- Photoshop User Guide
- Introduction to Photoshop
- Photoshop and other Adobe products and services
- Photoshop on the iPad (not available in mainland China)
- Photoshop on the iPad | Common questions
- Get to know the workspace
- System requirements | Photoshop on the iPad
- Create, open, and export documents
- Add photos
- Work with layers
- Draw and paint with brushes
- Make selections and add masks
- Retouch your composites
- Work with adjustment layers
- Adjust the tonality of your composite with Curves
- Apply transform operations
- Crop and rotate your composites
- Rotate, pan, zoom, and reset the canvas
- Work with Type layers
- Work with Photoshop and Lightroom
- Get missing fonts in Photoshop on the iPad
- Japanese Text in Photoshop on the iPad
- Manage app settings
- Touch shortcuts and gestures
- Keyboard shortcuts
- Edit your image size
- Livestream as you create in Photoshop on the iPad
- Correct imperfections with the Healing Brush
- Create brushes in Capture and use them in Photoshop on the iPad
- Work with Camera Raw files
- Create and work with Smart Objects
- Adjust exposure in your images with Dodge and Burn
- Auto adjustment commands in Photoshop on the iPad
- Smudge areas in your images with Photoshop on the iPad
- Saturate or desaturate your images using Sponge tool
- Content aware fill for iPad
- Photoshop on the web (not available in mainland China)
- Common questions
- System requirements
- Keyboard shortcuts
- Supported file types
- Introduction to the workspace
- Open and work with cloud documents
- Generative AI features
- Basic concepts of editing
- Quick Actions
- Work with layers
- Retouch images and remove imperfections
- Make quick selections
- Image improvements with Adjustment Layers
- Add a fill layer
- Move, transform, and crop images
- Draw and paint
- Draw and edit Shapes
- Work with Type layers
- Work with anyone on the web
- Manage app settings
- Generate Image
- Generate Background
- Reference Image
- Photoshop (beta) (not available in mainland China)
- Generative AI (not available in mainland China)
- Common questions on generative AI in Photoshop
- Generative Fill in Photoshop on the desktop
- Generate Image with descriptive text prompts
- Generative Expand in Photoshop on the desktop
- Replace background with Generate background
- Get new variations with Generate Similar
- Generative Fill in Photoshop on the iPad
- Generative Expand in Photoshop on the iPad
- Generative AI features in Photoshop on the web
- Content authenticity (not available in mainland China)
- Cloud documents (not available in mainland China)
- Photoshop cloud documents | Common questions
- Photoshop cloud documents | Workflow questions
- Manage and work with cloud documents in Photoshop
- Upgrade cloud storage for Photoshop
- Unable to create or save a cloud document
- Solve Photoshop cloud document errors
- Collect cloud document sync logs
- Invite others to edit your cloud documents
- Share files and comment in-app
- Workspace
- Workspace basics
- Preferences
- Learn faster with the Photoshop Discover Panel
- Create documents
- Place files
- Default keyboard shortcuts
- Customize keyboard shortcuts
- Tool galleries
- Performance preferences
- Use tools
- Presets
- Grid and guides
- Touch gestures
- Use the Touch Bar with Photoshop
- Touch capabilities and customizable workspaces
- Technology previews
- Metadata and notes
- Place Photoshop images in other applications
- Rulers
- Show or hide non-printing Extras
- Specify columns for an image
- Undo and history
- Panels and menus
- Position elements with snapping
- Position with the Ruler tool
- Web, screen, and app design
- Image and color basics
- How to resize images
- Work with raster and vector images
- Image size and resolution
- Acquire images from cameras and scanners
- Create, open, and import images
- View images
- Invalid JPEG Marker error | Opening images
- Viewing multiple images
- Customize color pickers and swatches
- High dynamic range images
- Match colors in your image
- Convert between color modes
- Color modes
- Erase parts of an image
- Blending modes
- Choose colors
- Customize indexed color tables
- Image information
- Distort filters are unavailable
- About color
- Color and monochrome adjustments using channels
- Choose colors in the Color and Swatches panels
- Sample
- Color mode or Image mode
