Posted on 02/14/2012 09:34 AM Paint Shop Pro X4 provides ways to adjust the brightness as well as the contrast in your images, which creates differences between light and dark pixels in an image. By applying commands to a selection or the entire image, you can do the following:

manually determine the brightness and contrast;

setting individual brightness in the image;

detection of highlights (75% tint), midtones (50% tint), and shadows (25% tint) to ensure smooth transitions between them;

distribute pixel brightness values ​​more evenly from black to white;

increase in overall contrast when the histogram does not cover the entire spectrum of brightness;

determine the settings for brightness, contrast and gamma in the image;

creating a pure black and white image.

7.3.1. Adjusting Highlights, Midtones, and Darkness in an Image

The command Adjust → Brightness and Contrast→ Highlight/Midtone/Shadow(Adjust → Brightness & Contrast → Highlights/Midtones/Shadows). After executing this command, a dialog box opens. Highlight/Midtone/Shadow(Highlights/Midtones/Shadows) (Fig. 245).

If nothing is selected on the image, then the adjustment is carried out for the entire image.

Rice. 245. Image tone adjustment

Options Shadow(Shadow), mid tone(Intermediate tone) and highlight(Highlight) define values ​​for shadows, midtones, and highlights in the selection, and if nothing is selected in the image, then for the entire image. The numerical values ​​in these parameters depend on the selected position of the switch located below these parameters.

The switch at the bottom of the dialog box can take the following positions:

Absolute adjustmentmethod(Absolute Adjustment Method) - Sets the positions to 25% for shadows, 50% for midtones, and 75% for highlights. Typical values ​​are around 35 for shadows, 50 for midtones, and 65 for highlights, but these may vary depending on individual photographs. Increasing values ​​brighten the area, while decreasing values ​​darken it.

Relative adjustmentmethod(Relative adjustment method) - adjusts brightness levels relative to their initial states. Positive values ​​brighten the area, while negative values ​​darken it.

7.3.2. Installation histogram

The tone histogram allows you to analyze the tonal range of an image and redistribute the balance of shadows, midtones, and highlights.

To correct tones in an image or selection, execute the command Adjust → Brightness and Contrast→ Histogram adjustment(Adjust → Brightness and Contrast → Histogram Correction). After executing this command, a dialog box opens. Histogram adjustment(Histogram Adjustment) (Fig. 246).

Rice. 246. Adjusting the histogram

Switch Edit(Change) determines the type of histogram being edited:

Luminance(Lightness) - allows you to edit the histogram based on the brightness of the image;

color(Colors) - allows you to edit the histogram based on one of the image's color channels. After selecting this switch position, a list becomes available to the right of this position, in which you need to select a color channel based on which the active image will be edited.

Listed Presets(Parameters) offers ready-made adjustment options. When you select any of them, the radio button Edit(Change) is automatically reset to the position Luminance(Illumination). Preset value Default(Default) presents no additional settings in the image.

In the parameters located below the graph, you can change the values, both using absolute values ​​and using relative (percentage) values.

Slider low(Low) starts on the left side of the histogram, located between the left edge of the graph and the point where the curve begins to rise. This gap indicates that the dark pixels in the image are not completely black. This parameter displays the percentage of pixels that are between zero and a low value - their contrast will be lost. As a general rule, set the low value to less than 0.1%. This parameter can also be adjusted using the dark gray slider.

Slider high(High) starts at the right side of the histogram, located between the right edge of the graph and the point where the graph shrinks to zero pixels. This option changes the light pixels in the image to white. As a general rule, set this parameter to less than 0.1%. This parameter can also be adjusted using the white slider.

Slider Gamma(Gamma) - If the overall image is too dark or too light, then you need to adjust the gamma, which is a standard measure of how contrast changes in images. If the image is too dark, then move the slider Gamma(gray triangle) to the right to increase gamma. If the image is too light, then move the slider Gamma to the left to decrease the gamma setting.

Slider Midtones(Midtones) (on the right side of the window) - if the graph has peaks on the left and right, or contains low values ​​in the center, then the midtones need to be compressed. Shadows and highlights need to be expanded to show the information they contain. This often happens in flash photography when the subject is too close to the camera; The subject appears brightly lit, but the background of the photograph is created dark. To compress the midtones, move the vertical slider Midtones. If the chart peaks are in the center and have low pixel counts on the left and right sides, then expand the midtones by moving the slider Midtones way down.

