Operation Manual

Adjusting Brightness Values in the Highlight Areas of the Image
When you want to adjust the brightness values in the highlight areas of the image without
affecting the midtones and shadows, you can adjust the Highlights parameter. Although
the human eye is more sensitive to details in shadow areas than in highlight areas, such
as snow, there is usually a fair amount of visual information that you can retrieve in the
highlights using the Highlights parameter controls. Another example of when to use the
Highlights controls is when the background of your image is correctly exposed, and the
foreground of the image is slightly overexposed. In this case, you use the Highlights
controls to make the overexposed foreground match the exposure of the correctly exposed
background.
Before Highlights adjustment After Highlights adjustment
To adjust the highlights in an image
1 Select an image.
2 In the Highlights & Shadows area of the Adjustments inspector or the Adjustments pane
of the Inspector HUD, adjust the Highlights parameter by doing one of the following:
• By default, the Highlights slider is set to the left side of the slider control. Drag the slider
to the right to darken the highlight areas of the image, and drag the slider back to the
left to reduce the darkening effect in the highlights.
• Click the left or right arrow in the Highlights value slider to change the brightness of
the highlights in the image by 5 percent increments, or drag in the value field.
The left arrow reduces the darkening effect in the highlights, making them brighter.
The right arrow increases the darkening effect in the highlights, making them darker.
529Chapter 17 Making Image Adjustments