Tiny little tone curve idea

In the tone curve one has the three sliders on the bottom splitting the curve into shadows, darks, lights and highlights. The initial settings for the "tone curve regions" are 0-25, 25-50, 50-75 and 75-100.
What I would like to see, is an option to change this initial setting to be relative to the image tonality, not absolute 25/50/75 slider positions, but relative to the amount of different tones in the image. For example in a dark low key image the shadow region could initially be set to something like 0-15 - whatever amounts to 25% of the pixels in the image, and if there were only very little highlights, the righthandmost slider would be probably close to the middle initially, covering the lightest 25% of the pixels in the image.
Sure, I can do this now manually, but an automated option would be nice as I often want to start tweaking the curve with the "splitters" dividing the curve into regions each with roughly the same amount of pixels.

Extremely extremely MONEY for the flat film scans I bring over from VueScan.
All the image data is bunched up on the left side, and Tone Curve is useless until I start varying the split point sliders.
An automated feature for this would be extremely useful.
-Rishi

Similar Messages

I have lost my "Basic" panel in the Develop module and can't figure out how to get it back. My right panel goes from the Histogram straight to the Tone Curve panel. My Basic panel should be below the Histogram. Any ideas how to get it back. I have even

I have lost my "Basic" panel in the Develop module and can't figure out how to get it back. My right panel goes from the Histogram straight to the Tone Curve panel. My Basic panel should be below the Histogram. Any ideas how to get it back. I have even uninstalled my lightroom and reinstalled it with same issue. Help!!!

Right click on or near one of the other headers and a pop-up will appear and you will be able to select the Basic Panel for viewing.

Lost Sliders in Tone Curve Dialogue 3. & 3.2

Windows XP- I cannot retrieve region sliders in Tone Curve in Develop module. Point curve still visible & useable. Can't find any info under communities. Anyone any ideas please? No problen on laptop Win 7 64. What have I done?
Allan Devon

Allan,
You clicked on the little square with a line through it in the lower right corner of the Tone Curve control, putting yourself into Point Curve mode. Click it again to go back.
Hal

LR4.1 - Tone Curve - how to adjust individual RGB channels?

Hi,
I am having trouble figuring out how to adjust the curve of individual RGB channels. I am assuming the LR4 Tone Curve works like the PS Curves dialog with the channel dropdown.
The LR4.1 Help says:
To make adjustments to individual points on the tone curve, choose an option from the Point Curve menu, click the Edit Point Curve button , and do any of the following:
Choose an option from the Channel pop-up menu. You can edit all three channels at once, or choose to edit the Red, Green, or Blue channel individually.
When I click the little icon in the lower right corner of the Tone Curve panel, the panel shrinks so that I don't see the Regions sliders. If I click again, they are visible again. I can't find where to select one of the three indvidual channels.
The Help refers to "the Point Curve menu." Where is the Point Curve menu? Is the Point Curve different from the Tone Curve?
If I right-click (Windows) in the curve dialog, the context menu has a Show Info option. I click it on/off and don't see any change or any info. Where should I be looking for info?
Thanks for any help here.
John

Good morning John,
The point curve is the one without the sliders. The adjustments for the individual channels are only available with
PV2012. You must be editing a file with PV2010 or 2003. When in PV2012 you will see " Channels: RGB" below the curve window. Click on the doule triangles following the RGB
to pick the individual channel.
HTH
Rich

New RGB tone curve is absent in my LR4 upgrade. How do I get it to emerge?

help please

Click on the little curve icon at the bottom right-hand corner of teh Tone Curve panel. See screenshot:

Tone curve RGB

I am trying to alter individual RGB channels within the tone curve box, but I don't get a pop up dialoge box. I saw a mention of PV 2010 and PV 2003, but I don't know what these are, or if one can convert to them.