- Color cast
- Add a conditional mode change to an action
- Add swatches from HTML CSS and SVG
- Bit depth and preferences
- Layers
- Layer basics
- Nondestructive editing
- Create and manage layers and groups
- Select, group, and link layers
- Place images into frames
- Layer opacity and blending
- Mask layers
- Apply Smart Filters
- Layer comps
- Move, stack, and lock layers
- Mask layers with vector masks
- Manage layers and groups
- Layer effects and styles
- Edit layer masks
- Extract assets
- Reveal layers with clipping masks
- Generate image assets from layers
- Work with Smart Objects
- Blending modes
- Combine multiple images into a group portrait
- Combine images with Auto-Blend Layers
- Align and distribute layers
- Copy CSS from layers
- Load selections from a layer or layer mask's boundaries
- Knockout to reveal content from other layers
- Selections
- Get started with selections
- Make selections in your composite
- Select and Mask workspace
- Select with the marquee tools
- Select with the lasso tools
- Adjust pixel selections
- Move, copy, and delete selected pixels
- Create a temporary quick mask
- Select a color range in an image
- Convert between paths and selection borders
- Channel basics
- Save selections and alpha channel masks
- Select the image areas in focus
- Duplicate, split, and merge channels
- Channel calculations
- Get started with selections
- Image adjustments
- Replace object colors
- Perspective warp
- Reduce camera shake blurring
- Healing brush examples
- Export color lookup tables
- Adjust image sharpness and blur
- Understand color adjustments
- Apply a Brightness/Contrast adjustment
- Adjust shadow and highlight detail
- Levels adjustment
- Adjust hue and saturation
- Adjust vibrance
- Adjust color saturation in image areas
- Make quick tonal adjustments
- Apply special color effects to images
- Enhance your image with color balance adjustments
- High dynamic range images
- View histograms and pixel values
- Match colors in your image
- Crop and straighten photos
- Convert a color image to black and white
- Adjustment and fill layers
- Curves adjustment
- Blending modes
- Target images for press
- Adjust color and tone with Levels and Curves eyedroppers
- Adjust HDR exposure and toning
- Dodge or burn image areas
- Make selective color adjustments
- Adobe Camera Raw
- Camera Raw system requirements
- What's new in Camera Raw
- Introduction to Camera Raw
- Create panoramas
- Supported lenses
- Vignette, grain, and dehaze effects in Camera Raw
- Default keyboard shortcuts
- Automatic perspective correction in Camera Raw
- Radial Filter in Camera Raw
- Manage Camera Raw settings
- Open, process, and save images in Camera Raw
- Repair images with the Enhanced Spot Removal tool in Camera Raw
- Rotate, crop, and adjust images
- Adjust color rendering in Camera Raw
- Process versions in Camera Raw
- Make local adjustments in Camera Raw
- Image repair and restoration
- Image enhancement and transformation
- Drawing and painting
- Paint symmetrical patterns
- Draw rectangles and modify stroke options
- About drawing
- Draw and edit shapes
- Painting tools
- Create and modify brushes
- Blending modes
- Add color to paths
- Edit paths
- Paint with the Mixer Brush
- Brush presets
- Gradients
- Gradient interpolation
- Fill and stroke selections, layers, and paths
- Draw with the Pen tools
- Create patterns
- Generate a pattern using the Pattern Maker
- Manage paths
- Manage pattern libraries and presets
- Draw or paint with a graphics tablet
- Create textured brushes
- Add dynamic elements to brushes
- Gradient
- Paint stylized strokes with the Art History Brush
- Paint with a pattern
- Sync presets on multiple devices
- Migrate presets, actions, and settings
- Text
- Filters and effects
- Saving and exporting
- Color Management
- Web, screen, and app design
- Video and animation
- Printing
- Automation
- Troubleshooting
Apply the Auto Contrast adjustment
The Auto Contrast command adjusts image contrast automatically. Because Auto Contrast does not adjust channels individually, it does not introduce or remove color casts. It clips the shadow and highlight values in an image and then maps the remaining lightest and darkest pixels in the image to pure white (level 255) and pure black (level 0). This makes the highlights appear lighter and shadows appear darker.
