paler than he really was. Here, Auto Contrast (Quick/Expert Edit>Enhance>Auto Contrast) provided an instant fix, leaving a near perfect result. And a happier looking koala!

Here are some other 'instant' contrast fixes that are well worth trying out:

  • Quick/Expert Edit > Enhance > Lighting > Levels. Start by trying the Auto button to improve the tone. If that doesn't work, manually...
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Mastering Adobe Photoshop Elements 2023 - Fifth Edition
Published in: Dec 2022Publisher: PacktISBN-13: 9781803248455

Author (1)

author image
Robin Nichols

Born in the UK, Robin Nichols has always had a great love for recording the world with a camera. After finishing school, he studied fine art, before moving on to study at Nottingham Trent University, where he gained a degree in creative photography. He subsequently worked in the advertising industry for several years, before emigrating to Australia in 1985. Robin has always worked in photography: as a black and white printer, a cameraman, a stock photographer, and a freelance photographer. During the 1990s, Robin contributed to several photo-centric publications in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and the UK.
Read more about Robin Nichols