How to increase the brightness of an image in paint. Editing photos using standard Microsoft tools - let's make the photo lighter in a couple of clicks. Changing screen brightness

You will need

• - a computer with the ability to connect a camera to it
• - Microsoft Office Picture Manager program from the Microsoft Office software package
• Optional:
• - Paint.NET program or any other graphic editor

Instructions

Using any known and accessible method, transfer the required photo/picture to your computer and save it anywhere on your hard drive.
To increase the brightness of the picture, use one of the two methods below.

Method One. You will need the Microsoft Office Picture Manager from the Microsoft Office software package.
1. Open the desired picture in this program. This can be done by right-clicking on the file and selecting “Open with...”.
Tip: If Microsoft Office Picture Manager is the default program for viewing graphic files, you can simply double-click the picture to open it in the desired program.
2. Find the “Change Picture” icon on the toolbar or select the menu item Picture – Brightness and Contrast…
The settings area will open on the right.
3. Use the “Select brightness” button to let the program select the optimal settings. If the result does not suit you, you can cancel the action using the appropriate button.
Adjust the brightness of the picture, bringing it to the optimal level, in your opinion, using five different sliders. The Microsoft Office Picture Manager program allows you to both increase/decrease the brightness and contrast of the picture as a whole, and adjust these parameters separately for light or dark parts of the picture.

Method Two. You will need any graphics editor. For example, the free program Paint.NET, the capabilities of which are quite wide.
1. Open the desired picture in this program. This can be done by selecting “Open...” from the “File” menu in the program, or simply dragging the file from the folder into the program with the mouse.
2. You can edit the overall brightness of the picture using this program in several ways. Select one of the following items from the “Adjustments” menu:
- Brightness/Contrast. Here you can increase the overall brightness of the picture.
- Hue/Saturation. The “Brightness” item in this submenu makes the picture lighter overall.
- Auto levels. Perhaps the program will be able to improve your picture on its own, and you will be satisfied with the result.
- Curves. This menu section is intended for more experienced users and allows you to make significant adjustments to the lighting/shading of a picture or photograph. You can try to figure out the settings yourself.
Tip: You can apply several of the above points at the same time to achieve the desired effect.

Posted 02/14/2012 09:34 AM Paint Shop Pro X4 provides ways to adjust the brightness as well as the contrast in your images, which creates differences between the light and dark pixels in the image. By applying commands to a selection or an entire image, you can do the following:

manually determine brightness and contrast;

setting individual brightness in the image;

defining highlights (75% hue), midtones (50% hue) and shadows (25% hue) to ensure smooth transitions between them;

distribute pixel brightness values ​​more evenly from black to white;

increasing overall contrast when the histogram does not cover the entire brightness spectrum;

determine settings for brightness, contrast and gamma in the image;

creating a pure black and white image.

To adjust light, midtones, shadows and organize a smooth transition between them in the selected area, the command Adjust → Brightness and Contrast → Highlight/Midtone/Shadow is provided. After executing this command, the Highlight / Midtone / Shadow dialog box opens (Fig. 245).

If nothing is selected in the image, then adjustments are made for the entire image.

Rice. 245. Image tone adjustment

The Shadow, Midtone, and Highlight parameters determine the values ​​for the shadows, midtones, and highlights in the selected area, and, if nothing is selected in the image, for the entire image. The numeric values ​​in these parameters depend on the selected position of the switch located below these parameters.

The switch at the bottom of the dialog box can have the following positions:

Absolute adjustment method - Sets positions to 25% for shadows, 50% for midtones and 75% for highlights. Typical values ​​are around 35 for shadows, 50 for midtones and 65 for highlights, but these may vary depending on individual photos. Increasing values ​​lighten the area, and decreasing values ​​darken it.

Relative adjustment method - Adjusts brightness levels relative to their original states. Positive values ​​lighten the area, while negative values ​​darken it.

The tone histogram allows you to analyze the tonal range of an image and redistribute the balance of shadows, midtones and highlights.

To adjust the tones in an image or selection, you need to run the command Adjust → Brightness and Contrast → Histogram Adjustment. After executing this command, the Histogram Adjustment dialog box opens (Fig. 246).