By default, when identifying the lightest and darkest pixels in an image, Auto Contrast clips the white and black pixels by 0.5%—that is, it ignores the first 0.5% of either extreme. You can change this default using the Auto Color Correction Options found in the Levels and the Curves dialog boxes.
Auto Contrast can improve the appearance of many photographic or continuous-tone images. It does not improve flat‑color images.
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Do one of the following:
Click the Levels or Curves icon in the Adjustments panel.
Choose Layer > New Adjustment Layer and choose either Levels or Curves. Click OK in the New Layer dialog box.
Märkus.You can also choose Image > Auto Contrast to apply the adjustment directly to the image layer. Keep in mind that this method discards image information and its application is automatic. You cannot adjust any of the options in the following steps.
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In the Properties panel, Alt-click (Windows) or Option-click (Mac OS) the Auto button.
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Under Algorithms in the Auto Color Correction Options dialog box, select the Enhance Monochromatic Contrast option.
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Specify the shadows and highlights that are clipped, and adjust the target color for the midtones.
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Click OK to apply Auto Contrast.
Remove a color cast using Auto Color
Auto Color adjusts the contrast and color of an image by searching the image to identify shadows, midtones, and highlights. By default, Auto Color neutralizes the midtones using a target color of RGB 128 gray and clips the shadows and highlight pixels by 0.5%. You can change these defaults in the Auto Color Correction Options dialog box.
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Do one of the following:
Click the Levels or Curves icon in the Adjustments panel.
Choose Layer > New Adjustment Layer and choose either Levels or Curves. Click OK in the New Layer dialog box.
Märkus.You can also choose Image > Auto Color to apply the adjustment directly to the image layer. Keep in mind that this method discards image information and is automatic. You cannot adjust any of the options in the following steps.
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In the Properties panel, Alt-click (Windows) or Option-click (Mac OS) the Auto button.
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Under Algorithms in the Auto Color Correction Options dialog box, select the Find Dark & Light colors option.
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Select the Snap Neutral Midtones option.
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Specify the shadows and highlights that are clipped, and adjust the target color for the midtones.
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Click OK to apply Auto Color.
Set Auto adjustment options
The Auto Color Correction options control the automatic tone and color corrections available in both Levels and Curves. It also controls the settings for the Auto Tone, Auto Contrast, and Auto Color commands. The Auto Color Correction options let you specify shadow and highlight clipping percentages, and assign color values to shadows, midtones, and highlights.
You can apply the settings during a single use of the Levels or Curves adjustment, or you can save the settings as default values when applying Auto Tone, Auto Contrast, Auto Color, and the Auto option for Levels and Curves.
A. Auto Contrast option B. Auto Levels option C. Auto Color option D. Set target colors, black point, and white point
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Click the Levels or Curves icon in the Adjustments panel.
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Alt-click (Windows) or Option-click (Mac OS) the Auto button in the Properties panel.
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Specify the algorithm you want Photoshop to use to adjust the overall tonal range of an image:
Enhance Monochromatic Contrast
Clips all channels identically. This preserves the overall color relationship while making highlights appear lighter and shadows appear darker. The Auto Contrast command uses this algorithm.
Enhance Per Channel Contrast
Maximizes the tonal range in each channel to produce a more dramatic correction. Because each channel is adjusted individually, Enhance Per Channel Contrast may remove or introduce color casts. The Auto Tone command uses this algorithm.
Find Dark & Light Colors
Finds the average lightest and darkest pixels in an image and uses them to maximize contrast while minimizing clipping. The Auto Color command uses this algorithm.