Look in the camera calibration panel and it will tell you. Alternatively, if you're seeing the current set of sliders in the basic panel (e.g. highlights, shadows, etc.) then that would confirm you're using PV2012.
Go to tone curve, click on the little curves button at the bottom, and you'll be in point curve mode. Click on the RGB button to choose a colour channel.
As you're on the web, I recommend searching for "process version Lightroom" to find out more about that side of things.
M

Feature Request: RGB Histograms / Tone Curves

Hi team,
It would be really helpful to be able to view the RGB Histograms separately in addition to a composite (rather than the "compact" mode we have now).
It would also be really helpful to be able to adjust the Tone Curve applied to an individual RGB channel in Develop.
Finally, it would be most helpful to be able to see the RGB values as well as or instead of the RGB percentages when moving the cursor over an image area. This would be particularly helpful for fine-tuning skin tones.
Thanks, and keep up the great work.
We're delighted you're evolving Lightroom!
Cheers,
Matthew

Your post seems to assume that Lightroom is a tool for travel/landscape photography, and other types of photography (e.g., portrait/fashion) should be supported by a "specialized add-on module". I have to disagree with you on that point. Considering many of the examples on the Lightroom marketing are fashion shoots, I would think that they considers portrait/fashion photographers to be an important part of their target audience. They are not a fringe group of specialists.
I'm sure that portrait/fashion photographers would feel the same way about a Lightroom capability that primarily benefits the workflow of a travel/landscape photographer, i.e., when I do do some landscape work, I just edit in Photoshop. But you wouldn't agree to that, would you?
Skin tone measurement can be an incredibly easy tool to implement. It can be something as simple as showing the CMY values alongside the RGB values during a mouseover. Keep in mind, I'm talking about CMY not CMYK, so there should be no need to worry about what ICC profile to use. RGB to CMY is a straightforward transformation. It's embarassingly simple.
There are other ways Adobe can implement skin tone management that would be more powerful but a little more complicated. Those would be great too.
Anyway, thanks for the link to the Adobe feature request page! I will use it.
Regards,
Mike

Which do you prefer: Increasing exposure or adjusting the tone curve?

I'd like to know how people here handle their images.
I use a Nikon D7100 in camera RAW. In camera my images are always in balance. In LR, if I select Auto Tone in Basics invariably it will adjust the exposure. I tend to adjust exposure near last in my workflow because I assume my camera had the exposure setting right. When I feel I need to adjust the exposure my first stop is the Tone Curve. I'm wondering a couple of things:
1) I know we edit by the specifics of each photo, but generally do you make adjustments to Exposure or the Tone Curve first?
2) Is there a reason or a time to prefer one over the other?
Thanks,

