Adjusting photos enhances the quality of your image. People that are using monitors that are really bright and light may find that if they adjust the monitor to the correct light setting that the images will display darker and will be easier to lighten. On the monitor there are buttons that control the color and you may want to adjust this first. If there are no adjustment buttons on your monitor then you may have the option with software that comes with the monitor. Most monitors are set at default and if you have children there is definitely a possibility that the color has been altered.

With Windows XP you can find the monitor adjustment under Adobe Gamma in the Control Panels. Using a MAC it should be with your system information. Below is an icon of the Adobe Gamma adjustment. Just follow the step by step instructions.

Adjusting RGB photos.

We will start with a sample photo that was taken indoors using a flash.

Before and After

Next we will open the Levels Pallet. Control L on the PC, Command L on the Mac. Shown below green arrow.

We will also be using the Hue/Saturation Control U on the PC and Command U on the Mac. The Selective Color will be used to remove some of the yellow.

Notice the peaks and valleys above. Notice the low spot on the right. When your photo has a lot of valley on the right then you should lighten the photo.

Above I pulled the slider on the right over to the left and I also pulled the slider in the middle over to the left. If there is a lot of valley on the left side you may want to slide this over to the right.

I also removed some of the yellow by using the Selective Color Option shown below. The default comes up on Reds. I changed the color to Yellows and pulled the slider over -36% for this photo.

I thought the photo was too saturated so I also opened the Saturation window and brought the saturation down a little

How to Adjust RGB Photos to Grayscale

Convert your RGB photo to grayscale under MODE. Before and After shown below.

Open your Curves Pallet Control M on the PC Command M on the Mac.

Adjust your curve pallet so black is on the bottom and your grid is small. To adjust the grid option click in the middle. If you are using CS3 this pallet will look different. Open your converted grayscale picture and pull up the bottom slider about 1 square until it looks light enough. Then using your eyedropper tool which is in the floating tool bar select a light spot like the face and a pivot point will show up on the grid. Shown below. I don't normally use the pivot point and just select a point about 3 squares down from the top so all I am adjusting are the middle tones between the two dots shown below. If you pull the line in the middle up it will adjust the lightness and contrast. You can add more pivot points and adjust between them also if needed. What you are looking for is contrast between grays. This takes a lot of practice to train your eyes as to what to see, but if you need to use black and white photos you want as much detail to show as possible.