Rice. 246. Setting the histogram

The Edit switch determines the type of histogram being edited:

Luminance - allows you to edit the histogram based on the brightness of the image;

Color - Allows you to edit the histogram based on one of the color channels of the image. After selecting this switch position, the list to the right of this position becomes available, in which you need to select the color channel on the basis of which the active image will be edited.

The Presets list offers ready-made adjustment options. When you select any of them, the Edit switch is automatically reset to the Luminance position. The Default preset value does not represent any additional settings in the image.

In the parameters located below the graph, you can change the values ​​using both absolute values ​​and relative (percentage) values.

The Low slider starts on the left side of the histogram, positioned between the left edge of the graph and the point where the curve begins to rise. This gap shows that the dark pixels in the image are not completely black. This parameter displays the percentage of pixels that are between zero and a low value - their contrast will be lost. As a general rule, set the low level value to less than 0.1%. This parameter can also be adjusted using the dark gray slider.

The High slider starts at the right side of the histogram, positioned between the right edge of the graph and the point where the graph reduces to zero pixels. This option changes the light pixels in the image to white. As a general rule, set this parameter to less than 0.1%. This parameter can also be adjusted using the white slider.

Gamma slider - If the overall image is too dark or too light, then you need to adjust the gamma, which is a standard measure of the change in contrast in images. If the image is too dark, move the Gamma slider (gray triangle) to the right to increase the gamma. If the image is too light, move the Gamma slider to the left to decrease the gamma setting.

Midtones slider (on the right side of the window) - if the graph has peaks on the left and right, or contains low values ​​in the center, then the midtones need to be compressed. Shadows and highlights need to be expanded to show the information they contain. This often happens when taking flash photography when the subject is too close to the camera; the subject appears brightly lit, but the background of the photograph is created dark. To compress the midtones, move the Midtones slider vertically. If the graph peaks in the center and has low pixel counts on the left and right sides, then expand the midtones by moving the Midtones slider down.

If you are creating artistic effects, you can use the Output Max () and Output Min () controls to the left of the histogram. The Max engine is a white circle on a gray background, and the Min engine is a black circle on a gray background. In order to darken the light pixels in the image, you need to move the Max slider down. In order to lighten dark pixels in the image, you need to move the Min slider up.

Even if the sliders are moved along the vertical axis, the Max and Min parameters (ranging from 0 to 255) affect the horizontal axis. All pixels outside the range are transformed so that they are within the range.

If you just want to improve your image, then you don't need to use this option.

The triangular buttons below the Gamma slider determine the scale of the histogram and nothing else. The left button increases the scale, and the right button decreases the scale of the histogram. The 1:1 button sets the histogram scale to 100%.

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Do you want to adjust the brightness screen ?

Windows 10: Click the Start button, select Settings, and then select System > Display. In the Brightness and Color section, set the Change Brightness slider to adjust the brightness. For more information, see Change screen brightness

Windows 8: Press Windows key + C. Select Settings, and then Change PC settings. Select Computer and Devices > Show. Turn on automatic screen brightness adjustment. For more information, see: Adjusting Brightness and Contrast

Read the article for information about adjusting pictures in Office applications.

This video shows several ways to customize your design.

(Once you start playing the video, you can click the resize arrow in the lower right corner of the video frame to enlarge the video.)

Duration: 1:35

Note: even if you have made the necessary corrections. This feature is not available in Word and Excel.

Is the Office color scheme too bright for you? Do Office applications need more contrast? Check out the Change the Office Theme (Office 2016 and 2013) page.

You can change the brightness, contrast, and sharpness of a drawing using the correction tools.

Clockwise from top left: original pattern, pattern with increased smoothness, increased contrast, and increased brightness.

Tip: If you use PowerPoint, you can still keep the original version of the picture even if you change the brightness of the picture. This feature is not available in Word and Excel.

Unfortunately, amateur photographs are not always pleasing to the eye, but you really want to capture unforgettable moments of life in them. However, often such photographs turn out either too dark, or, on the contrary, too light. Or the colors on them turn out to be completely unnatural (this happens especially often when using cheap color film): trees turn poisonous green, gray asphalt for some reason takes on an intense blue color, the sky turns from blue to a greenish tint, slightly tanned skin turns red, as if the shooting took place in a sauna, and not in a cozy cafe, etc. It’s no less disappointing when an interesting shot turns out to be blurry and blurry and doesn’t make the right impression, or the most beautiful architectural structures in the photo acquire a lot of geometric and optical distortions, or due to a bad angle When shooting, most of the photograph is occupied by unimportant details, and the main subject is somewhere to the side. In addition, many cameras produce red-eye when using flash, and when scanned, images often become darker and blurry. A special discussion these are old or not quite old, but already faded photographs that I would also like to “revive”. And there may also be dust and scratches, emulsion peeling, development and printing defects, etc. The reasons for all this include a lack of professionalism, bad shooting time and inappropriate weather conditions, as well as the use of cheap and low-quality cameras and appropriate film.

