Software: Ulead PhotoImpact 12
Author: MaryLou White
Home Page: Wishing Well Tutorials

Title: Highlight, Midtones and Shadows
Skill Level: Beginner

Description: It can be so disappointing to take a picture of an important event only to find the picture has been overexposed and you can't see a thing. This tutorial will show you how to save those bad images!

WORK MODE
PhotoImpact 12 has several preset work modes. For this tutorial, we will be using the Full Edit mode so all of the tools in PhotoImpact will be available to you.

As you work, use your mouse to drag this along with you to mark your place.

LET'S GET STARTED

PhotoImpact comes packed with wonderful tools for photo editing. We will be covering the basics of only one of these tools. This will allow you to get a taste of what can be done with a less than perfect photo.
  1. Download Photo 01 and open in PhotoImpact. Not very pretty, is it? Not to worry, we will soon fix that.

  2. On the menu, click Photo\Light\Highlight Midtone Shadow.

  3. The following screen will open.

    Rather than go into what each icon does, Ulead explains it very nicely in the Help file. You may wish to glance over the Help before going on with the rest of this tutorial.

  4. Now comes the fun part. Make sure the Dual View tab at the top is checked. We will be working in the Master Channel only. Slide the Midtone bar to the right to about 25. We are starting to see something. This is a good time to magnify our view. Click on the magnify icon to bring the face into view. You can either center the view on the right or drag it so the face is where you want it.

  5. Next bring the Highlight up to about 25. The picture is getting a bit sharper. Alternate between Midtone and Highlight until the picture looks good to you. The Shadow usually doesn't require much change - it can leave "spots" on your background if set too low or two high.

  6. Click on the Optimized Preview button to see the entire image. The following box will pop up:

    If you're happy with your results, click Ok. If you want to tweak with it a bit more, click Continue. You may also add your settings to the Easy Palette by clicking on the Add button however, it's not pratical since each image is different.

Here is my finished image. I used only the methods mentioned here to reach the end results. The setting used have been intentionally left out. This is to encourage you to make these discoveries for yourself.

Exercise

Download one of the photos below and see if you can make improvements to the quality using what you have learned in this tutorial.
Photo 02    Photo 03    Photo 04    Photo 05   


You're invited to join the PIRC Fourm! This is an active PhotoImpact Forum where you'll find a wonderful group of warm, friendly, talented, and knowledgeable people who are ready and willing to share their expertise with you. There are creative activities for all levels of PhotoImpact users. This forum is 100% free and everyone is welcome.

Copyright© MaryLou White.
This document may not be translated, duplicated, redistributed or otherwise appropriated without permission.