A Million Little Things: Photoshop Friday - A quick tip using the curves tool

January 02, 2009

Photoshop Friday - A quick tip using the curves tool

Hi there everyone! Happy Friday and Happy New Year to you! Kristina here and I've got a quick Photoshop Friday tip for you that deals with using the curves tool. Let me first say that I am in NO way a Photoshop expert - I have so much to learn still, but I do love using the curves tool to give my photographs a quick fix and so I thought I'd share what I do with you. The curves tool is a pretty powerful tool that can drastically change the look of your photograph or it can be used in a very subtle way. While curves is a very complex tool and all that it entails can be very intimidating just do this - open up a photo, then do control M (or look for it by going to Images - Adjustments - Curves).

When the curves tool is opened - what I normally do is put my cursor on the middle of the diagonal line and then holding down the mouse button, pull the line up a bit. You will see that this will lighten your photo a bit. Then I click on the diagonal line further to the top and pull that back. This will give your photo a deeper look. The last thing I do is click on the diagonal line closer to the bottom and then pull that downward. That finishes off the quick edit and gives your photo a new look. The line will become a curvy "s" shape almost. Once you've got the look you like - click ok.

You can do one, two or all three steps to your photograph - it's up to you. A great thing to do is just practice with the curves tool and you can find out just what look you like the best for your photographs. After getting used to the curves tool and using it a bit it'll become a fast way to give your photos a pop! I think the curves tool is a pretty handy tool! I hope you find this Photoshop Friday tip helpful! Below is an example of a photo straight from my camera and then after I fixed it up a bit with the curves tool! :) Thanks for stopping by! :)