As a result, in most cases, photographs have to be edited, so photo correction functions are provided in almost all modern graphics packages. We will devote our today's lesson to the Paint Shop Pro package, whose automatic correction tools can significantly improve pictures even for non-professionals. However, the arsenal of capabilities of this package also includes tools designed for professional photographers and designers, which allow them to achieve phenomenal results. And within the framework of this article, we will focus on correction tools that are available to the general public and do not require any additional professional knowledge.

To correct photographs in Paint Shop Pro, the Photo toolbar is used, opened by the command View=>Toolbars=>Photo (View=>Toolbars=>Photo), all the main options for improving photographs, designed for amateurs, are collected here. In addition, the command menu has an Adjust command, which gives access to both commands from the Photo panel and a whole range of more complex, but no less useful, correction methods. Equally useful are the Straighten and Perspective Correction tools from the Tools toolbar.

Each of the customizable correction options has a preview mode; as a result, all changes made immediately become visible on the corrected image or on the selected area. In addition, in many dialog boxes you can use the Save Preset button to save adjustment settings so that they can be applied to other images later.

Geometric distortions can be divided into perspective and optical, created by the lens due to its imperfection.

All lenses introduce optical distortion, or distortion, to one degree or another. Distortion manifests itself in the fact that the scale of the image in the center and at the edges is not the same. Professional photographers, keeping this in mind, resort to various tricks, but in the end they also have to eliminate optical defects from photographs, since they cannot be completely prevented during shooting.

As for perspective defects, the most easily corrected defect of this type is the tilt of the camera during shooting, which manifests itself in the fact that the objects in the photograph turn out to be located at a certain angle. This is a problem for many inexperienced hobbyists, and Paint Shop Pro solves it extremely simply thanks to the presence of a special tool.

Correcting perspective distortions in large panoramic photographs and photographs of architectural structures requires much more effort. The fact is that in the absence of special equipment, in order to photograph the entire building, you will have to use the widest possible lens and tilt the camera upward (otherwise half the frame will be taken up by the asphalt) as a result, there will be a sharp convergence of vertical lines in the pictures. To eliminate this phenomenon, perspective correction is necessary.

There are two main variants of distortion: Barrel Distortion, in which objects in the image appear swollen (Fig. 1), and Pincushion Distortion, when the extreme verticals and horizontals are concave inward (Fig. 2).

It should be noted that Paint Shop Pro is the only graphics package where distortion correction is implemented extremely simply (in Adobe Photoshop this is achieved in a much more complex way). Here, the Barrel Distortion Correction and Pincushion Distortion Correction commands are intended for this purpose. They can be called up both from the command menu Adjust=>Lens Correction (Adjustment=>Lens Correction) and from the Photo toolbar.

For an example, open Fig. 3 with obvious barrel distortion, click on the Barrel Distortion Correction button and set the Strength parameter (in this example, the value is 85 (Fig. 4).

If, due to the inexperience of a novice photographer, the objects in the photograph turn out to be located at a certain angle, then it is easy to straighten them using the Straighten tool. In essence, this will be a regular rotation, but unlike it, Straighten provides maximum convenience when straightening the image, since everything is displayed on the screen, happens within a second and guarantees one hundred percent results.

For example, take a suitable image in this case, Fig. 5 with a clear tilt of the photographed objects to the right. On the toolbar, select the Straighten tool; the result will be the appearance of a horizontal segment in the photo, limited by markers (Fig. 6). Move and slightly rotate the segment so that it extends parallel to any part of the image, which should be positioned strictly horizontally (Fig. 7), and click on the Apply button; the image will be rotated to the angle you specified (Fig. 8) . Now all that remains is to take the Crop tool and trim off the extra background parts of the image that appeared as a result of straightening the photo (Fig. 9 and 10).