If you are creating artistic effects, you can use the controls outputmax(output max) () and output min(Output min) () to the left of the histogram. engine Max is a white circle on a gray background, and the engine Min is a black circle on a gray background. In order to darken the light pixels in the image, you need to move the slider Max way down. In order to lighten the dark pixels in the image, you need to move the slider Min up.

Even if the sliders move along the vertical axis, the parameters Max and Min(range 0 to 255) affect the horizontal axis. All pixels outside the range are converted to be within the range.

If you just want to improve your image, then this option should not be used.

Triangular buttons below the slider Gamma(Gamma) determines the scale of the histogram and nothing else. The left button zooms in and the right button zooms out the histogram. Button 1:1 sets 100% histogram scale.

Correction

Auto levelingallows you to bring colors to the average value, that is, very light colors will become darker, dark colors will become lighter.

Invert Colorsallows for each color instead of the color that is there, to put an additional color. If there is an original drawing, as shown below.

Then after the execution of this mode, the next one will appear.

Curves allows you to lighten or darken the drawing according to the schedule. The following window will then appear on the screen.

Here is a curve (in the figure - a straight line), which corresponds to the color, that is, light will correspond to light, dark - dark. Now let's change the shape of the curve. To do this, move the cursor to the line, press the left mouse button and, without releasing the button, move the cursor to another location. Let's assume that the curve shape becomes as shown in the figure below.

Then the original drawing (shown in the previous mode) becomes the next one.

If you change the curve as shown in the figure below.

The drawing will be next.

Moreover, the curve can have an intricate form.

And the drawing too. The option to change the brightness was considered above, but you can change it according to RGB scheme.

Moreover, according to this scheme, you can change the primary colors separately from each other.

In order to do this, check the box Red and remove the checkmarks in other colors. Then move the red curve to the right place. Then we will do the same for green and separately for blue. We get different curves for different colors (and the figure shown below).

Note that the starting point can be moved from bottom to top (for this, when moving, the cursor should be slightly to the left of the graph border). Accordingly, the right point can be set lower.

Coarseness allows you to make the color more or less saturated. Uncheck the option Synchronization and change the position of the sliders.

As a result, the original drawing

Will be next.

Hue and saturationallows you to change the hue, saturation, and lightness of the picture.

Make black and whiteallows you to remove colors, as shown in the figure below.

Sepia allows you to overlay tints on a black and white image. If you apply this mode to the black and white picture shown in the figure above, you will get the following picture.

Levels allows you to set color levels. When you enter this mode, a window with histograms will appear on the screen. You can change the level for all primary colors (check the boxes to the left of the color name, where R - red - red, G - green - green, B - blue - blue). But you can set the level for an individual color (leaving a tick only near its name, and uncheck the others).

The commands in this menu are designed to correct the color of an image in various ways.

The following image will be used to illustrate the various adjustments available in this menu:

Auto leveling
This command is used to automatically adjust the color of an image. As a result of its application, images that are too dark or too light are brought to a normal level. The result is equivalent to pressing the "Auto Level" button in the " " command dialog of this menu.

After using this command, which has no configuration options, our image will look like this:

After applying "Auto leveling"

Invert Colors
The effect of this command is very similar to taking a photograph negative. Applying it again will return the original image.

Our image after color inversion:

After applying "Invert Colors"

Roughening…
This adjustment allows you to reduce the number of allowed image color values. Usually, each color channel has 256 possible values ​​(from 0 to 255), but with this command you can limit this range from 2 to 64. This allows you to "posterize" the image, give it a "retro" or "false dither" look .

Original image after coarsening:

After applying "Coarse…"

Hue and saturation...
This operation can be used to change the hue and saturation of an image. Additionally, in the command's settings window, you can adjust the "lightness", which is similar, but not the same as brightness.

Here's what our image will look like after applying this command, with Hue set to 88 and Saturation set to 158:

After applying "Hue and Saturation..."

Make black and white
This adjustment removes all colors, making the layer black and white.

Original image after color removal:

After applying "Make Black and White"

Sepia
This adjustment converts the image to black and white and then adds a sepia tone. This can be used to give your image a nostalgic look.

