Digital Focus
Advanced Editing in LR–
This is a continuation of our discussion on the Develop Module of Lightroom (LR). In the last issue, I covered the role of Histogram in evaluating a photo and its use in tonal adjustment, and the editing tools found in the Basic panel of the module—the White Balance options, the White Balance Selector tool, the Temp and Tint sliders, the Tone sliders, and the Local Contrast and Color Saturation sliders.
In this issue, we shall continue our discussion of the Develop module. I will explain how to use the advanced editing features (Image 01).
Tone Curve Panel
If you are not satisfied with the adjustments that you have done using the Basic panel, then you can use the Tone Curve panel (Image 02) found below the Basic panel to refine or tweak the adjustments. There are several ways of using this panel—making changes directly on the graph; using the Region sliders; choosing a Point Curve in the drop down menu; or making changes directly on the photo using the Targeted Adjustment tool.
Use the Tone Curve panel to adjust the values of specific tonal ranges in the photo. For example, if you want to increase the contrast of the photo, click on the darker regions and drag it downward, then click on the lighter regions and drag it upward. The greater the slope, the greater the contrast will be.
The Graph
The graph in the Tone Curve panel (Image 02 A) represents the tonal values of the current photo. The graph is similar to (but not the same as) the graph you find in Photoshop’s Curve dialog box.
The horizontal axis of the graph —the grayscale bar (Image 02B)—shows all the shades of gray that your photo could possibly have. The grayscale bar is split into regions by split controls as shown in Image 02 C. (See Split Controls below). The vertical axis (Image 02 D) represents the range of brightness as measured in percent, with 0 percent on the bottom and the lighter values progressing to 100 percent at the top. Moving any point in the diagonal line in the middle of the graph changes the tonal value of the photo directly under that point. Moving it up makes that part of the photo lighter and moving it down results in darkening. A straight 45-degree line indicates no changes in tonal values.
Note: When you open the panel, by default the diagonal line is not straight. See Image 02. It is slightly bent as LR automatically applies a moderate contrast adjustment to every photo that is imported. To make it straight (original photo), click on the Medium Contrast button found at the bottom of the panel (Image 02 E) to show the drop down menu, then choose Linear.
Region Sliders
You notice that as you drag the graph’s diagonal line upward or downward, the corresponding Region slider below the graph (Image 03) also moves to show the changes in percent. As long as the line remains a straight 45-degree, the Region sliders remain in the middle. (Note: If you do not see the Region sliders, click on the black triangle at the lower right hand corner of the graph).
So instead of making changes directly in the curve, you can alternatively use the Region sliders to achieve the same thing. Moving the slider to the left (-) will darken that region and moving to the right (+) will result in the opposite. The percent is indicated in the number box to the right of the sliders. Instead of moving the sliders, you can also change the amount of adjustment by clicking on the box to highlight the number and typing a or using the arrow keys to increase or decrease the percentage.
Split Controls
If you want, for example, to lighten the shadow region, click on any point in the diagonal line immediately on top of the Shadows region (Image 04). The control split limits the process to the shadow areas. If you want to extend the lightening process to the dark grays, move the split control to the right. You change the coverage of the adjustment by simply altering the position of the split controls.
Point Curve
Below the Region sliders is the Point Curve (Image 05). When you click on the Up and Down arrows, the drop down menu will display the options: Linear, Medium or Strong Contrast. The setting you choose is reflected in the curve but not in the Region sliders. (This is the reason why, despite a Medium Contrast being selected by default, the sliders remain in zero). Medium Contrast is the default Point Curve setting. The Point Curve option is blank for photos imported with metadata and previously edited with the Adobe Camera Raw tone curve. The curve itself will reflect any custom edits.
Targeted Adjustment Tool
At the left upper corner of the panel is the Targeted Adjustment tool (Image 06). Click it and move it to an area you want to adjust, and then click the mouse. Drag the pointer up or down, or press the Up and Down Arrow keys to lighten or darken the values. Any area in the photo that has similar tonal value will be affected. Changes are automatically reflected in the curve as well as in the Region sliders. When done, return the tool by clicking again on the button.
HSL / Color / Grayscale Panel
When you want to adjust the color saturation in the entire photo, use the Saturation or Vibrance sliders of the Basic panel. But when you want manipulate the individual color ranges in your photo, use the HSL or Color panels of the Develop module. For example, you want to make the color of the fire truck more red, use the Saturation slider for Red. Note that all similar reds in the photo will also be affected.
The adjustments you make in the HSL and Color panels produce the same results. The difference between these two panels are how the sliders are organized. In the HSL (Image 07 ), the panel is divided into Hue, Saturation and Luminance panes with all the possible colors appearing in each pane. In the Color panel (Image 08), the panes are organized by color with Hue, Saturation and Luminance appearing below each color. Another difference is the HSL panel has a Targeted Adjustment tool while the Color panel does not.
To choose which panel you want to use, just click its name in the HSL/Color/Grayscale panel header. In the HSL panel, you can work on the Hue, Saturation, and Luminance panes one at a time by choosing the name in the panel header (Image 09). To see them all at the same time, choose All in the panel header (Image 10). To revert to the individual panes, click on the pane header. In the Color panel, click on the color that you want to work on in the Color picker (Image 11). Each color pane has Hue, Saturation and Luminance sliders. To see all the color panes at the same time, choose All in the Color header.
The sliders in both the HSL and Color panels work on specific color ranges. Hue changes the color. For example, you can change a blue shirt (and all other blue objects in the photo) from cyan to purple. Saturation changes the vividness or purity of the color. You can change, for instance, a dull blue sky to highly saturated blue. Overdoing it, however, can result to color banding. Luminance changes the brightness of the color range. Let’s say you wish to highlight the red flower from the green bush. You can use the luminance slider of the green to darken it.
In the HSL and Color panels, change the hue, saturation or luminance of a color range by dragging the particular slider left or right; enter values in the number boxes; or use the Targeted Adjustment tool (HSL panel only).
Converting Your Photo to Grayscale
In the Basic panel, clicking the Grayscale button in the Treatment pane converts your color photo into B&W. If you want, however, to manipulate how the individual colors in the original color photo will be converted into grayscale, you have to use the Grayscale Mix found in the Grayscale panel (Image 12).
You can use the individual color sliders to adjust the gray tones for all similar colors in the original photo; enter a value in the number box; or use the Targeted Adjustment tool in the upper-left of the panel to change directly the gray tone of the colors in the photo. The Grayscale panel also has the Auto option (Image 13) found at the bottom of the panel which sets a grayscale mix that maximizes the distribution of the gray tones. Auto often produces excellent results that can be used as a starting point. Use the sliders to tweak the gray tones further.
To apply grayscale mix automatically when converting a color photo to grayscale, select the Apply auto mix when converting to grayscale in the Presets section of the Preferences dialog box.
Compare Image 14 and Image 15. Image 14 was converted using the Grayscale option in the Basic panel. In Image 15, some colors are converted into grayscale using the Grayscale Mix sliders of the Grayscale panel.
