78
USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8
Camera raw files
Last updated 7/26/2011
Using White Balance to click a neutral white area, and resulting correction
Tonal and image adjustments in camera raw files
Exposure Adjusts the brightness or darkness of an image. Move the slider to the left to darken the image; move it to
the right to brighten the image. The values are in increments equivalent to f-stops. An adjustment of +1.50 is similar
to widening the aperture one and one-half stops. Likewise, an adjustment of -1.50 is similar to reducing the aperture
one and one-half stops.
Hold down Option while moving the Exposure slider to preview where the highlights are clipped. (Clipping is the
shifting of pixel values to either the highest highlight value or the lowest shadow value. Clipped areas are either
completely white or completely black and have no image detail.) Move the slider until the highlights (not specular
highlights) are completely clipped, and then reverse the adjustment slightly. Black indicates unclipped areas, and color
indicates areas clipped in only one or two channels.
Hold down Option while moving the Exposure slider to show clipped highlights.
Recovery Attempts to recover details from highlights. Camera Raw can reconstruct some details from areas in which
one or two color channels are clipped to white.
Fill Light Attempts to recover details from shadows, without brightening blacks. Camera Raw can reconstruct some
details from areas in which one or two color channels are clipped to black. Using Fill Light is similar to using the
shadows portion of the Photoshop Shadow/Highlight filter or the After Effects Shadow/Highlight effect.
Blacks Specifies which input levels are mapped to black in the final image. Increasing Blacks expands the areas that
are mapped to black. This sometimes creates the appearance of increased contrast in the image. The greatest change is
in the shadows, with less change in the midtones and highlights. Using the Blacks slider is similar to using the black
point slider for input levels when using the Photoshop Levels command or the After Effects Levels effect.
Brightness Adjusts the brightness of the image, much as the Exposure slider does. However, instead of clipping the
image in the highlights (areas that are completely white, with no detail) or shadows (areas that are completely black,