Rice. 8. The result of straightening a photo with the Straighten tool

We have previously talked about optical distortions that are possible when shooting. Now let’s look at the perspective distortions that occur when photographing architectural structures. Thanks to Paint Shop Pro's advanced correction capabilities, this operation is no longer a difficult task and even a non-professional can handle it. For horizontal and vertical correction, you can use the commands Effects=>Geometric Effects=>Perspective-Horizontal (Effects=>Geometric Effects=>Horizontal Perspective and Effects=>Geometric Effects=>Perspective-Vertical) And in more complex cases, it is worth turning to the Perspective Correction tool, which provides the user with the functions of keystone and other perspective distortions of an image area.

Let's try to correct the image shown in Fig. 11, where there is both a distortion of perspective and a clear tilt of the image. Therefore, first we straighten the image with the Straighten tool (Fig. 12 and 13).

Now let's move on to the forward correction. First, we will carry out vertical correction with approximately the same parameters as in Fig. 14, since in some cases this is enough to correct perspective. The obtained result is shown in Fig. 15. Next, you just need to crop the photo, but in our case, unfortunately, vertical perspective correction alone will not be enough; you will have to use the Perspective Correction tool and perform a trapezoidal perspective correction. Activate the Perspective Correction tool and limit the perspective contours in accordance with Fig. 16 the result obtained is shown in Fig. 17. Crop the image with the Crop tool (Fig. 18), and then enhance its contrast using the Enhance Photo => command from the Photo toolbar with the parameters shown in Fig. 19. The result of the correction is shown in Fig. 20.

Now let's look at a more complex example (Fig. 21), where both optical and geometric correction, as well as image straightening, will be required. In such situations, the distortion is always corrected first; in this example, you need to use the Barrel Distortion command with the parameters indicated in Fig. 22. Then you should use the Straighten tool to straighten the image (Fig. 23 and 24) and only then proceed to perspective correction with the Perspective Correction tool in accordance with Fig. 25 (Fig. 26) and crop the image (Fig. 27).

As a rule, when shooting with flash, an undesirable effect of light reflection from the retina of animals or humans occurs, the so-called red-eye effect (in practice, this is similar to a cat’s eyes glowing in the dark, only here the eyes glow red rather than green). It is not possible to avoid this situation one hundred percent, although modern camera models make it possible to reduce this effect to a minimum.

Therefore, the ability to eliminate the red-eye effect is available in a variety of graphics packages, and in Paint Shop Pro it is implemented extremely simply and is carried out almost instantly, allowing you to get rid of the red-eye effect in both humans and animals. The Red-Eye Removal command is intended for this purpose. It can be called up both from the Adjust command menu and from the Enhance Photo pop-up list. Please note that the Red-Eye Removal team can also help in cases where it is simply necessary to change the eye color of a person in a photograph.

Let's try to use this opportunity using the example of Fig. 28. After opening the Red-Eye Removal window, you first need to select one of four methods for forming the pupil and iris of the eye: Auto Human Eye, Auto Animal Eye, Freehand Pupil Outline freehand eye contour based on a rectangular area) and Point-to-Point Pupil Outline (Drawing an eye contour by points in the form of a closed polyline). The latter two options can be used to remove red-eye for both humans and animals, but the first two methods are generally more convenient because they remove red-eye faster and have more options. The last two options are intended for non-standard situations, when the shape of the red-colored pupil is very different from round and therefore the first two methods cannot successfully eliminate the red color.

In this case, the situation is simple, so we will focus on the Auto Animal Eye method (Fig. 29). In the Color list, we will determine the appropriate color of the eye, form a contour around the first eye to do this, simply draw a rectangular contour in the usual way, adjust its size and position, trying to make the contour match perfectly with the iris of the eye. Then, if necessary, we will adjust other parameters: Pupil lightness, Glint lightness, Glint size, etc. We will carry out a similar procedure with the second eye (Fig. 30). The obtained result is shown in Fig. 31.

Rice. 31. Final image appearance after red-eye removal

Now let’s try to eliminate the red-eye effect using the example of a photograph of a child (Fig. 32). From the Adjust menu, select the Red-Eye Removal command, in the window that opens, set the Auto Human Eye option, in the Hue list, define the eye color, in the Color list ) select the desired shade of the iris. Then, as in the previous case, we will form the required contour around the first eye, trying to eliminate the red-eye effect. Here, if necessary, we will adjust the shade and size of the eye and pupil. We will perform a similar operation in relation to the second eye (Fig. 33) the result obtained is shown in Fig. 34.