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Select Snap Neutral Midtones if you want Photoshop to find an average nearly-neutral color in an image and then adjust the gamma (midtone) values to make the color neutral. The Auto Color command uses this algorithm.
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To specify how much to clip black and white pixels, enter percentages in the Clip text boxes. A value between 0.0% and 1% is recommended.
By default, Photoshop clips the black and white pixels by 0.1%—that is, it ignores the first 0.1% of either extreme when identifying the lightest and darkest pixels in the image. Because of the better output quality of modern scanners and digital cameras, these default clipping percentages might be too high.
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To assign (target) color values to the darkest, neutral, and lightest areas of an image, click a color swatch.
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Do one of the following:
To use the settings in the current Levels or Curves adjustment, click OK. If you then click the Auto button, Photoshop reapplies the same settings to the image.
To save the settings as the default, select Save as Defaults, and then click OK. The next time you access Levels or Curves in the Adjustments panel, you can apply the same setting by clicking the Auto button. The Auto Tone, Auto Contrast, and Auto Color commands also use the default clipping percentages.
Märkus.When you save the Auto Color Correction options as defaults for Auto Color, Auto Tone, and Auto Contrast, it does not matter what algorithm you select in step 3. The three auto-correction commands use only those values that you set for the target colors and clipping. The only exception is that the Auto Color command also uses the Snap Neutral Midtones option.
Using the Equalize command
The Equalize command redistributes the brightness values of the pixels in an image so that they more evenly represent the entire range of brightness levels. Equalize remaps pixel values in the composite image so that the brightest value represents white, the darkest value represents black, and intermediate values are evenly distributed throughout the grayscale.
You can use the Equalize command when a scanned image appears darker than the original and you want to balance the values to produce a lighter image. Using Equalize together with the Histogram panel lets you see before-and-after brightness comparisons.
Keep in mind that the Equalize command applies adjustments directly to the image layer and deletes image information. For nondestructive adjustments, use adjustment layers or edit in Adobe Camera Raw.
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(Optional) Select an area of the image to equalize.
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Choose Image > Adjustments > Equalize.
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If you selected an area of the image, select what to equalize in the dialog box, and click OK:
Equalize Selected Area Only
Evenly distributes only the pixels in the selection.
Equalize Entire Image Based On Selected Area
Evenly distributes all image layers based on those in the selection.
Adjust black and white points with the Auto option
The Auto option for Levels and Curves and the Auto Tone command automatically adjust the black point and white point in an image. This clips a portion of the shadows and highlights in each channel and maps the lightest and darkest pixels in each color channel to pure white (level 255) and pure black (level 0). The intermediate pixel values are redistributed proportionately. As a result, using the Auto option or Auto Tone increases the contrast in an image because the pixel values are expanded. Because the Auto option and Auto Tone adjust each color channel individually, it may remove color or introduce color casts.
The Auto option and Auto Tone give good results in certain images with an average distribution of pixel values that need a simple increase in contrast.
By default, the Auto option and the Auto Tone command clip the white and black pixels by 0.1%—that is, it ignores the first 0.1% of either extreme when identifying the lightest and darkest pixels in the image. The default settings for the Auto option can be changed in the Auto Color Correction Options dialog box.
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Do one of the following:
Click the Levels or Curves icon in the Adjustments panel.
Choose Layer > New Adjustment Layer and choose either Levels or Curves. Click OK in the New Layer dialog box.
Märkus.You can choose Image > Auto Tone to apply the adjustment directly to the image layer. Keep in mind that this method discards image information and is automatic. You cannot adjust any of the options in the following steps.
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In the Properties panel, Alt-click (Windows) or Option-click (Mac OS) the Auto button.
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Under Algorithms in the Auto Color Correction Options dialog box, select Enhance Per Channel Contrast.
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Adjust the amount of shadow and highlight values that are clipped, and adjust the target color for the midtones.
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Click OK to apply the Auto option settings.