The original image after applying the Sepia command:

After applying "Sepia"

Levels…
This operation is used to adjust the color range and gamma of the image. For more information see

You will need

• - a computer with the ability to connect a camera to it
• - Microsoft Office Picture Manager program from the Microsoft Office software package
• Optionally:
• - Paint.NET program or any other graphic editor

Instruction

In any way known and accessible to you, transfer the necessary photo / picture to your computer and save it anywhere on your hard drive.
To increase the brightness of the picture, use one of the two methods below.

Method One. You will need the Microsoft Office Picture Manager program from the Microsoft Office software package.
1. Open the desired picture in this program. This can be done by right-clicking on the file and selecting "Open With...".
Tip: If Microsoft Office Picture Manager is your default picture viewer, you can simply double-click the picture to open it in the desired program.
2. Find the "Change Picture" icon on the toolbar or select the menu item Picture - Brightness and Contrast ...
The settings area will open on the right.
3. Use the "Adjust brightness" button to make the program select the optimal settings. If the result does not suit you, then the action can be canceled with the corresponding button.
Adjust the brightness of the picture, bringing it to the optimal level, in your opinion, using five different sliders. The Microsoft Office Picture Manager program allows you to both increase / decrease the brightness and contrast of the picture as a whole, and adjust these parameters separately for light or dark parts of the picture.

Method Two. You will need any graphics editor. For example, the free program Paint.NET, whose capabilities are quite wide.
1. Open the desired picture in this program. This can be done by selecting the "Open ..." item in the program from the "File" menu or simply by dragging the file from the folder into the program with the mouse.
2. You can edit the overall brightness of the picture using this program in several ways at once. Select one of the following items from the Adjustments menu:
- Brightness/Contrast. Here you can increase the overall brightness of the picture.
- Hue/Saturation. The item "Brightness" in this submenu makes the picture lighter in general.
- Auto levels. Perhaps the program will be able to improve your picture on its own, and you will be satisfied with the result.
- Curves. This section of the menu is intended for more experienced users and allows you to make significant adjustments to the illumination / shading of a picture or photo. You can try to figure out the settings yourself.
Tip: You can apply several of the above at the same time to achieve the desired effect.

To fully work with images in Microsoft Word 2010, you need to learn how to work with image color settings. It will be useful to know how to apply artistic effects to a drawing, which can significantly improve the appearance of the image. This is described in this article with illustrative examples.

Adjusting Image Brightness and Contrast

Adjusting the brightness of an image means lightening or darkening the image. When you use these adjustment tools, Word 2010 automatically makes changes to the color range. That is, adjusting the brightness for shadows, highlights and midtones is not available. Simply put, the setting is used using special patterns that have different degrees of exposure. Exposure, in turn, determines the degree of lightening/darkening.

Contrast is the ratio of the lightest areas of an image to the darkest. In color contrast, this is the difference in color shades. In Word 2010, brightness and contrast are controlled by the same patterns. In turn, templates can have zero brightness or contrast values, which allows you to separately adjust the level of their values. In the case of fine-tuning (the "Format Picture" window), the situation is similar.

To adjust the brightness and contrast of an image, do the following:

1st way.

1. Select the image in your Word 2010 document and go to the "Format" tab.
2. In the "Edit" group, click on the "Correction" button and in the window that opens, select the desired brightness value from the collection of samples. If you need more fine-tuning, click the Picture Correction Options button. The Format window opens on the Picture Setup tab.
3. In the Brightness area, set the desired value (as a percentage) and click Close.

2nd way.

1. Click on the image in the Word 2010 window and select Picture Format from the context menu.
2. Go to the "Picture Adjustment" tab and set the desired brightness values.

Sharpness is changed in the same way. Decreasing sharpness results in blurry images, while sharpening, on the contrary, sharpens the image. However, the smooth transitions in the image are lost and graininess increases.

Figure 1. Correction of sharpness, brightness and contrast

Image Color Adjustment

Image color adjustment allows Word 2010 to adjust the color in terms of brightness, contrast, sharpness and saturation. By simple manipulations, you can set the image to look appropriate for the tasks.