Rice. 34. Final image appearance after red-eye removal

As we have already noted, the photographs that come into our hands are not always ideal in color; due to unsuccessful shooting, the colors are often unnatural. When shooting in the dark, certain fragments of a photograph may appear unclear or not be visible at all; an interesting frame will be blurry or not sharp enough, or the contours of objects will be overly blurred. In addition, images are often blurred during scanning, colors in photographs may fade over time, etc. And Paint Shop Pro provides the ability to quickly automatically correct many defects of this kind found in photographs.

The easiest and fastest way to correct an image is to use the One Step Photo Fix command from the Enhance Photo pop-up list. As a result, color balance, brightness, contrast and saturation will be automatically and simultaneously adjusted. This option does not give good results for every image, but it never hurts to try.

Let's take Fig. 35, where photo correction in one step helped us significantly improve the appearance of the image (Fig. 36).

Rice. 36. Image appearance after automatic photo correction in one step

Since lack of contrast and saturation in a photo is one of the most common defects, and in Paint Shop Pro both can be corrected automatically in a matter of seconds, this topic requires more detailed consideration.

Pay attention to the photograph shown in Fig. 37, where the contrast is clearly insufficient. To correct the situation, open the Automatic Contrast Enhancement command from the Adjust=>Brightness and Contrast menu, or select the Automatic Contrast Enhancement command from the Enhance Photo pop-up list. with the parameters shown in Fig. 38. As a result, the contrast will clearly increase, and the photograph will take the form shown in Fig. 39.

Rice. 39. Image appearance after automatic contrast adjustment

Now, using a specific example, let’s see what results can be achieved simply by automatically increasing saturation and contrast. The original photograph (Fig. 40) was taken in a cave in clearly insufficient lighting; as a result, many spectacular natural elements are simply indistinguishable. Try using the command (Automatic increase saturation), adjusting the parameters in accordance with Fig. 41. The command can be selected either from the Adjust=>Hue and Saturation command menu or from the Enhance Photo pop-up list. The picture will look like in Fig. 42.

Rice. 42. Image appearance after automatic saturation adjustment

Increasing the contrast with the parameters shown in Fig. will help further improve the appearance of the image. 43. The result obtained is presented in Fig. 44.

Before you begin color and tone correction of an image, you need to determine which colors are represented in excess and which ones are clearly not enough. This is not at all easy for a non-professional to do, so we will focus on the simplest color correction options.

Automatically changing color balance is the easiest and fastest way to eliminate yellow or blue light in the image that appears if the photo was taken under artificial lighting. It is also useful if it is necessary to increase the balance of the named colors, for example, if shooting in the dark is unsuccessful. And sometimes this feature is beneficial during photo editing, when you have to adjust the shooting time.

Pay attention to the photograph of Nicole Kidman (Fig. 45), in which the imbalance of yellow color is clearly visible. Let's try to improve the situation a little by at least partially eliminating the yellow flare of the image. Use the Adjust=>Color Balance=>Automatic Color Balance command or select the Automatic Color Balance command from the Enhance Photo pop-up list and adjust it according to Fig. 46. ​​The resulting image will look like in Fig. 47.

Rice. 47. Image appearance after automatic color balance correction

Let's consider the third of these situations and try to change the color balance for the photograph in Fig. 48, where I would like to emphasize the pink tint of the mountains visible in the distance in the rays of the setting sun (in fact, the sun had almost disappeared, and the photo was taken a little later than desired). Select the Automatic Color Balance command from the Enhance Photo pop-up list and configure its parameters as shown in Fig. 49. The result will be rice. 50.

Rice. 50. Image appearance after automatic color balance correction

In more complex cases, you have to resort to correction of all color shades, which is possible using the Color Balance command Adjust=>Color Balance=>Color Balance command. Let's try to use it using the example of Fig. 51, where we would like to restore white to the church gables and reduce the amount of blue throughout the image. Let's open the Color Balance command window and sequentially adjust the color balance for the light areas of the photo Highlights (Fig. 52), midtones Midtones (Fig. 53) and dark areas Shadows (Fig. 54). Be sure to check the Preserve Luminosity checkbox to preserve the photo's luminosity values. The result of the transformations is shown in Fig. 55. To improve the image, it is also a good idea to increase the saturation using the Automatic Saturation Enhancement command from the Enhance Photo pop-up list with the parameters shown in Fig. 56. The resulting image is shown in Fig. 57.

