PHOTOSHOP - Using contrast levels

This tutorial will step you through creating some neat effects using contrast levels. (For more information about levels, see page 174-5 of your Photoshop book.)

You can select your own image, or choose the image below:

Ok, now open your image in Photoshop, using the File > Open command. If necessary, adjust the size by using Image > Size.

Now, use the marquee tool to select part of your image.

I'm going to select a large rectangular area, like this:

Next, find the "create new fill or adjustment layer" icon at the very bottom of your layers palette:

Click the icon and choose Brightness/Contrast . . .

. . . and select the level of brightness/contrast you want (I'm going to choose a brightness of +80 and a contrast of -64.

. . . which looks like this:

You can also achieve a similar, but reversed effect by right clicking and selecting the 'select inverse' option, just like we did in the feathering tutorial. Our reverse effect looks like this:

Remember that you can add as many layers over the top of this as you want. You can add some text by selecting the text tool . . .

. . . and then typing over your image area.

Now, let's say I want to add a line to add extra definition to the rectangular area around their faces. Select the marquee tool again . . .

. . . and define the area where you want your line to be -- like this (see the dancing ants?):

Finally, right click and select the 'stroke' option, then choose the thickness and color of your line (I chose 1pixel and black).

Viola!

The moral of the story is that with a little more fooling around, you can add various layers and create something funky out of an ordinary image -- hopefully something better than my fish ;-)

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