Change color saturation

Color saturation is the strength, the intensity of the sensation of a color tone. In other words, it is how strongly a certain color is represented in the palette, and how “pure” it is. "Pure" color means the minimum presence of pixels of other colors, their shades, as well as shades of the main color. Saturation refers to how a particular color looks under different levels of light. Saturation, or the intensity of a color, varies with the intensity of the light. That is, the brighter the picture, the brighter and more saturated the colors in it - and this rule applies even to black and its shades. Without going into the details of color theory, we note that by changing the color saturation, you can drastically change the appearance of the entire image. Since with a change in the saturation of colors, the composition of the color palette of the image completely changes.

To color adjust an image, follow these steps:

1. Select the picture you want in your Word 2010 document.
2. Click the Format tab and in the Modify group, click the Color button
3. In the window that opens, in the "Color Saturation" group, select the appropriate sample.

For finer tuning, follow these steps:

1st way.

1. Right-click on the desired picture and select Picture Format from the context menu.
2. Click on the "Picture Settings" tab in the "Picture Format" window that opens, go to the "Color Saturation" group.

2nd way.

1. Click the Color button, and in the window that opens, click Picture Color Options.
2. Use the Presets and Saturation areas in the Color Saturation group to set the options you want.

Figure 2. Image color settings

Color shade

Changing the color hue allows you to lower or increase the "temperature" of the image. Simply put, reduce or increase the saturation of warm or cold shades of color. An example of warm colors are shades of red, yellow, orange, and cool colors are shades of blue, turquoise and gray.

To change the color hue of a picture, do the following:

1. Click the Format tab, and in the Modify group, click the Color button.
2. In the window that opens, go to the Color Tone group and select one of the swatches.

For more fine-tuning, go to the "Picture Format" window and in the "Color Tone" group, set the desired values.

Image recoloring

If you want to completely recolor an image, i.e. give it a specific color (color scheme), follow these steps:

1st way.

1. On the Format tab, in the Modify group, click the Color button.
2. In the window that opens, go to the Recolor group and select one of the swatches.

2nd way.

1. In the Picture Format window, click the Picture Color tab.
2. In the "Recolor" group, click the "Recolor" button in the "Presets" area, and in the window that opens, select the appropriate swatch.

Artistic drawing effects

With the help of artistic effects, you can significantly improve the appearance of the image without resorting to special graphic editors. A total of 23 Effect Patterns are available. Unfortunately, working with layers is not available.

To give the drawing an artistic effect, do the following:

1st way.

1. In the open document window, click on the desired image.
2. Go to the "Format" tab in the "Edit" group and click on the "Artistic Effects" button.
3. In the window that opens, select the appropriate sample.

2nd way.

1. Right-click on the picture and select Format Picture from the context menu.
2. In the window that opens, open the "Artistic Effects" tab, then click on the "Artistic Effects" button to select the appropriate swatch.

Figure 3. Artistic effects

For finer adjustments, use the Opacity and Size options for the Artistic Effects.

• "Transparency" - allows you to adjust the level of transparency of the applied effect. The greater the transparency, the less changes made to the picture when applying the effect will be reflected and vice versa.
• "Size" - determines the "density" of the applied effect. So for the "Watercolor" effect, this is the size of the brush, for the "Light Screen" effect, this is the size of the grid, etc. The smaller the value, the more accurate the changes made and vice versa - it all depends on what kind of picture you want to set.

Please note that setting options is available only after applying the effect to the picture.

Transparency of individual color pixels

To give an image a special effect, you can "desaturate" pixels of a certain color. A similar approach can be used, for example, if you want to see part of the text through the picture.

To set the transparency of pixels of a specific color:

1. Click "Set transparent color" in the window for changing the color of the picture - the cursor will take the form of a pencil with an arrow.
2. Select a section of the image with the desired color and left-click - the pixels of the specified color will become completely transparent.

Figure 4. The final version of the picture after adjustments

Conclusion

At this stage in the development of Word 2010, you need to be able to change the image in terms of color saturation, contrast brightness, etc. This will allow you to quickly and accurately adjust the image without resorting to specialized graphic editors. Fortunately, there are more than enough options for working with images in Word 2010, which can be compared in scale with separate graphic editors. But, even if you are not faced with the task of becoming a graphics processing specialist, you need to know the basic concepts. Actually, the main ways to customize images were outlined in this article.