It happens that in the pictures you take, especially when shooting with flash, all or some of the colors look unnatural. And automatic color correction in such cases usually does not give the desired effect. In this case, manual color correction can help out Manual Color Correction, which provides a more powerful alternative to automatic color correction. It makes it easy to improve the quality of even the most complex images while ensuring that any critical colors are accurately reproduced.

Let's take Fig. as a starting point. 58 in this case, the skin tone of the face looks clearly unnatural (too much red), which is most likely due to the fact that flash photography was taken from too close a distance. Let's try to correct this shortcoming. To do this, carefully select the contours of the face with the Freehand Selection tool, setting it to the Edge Seeker option with the following parameters: Feather 0, Smoothing 0, the Antialias checkbox is on, the Sample Merged checkbox is off (Fig. 59) . Let's take the Dropper tool and remember (or better yet, write down on paper) the parameters of the unnatural dark reddish skin tone as the initial color (Fig. 60).

Then click on the Manual Color Correction button on the Photo toolbar. In the Manual Color Correction window that opens, click on the Source color and enter the parameters of the remembered color. Highlight the Preset Target Color switch, select the Skintones option, open the color block with a list of shades and select the Indian Skin Light option (Fig. 61). Let's turn on the Preserve Saturation checkbox and leave the Preserve Lightness checkbox turned off (Fig. 62). Let's refuse selection with the command Selections=>Select none (Selection=>Nothing is selected). We get the result shown in Fig. 63.

Rice. 62. Final version of the Manual Color Correction settings

Rice. 63. Appearance of the image after finishing manual color correction

Manual color correction is good not only for eliminating photographic defects; it can also be used simply to give one or another image element the desired shade. For example, let's open Fig. 64, featuring a unique white gold ring with pearls from Gruosi. Let's try, using the manual color correction mode, to turn white gold jewelry into yellow. Select the ring (Fig. 65), click on the Manual Color Correction button and adjust the color correction in accordance with Fig. 66 (note that the Preset Target Color list has Metals and Gold selected). The result is shown in Fig. 67.

If you've ever scanned a photo, you've probably had to repeat this procedure more than once because the photo turned out lighter or darker. Another situation is also possible when, due to unfortunate shooting conditions, for example when shooting in the dark, the photographs turn out to be too dark. It is useless to print such photographs, since most of the objects simply will not be visible on them.

In principle, any of these photographs can be corrected and given an acceptable appearance. There are many ways to work with such photos in Paint Shop Pro and it is quite difficult to offer any single solution.

Let's look at the simpler of these methods.

If you need to greatly lighten a photo in order to see hidden details, then the easiest way is to use the Histogram Equalize command. It redistributes the brightness levels of the active layer and can improve an image that lacks contrast or is too dark. Let's try to apply this using the example of Fig. 68. Open the Adjust=>Brightness and Contrast menu and select the Histogram Equalize command. The obtained result is shown in Fig. 69.

Rice. 69. Appearance of the photo after exposure to the Histogram Equalize command

However, this method does not always provide the desired result, since the colors in the photo may become unnatural. You can try to go the other way. For example, let's open the original image (Fig. 70) and first perform automatic photo correction in one step by selecting the One Step Photo Fix command from the Enhance Photo pop-up list. As a result, hidden dark fragments of the image will appear, but it will be clear that the overall tone of the photograph is unsuccessful, since there is a clear excess of blue in it; this especially affects the girl’s skin color (Fig. 71). To correct the situation, use the automatic color balance correction mode by selecting the Automatic Color Balance command from the Enhance Photo pop-up list of the panel with the Photo tool and reduce the proportion of blue color, as shown in Fig. 72. As a result, the photo will not be so dark, and the color shades in it will look more natural (Fig. 73).