My recommendation:
(note: I am interpreting "exposure", in your question, to mean "dynamic range at right wall of histogram", i.e. white point)
Adjust basics exposure first (before tone/point curve), but note: you may not be able to go all the way using the exposure slider. Next stop (if necessary): +whites, but note: it may not be optimal to go all the way using whites. Final stop (if necessary): cinch in the the exposure by dragging white point to the left via the point curve.
Rationale: basics have some intelligence and magic that tone curve does not. If you do tone curve first, you've missed some opportunities..
Still a begging question: how much exposure vs. whites vs. tone curve (point curve).
Note: go easy on the contrast at first, and assure blacks are sufficiently seated using blacks slider (and maybe tone/point curve).
Likewise, cranking whites up will increase global contrast, so if you take a shot at blacks and whites before contrast, then you may avoid a common mistake: radically wrong contrast due to adjusting before establishing ballpark black & white slider values.
Anyway, be aware that increased PV2012 exposure (and/or whites) is designed to be used with -highlights (note: there is no "brightness" slider), and to avoid making things too washed out (or over-jamming the highlights) it may be desirable to substitute +whites and/or +shadows for some +exposure.
Note: tones may gang up (on the right side of the histogram) in a non-optimal way when using +exposure and/or +whites, in which case it may be better to use point curve for white point adjustment (e.g. leftward drag). For example, sometimes the whites will be overly compressed if you don't bring white point in on the curve instead.
Rules of thumb:
Most of my normal photos end up with:
+exposure (to fully brighten)
+whites (for full dynamic range without excessive exposure setting)
-highlights (for dialing back +exposure and/or +whites)
+shadows (so -blacks and doesn't leave image with overly dark shadows)
-blacks (for full dynamic range without needing as much contrast)
*contrast: depends - if overly contrasty to begin with (or a lot of -blacks and/or +whites are employed), this usually gets dialed back; if underly contrasty to begin with (or +blacks and/or -whites have been employed), this usually gets bumped up.
(for abnormal photos or when desiring abnormal results - anything goes..).
Other common mistakes (in addition to wrong contrast and/or non-optimal balance between exposure & whites..):
trying to recover highlights via -whites. try -highlights (and maybe +whites) before -whites.
Warning signs:
if you have very high values for +shadows and -highlights, you may have contrast set too high.
if you have a positive value for highlights, you may have contrast/exposure/whites too low.
if you have a negative value for shadows, you may have contrast too low, or blacks/exposure too high.
Miscellaneous:
Try +clarity and +saturation (and/or +vibrance) to pump it up, if reduced contrast and/or increased exposure has left it looking a little washed out.. (likewise, -saturation if +contrast has left it looking a little too "rich"..).
You already know this, but for the sake of completeness (and other readers): you can learn by clicking 'Auto Tone' "button". You may need to dial back the exposure afterward etc. but it can be very educational none-the-less..
Of course, you can always fine-tune tone using tone curve (e.g. if image is just way overbright, like some snow shots, try tugging the midpoint downward..).
Don't forget the locals for final spot toning.
In case you haven't gleaned yet, adjusting via PV2012 is not the same as you might think at first - you don't just set exposure/black/white points and leave them, and then adjust everything else. e.g. -highlights pulls white point down more than -whites does (but +whites brings white point back up, which means you usually need to adjust in tandem..), so be prepared for a lot of back n' forth, to lessen with experience..
PS - There are tutorial videos galore, but at the risk of opposing Adobe and their sycophants, be forewarned: some are geared to how they wished PV2012 was (simple), and not to how it really is (interdependent image-dependent settings..) - examples:
top-down is touted, but that ignores black/white point issues which can lead to radically wrong contrast (and/or exposure) setting.
often, adjustment of blacks is considered optional/fine-tuning, but blacks sometimes need large value adjustment, and dramatically impacts contrast & shadow brightness..
often, adjustment of whites is considered optional/fine-tuning, but sometimes optimal toning can only be had by using a large whites value adjustment, which dramatically impacts contrast, and exposure..
cteavin wrote:
I tend to adjust exposure near last in my workflow because I assume my camera had the exposure setting right.
In case not clear yet, adjusting exposure and/or whites (and/or white point on curve) and all the rest is often done to turn an image "with potential" into a very nice image, not just to compensate for in-camera exposure imperfection. I have lots of under-exposed images that end with -exposure (granted, usually +whites), and vice-versas.. That said, if you don't know whether to crank it up or down, there is something to be said for passing until you do..
Lastly, for emphasis: exposure slider is an intelligent slider. It behaves more like normal exposure adjusters at lower values, and more like brightness adjusters at higher values (has clipping protection and highlight roll-off logic which kicks in as you crank it up..). So, it's a mistake to think of adjusting it just to make up for non-optimal camera exposure setting.
Sorry for verbose answer, but there is really no short answer which doesn't run the risk of being bad advice: best way to adjust "exposure" depends...
Cheers,
Rob

Tone Curve Channel Histograms

Just a small piece of feedback - the new tone curve individual channels are great, but the histogram in the background of the curve is very difficult to see. Any chance you would consider increasing the opacity of the red, green and blue? The RGB is more visable.
Many thanks.

This is a very valid point and would make a great feature request. You should consider submitting it through the official channels (no pun intended) http://feedback.photoshop.com/photoshop_family/products/photoshop_family_photoshop_lightro om put your idea here and I will vote for it.

LR5 Cannot find any Channel Pop up menu in Tone Curve?

Am reading Kelby's LR 5 book page 162 +
Cannot see any place where I can click to see the individual channels adjustment pop up to select chanel. He even has it circled in the illustration but I don't have anything like that in the Tone Curve panel
What am I missing, I'm in Win 64K
Thanks in advance for any help

if your tone curve panel looks like this than click the little box with the curve in it in the bottom righthand corner.
Then it should look like this

Lr 3.6 - Unable to save own tone curve settings

Currently I'm trying to save an own "tone curve" but in the menu no entry to save it appears. In my understanding an entry "Eigene" (or "Own") should appear as soon as I am changing the tone curve manualy.
I am using the latest version of Lightroom 3.6 running under Windows 7 64-bit (both in German) with Camera RAW 6.7 installed.
Any ideas or hints to solve this issue?

That's it! You just saved my day.
Thank you very much.

LR5 not showing Tone Curve "region" panel and associated sliders.