Rice. 71. Image appearance after automatic photo correction in one step

Now let's see what we can achieve with histogram correction, which allows us to adjust the full range of available color intensities for use in a single image, controlling the balance between the shadowed and illuminated parts of the image. The unique benefit of this option is the ability to balance the placement of intermediate tones on the scale between dark and light. For example, let’s open the image shown in Fig. as the source image. 74. Click on the Histogram Adjustment button in the Photo toolbar or call the command Adjust=>Brightness and Contrast=>Histogram Adjustment. Let's configure the histogram parameters in accordance with Fig. 75. The main thing here is not to overdo it, since for most images real improvement in quality is only possible when increasing the gamma correction no higher than 30% at higher values ​​the pictures will look faded. As a result, the photograph will become noticeably lighter and many initially hidden details of the image will appear (Fig. 76).

There is another way - adjusting the levels. Typically, this option is resorted to when the above methods are ineffective and only lead to unnatural lightening of the image, without revealing temporarily hidden darkened details. This situation also occurs in the photograph shown in Fig. 77. In particular, attempts to adjust her histogram do not give the desired effect, and we, for example, absolutely need to highlight the contours of a girl for photomontage. Therefore, we will use the command Adjust=>Brightness and Contrast=>Levels (Adjustment=>Brightness and Contrast=>Levels). Let's set the level parameters approximately in accordance with Fig. 78 the essence of the actions when lightening a photo is that you need to move the gray slider to the left at the Input Levels level. After this, the photograph will also become noticeably lighter and many initially hidden details of the image will also appear on it (Fig. 79).

Approximately the same result can be obtained by simply using the Brightness/Contrast command. Let's take as the original image the same photograph shown in Fig. 77, and use the command Adjust=>Brightness and Contrast=>Brightness/Contrast (Adjustment=>Brightness and Contrast=>Brightness/Contrast), adjusting the parameters in accordance with Fig. 80. The result obtained is presented in Fig. 81.

Over time, photographs age, fade, and become faded. To restore the color gamut and optimize it in faded photographs, Fade Correction mode is the easiest way to restore photos to their lost appearance: it restores, corrects and balances the colors of images, and also automatically adjusts brightness and contrast.

For example, let's open a photograph that has already faded quite a bit (Fig. 82), click on the Fade Correction button on the Photo toolbar and experimentally set the correction value (for example, as in Fig. 83). The colors will be restored, and the image may look like in Fig. 84.

When restoring old photographs, which often have bends, cracks, scratches and other similar defects, things are much more complicated. If these defects are present, it is necessary to painstakingly retouch the photograph using the cloning method, which we learned about in one of the previous lessons. But the techniques we discussed in this lesson can significantly speed up the work and ensure a better result. True, there are no standard techniques here, and for each old photo you will have to select your own ways to restore it.

Quite often, in such situations, photo correction in one step can help at the first stage, allowing you to quickly restore color balance, brightness, contrast and saturation. Let's open Fig. as an example. 85 and use the One Step Photo Fix command from the Enhance Photo pop-up list. The result obtained is impressive (Fig. 86). To some extent, the situation can be improved by adjusting the levels. To do this, use the command Adjust=>Brightness and Contrast=>Levels (Adjustment=>Brightness and Contrast=>Levels) and adjust the level parameters approximately in accordance with Fig. 87 as a result, the picture will be slightly brightened and it will be possible to make out part of the inscription in its lower part (Fig. 88). Now you need to improve the clarity of the image. The most convenient way to do this is with the Clarifi command (Clarification) Adjust=>Brightness and Contrast=>Clarifi (Adjustment=>Brightness and Contrast=>Clarification), which allows you to enhance photos without the appearance of contrasting details that are typical for sharpening effects (Fig. 89 and 90). This command is very convenient for restoring both old blurry photographs and photographs taken in poor or diffuse lighting. And then you will have to act manually and remove scratches and traces of dust and dirt.

Rice. 86. Image appearance after automatic photo correction in one step

Now let's look at another situation (Fig. 91) - here we will have to take a slightly different path. First, if possible, we will restore the color balance, brightness, contrast and saturation using the One Step Photo Fix command (Fig. 92). And then, in order to somehow clarify the individual details of the image, we will increase its contrast using the Automatic Contrast Enhancement command from the Enhance Photo pop-up list with the parameters shown in Fig. 93. The result obtained is presented in Fig. 94. If after this you apply One Step Photo Fix again, the clarity of the lines will increase even more and individual fragments of the icon will become more distinct (Fig. 95). The only thing that can still improve the situation and make the image of the icon more legible is increasing the sharpness of the image. For this purpose, in Paint Shop Pro you can use three commands: Sharpen, Sharpen More and Unsharp Mask from the Adjust=>Sharpness menu. In this case, after applying the command Adjust=>Sharpness=>Sharpen (Adjustment=>Sharpness=>Sharpen), the image took the form shown in Fig. 96.

Rice. 92. Image appearance after the first automatic photo correction in one step

Rice. 94. Image appearance after automatic contrast enhancement

Rice. 95. Image appearance after the second automatic photo correction in one step

We constantly take photographs – of our children, family and friends, nature, pets. Sometimes the quality of our photographs does not completely satisfy us, and sometimes it simply upsets us. Therefore, the question of how to improve the quality of photography is not at all idle, but very relevant.

Corel Photo-Paint has a wonderful plug-in - simple and intuitive - Image Adjustment Lab.

This plugin transforms a photo.

In this tutorial we will improve the quality of our original photo. Let's make it more contrasting and rich.

Let's prepare our photograph for further graphic work with it. For example, in order to insert your photo into a ready-made template frame.

So. Let's open the Corel Photo-Paint program, starting with version X3. Let's open our photo that we want to improve.

On the Menu Bar we will find the command – Settings.

And then in the open tab, select this plugin - Image Adjustment Laboratory.

Here's what we'll see:

In the viewing window we have two photographs - one - Original, the other - Working View - the results of our color correction will be visible on it.

Let's look at the top panel in the Laboratory window in detail.

1. Rotate the photo 90 degrees counterclockwise.

2. Rotate the photo 90 degrees clockwise.

3. Panorama allows you to move the image in the Source Photo window.

4. Enlarge photo - or from the keyboard - F2

5. Reduce photo or from keyboard – F3

6. Display photos according to the size of the Source window or F4.

7. True 100% photo display.

8. One viewing window – Working viewing. The original window is not present in this option.

9. View in two windows – original photo and Working view.

10. Split viewing - Original photo and Working view in one window. You can move the image separation line arbitrarily.

Let's go back to our original image.

We pressed the button – Create photo and Auto-adjust.

Let's look at the working buttons in the Laboratory window in detail:

1. Create a photo. Be sure to press this button before editing in order to save the initial version of the photo, and then press it every time we make some noticeable changes to the photo.

2. Auto-tuning. Corrects image color and tone using standard automatic functions.

3. Reset to original state. There are times when we are not satisfied with the result from Auto Adjust or we did not save the original photo and the final result is not satisfactory.

4. Tab – Saved options appears after we press the button – Create snapshot. Here are thumbnails of the image that we edit and save.

Click on any thumbnail and the selected image will appear in the Working View window.

Why do we need to save different editing options?

To select the most suitable image option.

Let's summarize. Often, the quality of a photo can be improved using Auto Adjust.

What if you want more?

Now let's look at the right tab in the Laboratory window.

Here we can manually adjust changes in color, hue, saturation, brightness and other parameters that improve the photo.

We simply move the slider in the parameters column. And the result will immediately be reflected in the Working View window.

Often the composition requires some kind of stylized photographs.

If our image requires a certain color tone, then we can add new colors to it or, conversely, reduce and mute the colors.

We will first reduce – Saturation. Let's move the slider to the left.

Then move the Temperature slider a little towards orange.

Let's add brightness and contrast to the photo. Let's move the sliders a little to the right.

And we constantly see and control changes in the photo in the Working View window.

Let's increase the Intermediate tones a little.

Let's save this option.

In the other two options we can experiment with different color tones.

On the axis – Hue – first move the slider to the left side towards the pink color.

Let's get a photo in pale purple tones. Let's save this option - button - Create snapshot.

And in this case, the Tint slider has moved far to the right. We will also keep this style of photography.

The next option is almost bleached, but not to a gray tone, but rather in a sepia style. Save.

Here we will still return to our option, which we received from Auto-Tuning.

Just click on the miniature, which is our second after the saved source.

Let's add a little brightness and contrast to this version of the photograph.
Let's turn down the temperature and saturation slightly.

Now we can choose the photo option that suits us most. Open the thumbnails and look in the Working View window.

When we press the OK button, we will save the image that is in the Working View window.

After this practical lesson, you will confidently choose the desired brightness and tonality for your photograph.