Hi,
The Tone Curve panel in LR5 as currently set up isn't showing the "Region" sub-panel and associated sliders. It also isn't showing the slider immediately under the tone curve itself. Any ideas on how to get these features to show?
Thanks

Hi Jao,
Bingo! That did the trick. Many thanks.
Ian

Natural Tone Curve

Hi
I try to find a "Natural Tone Curve", meaning a tone curve which accounts for the non-linearity of human vision, but no pleasant tweaks added. I wonder in how far the interacting tone curve combo of PE/CR is such curve.
1-in the PE:
In
Eric Chan, "Starting profile for ColorChecker calibration in PE" #1, 24 Oct 2008 6:01 am
you (Eric) state that
"The Chart Wizard is designed to produce a reasonably accurate scene-referred color profile (within the technical limits of the input data)."
I wonder if this includes the little indent to the right at the base of the base curve? Or should I flatten this out, setting the starting point to 0/0? The indent seems to correspond to the Blacks +5 setting in CR.
2-in CR:
Is the Medium Contrast S-curve really part of the difference between human vision and linearity? Or should I set it to linear to be most natural?
In particular, again, the part reflecting the deepest shadows seems to be quite deliberately tweaked.
Thank you for your input.

Hi Eric,
thank you for a VERY fast reply! -
I learn that perceptual linearity is handled by ICC profiles, not by tone curves in the PE or in ACR. -
The advice you give to avoid pleasant tweaks is the recipe for a linear image, as you have given it to Brent Townshend
http://www.adobeforums.com/webx/.59b71da3/0
This was not what I had in mind. I am aware of that a linear image will not look natural.
In terms of the scene referred workflow as described by Tindemans
http://21stcenturyshoebox.com/essays/scenereferredworkflow.html
what I search for might be described as a subdivision of step 2 (called creative processing). There must be an area between linear and purely arbitrary, we might call it natural. The fact that this area can not be easily defined let alone measured objectively ought not to preclude us from at least identifying and naming it. As it is now, we can not even in terms separate between natural, and beautified ad libitum. Arbitrariness is being presented as unavoidable.
So my question aimed at: (How) can I make a base curve that is natural, but not beautified (by exaggerating the contrast)?
"The Chart Wizard is designed to produce a reasonably accurate *scene-referred* color profile" - but how is the "rendering intent" of the Base Curve?
I tried your advice with the linear curve in the PE + lightening in ACR on both the ColorChecker image and a real scene. The CC could be made look reasonable. But this is an image where the histogram has headroom on either side. So I experienced it like you said: this may work with an image whose DR matches that of the medium. With the real scene, whose histogram stretched end-to-end in the first place, using the Exposure slider led to highlight clipping at once, as exspected; instead, I had to use the Brightness slider - that is increase the contrast, if I understand it correctly.
So it looks like-:
1-The task of the Base Curve is to map the DR of an image to that of the screen
2-If there is any answer to my question, it is image-dependent. On the other hand: the PE uses ONE Base Curve. So the question may be allowed: What is the "rendering intent" of that curve?
Kind regards - Hening.

Individual tone curve sliders have disappeared.

I have the Tone Curve and I can make adjustments just fine. But the three individual sliders beneath it are gone. Tone Curve is checked in Window\Panels. I honestly have no idea what I did to toggle it off. Read a similar thread from 10/20, but the answer didn't solve my problem.

and you get this
Beat Gossweiler
Switzerland

Tone curve "region" disappeared

hello,
i am running lightroom 3 on mac os 10.6.8. i use lightroom constantly and have never had any problems. i started lightroom today and went to the develop module only to discover that under the "tone curve" panel, i no longer have any sliders for highlights, lights, darks, and shadows. the graph portion of of the panel is there, containing the actual tone-curve, but everything else is missing. anyone have any ideas on this? screen grab of the panel is below.
thanks!

Click on the small curve icon in the bottom right hand corner of the Curve panel (you can see it in your screenshot) and the curve will change back to sliders.
The curve that your screenshot shows has actually one big advantage over the other: You can drag the end points of the curve vertically up / down to set your black point or white point.
For instance you drag the bottom left point of the curve vertically up until it shows about 5%. And correspondingly you drag down on the right top end to about 95%. That ensures that you have detail in the highlights and in the shadows.
WW

Tiny little tone curve idea

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for