When it comes to developing your craft as a photographer, you have done everything . You've learned all the fundamentals. You've experimented with all sorts of makeup tricks and lighting methods. And most of all, you've finally mastered your own camera. But somehow, despite all of your efforts, a number of your photographs still do not turn out the way you want them to. And for some reason, they are never quite as stunning as the photographs you've seen from a number of the more seasoned photographers out there. Another Suggestion: If you're working with a CMYK image, exactly the same steps apply, simply replace the channels of RGB (red, green, blue) with those of CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, k = black.) Now produce a gentle S-curve in the Green and Blue stations. Select Green from the channel drop-down listing. By creating a vignette, you delineate the boundaries of the image from its environment, increasing focus on the topic matter. You can even use a vignette in tandem using the Curves alterations over to further the nostalgic appearance. You can change the preferences for the alteration layer in the Properties window which automatically opens. Simply adjust the sliders. The attractiveness of using adjustment layers rather than altering Brightness/Contrast via the Image > Adjustments menu, is you could preserve the original image as you save as a .psd or a different file type that saves layers. This feature applies to each adjustment layer mode. So what exactly are you lost? The answer is pretty simple: you want to your game up in the Photoshop department and learn how to edit images like a pro. Fixing the Curves in a picture can alter the general tone or individually alter the values of each colour channel. To learn more or refresh your skills, consult with the introductory guide to Curves. You can select a place you need to modify, insert the Adjustment Layer, and the changes that you make from the controls will only change that pre-selected area. You might also use the paintbrush in dark to mask out regions, leaving the affected regions to be corrected by the adjustment layer. Hit the drop-down station menu again, then repeat this to the Blue channel. You are likely to get a more conducive, outdated picture that communicates a more relaxing or romantic tone. Hint: During the alterations process, the image will begin to look funky. Don't judge the consequences until after you finish these steps. It is possible to return to each station to adjust if necessary. Now, reduce the Opacity of this layer in the Layers window. Here are the settings for the layer mask I used and the results. Using Multiply works for some graphics better than many others -- it's not mandatory. I'll use Curves on this picture to shift the individual RGB channels, which will attain a washed-out, old picture look, while concurrently increasing contrast. This may impart a cooler tone to the picture. The post-processing point is an essential part of digital photography. Even when you've taken a photo that essentially looks perfect to you, there's always room for a little photo editing magical to bring it to another level. There are lots of photo editing programs on the market, but most photographers normally begin with Adobe Photoshop for basic editing. It's a powerful yet intuitive tool that may help you bring out the best in your images, so if you're a serious photographer, it's very important that you learn how to edit images with Photoshop. Select Curves from the alteration layers menu, as above, and refer to the Properties window. Locate the drop-down menu that states RGB near the peak of the Properties window. Move the dark slider at the bottom left of the chart to the right a little bit. This lowers the amount of reds from the dark areas of the picture. Hit B in your computer keyboard, or select the Brush tool in the Tools menu. Right click to bring up the brush choices window. With the layer mask selected, make brownish the foreground color to your brush. Subsequently, simply click in the center of the picture to show the first underneath. You might want to click a couple of times to correct the coverage. If you mess this up, simply re-Fill it with black. For a quick and effortless vignette, hit Command + Shift + N (consult with our totally free download for more Adobe keyboard shortcuts) and hit enter/return to a add a fresh layer. One of the easiest yet most effective ways to increase dynamics or enhance the total definition of a picture is to use a Brightness/Contrast Adjustment Layer. Use it in order to lighten or darken the picture (brightness) and decrease or increase the difference between lights and darks (comparison ). Go into Edit in the Primary menu and choose Fill. Choose Black from the Contents drop-down. Add a layer mask by clicking the Add layer mask button at the bottom of the Layers window. It needs to be full of White. If it's not, select the layer mask by clicking on itand apply the Load steps from above, picking White. The best way to edit photos using Photoshop: As you can see here, I reduced the brightness by -16 and increased comparison to 65, making a much richer image. Correct the Size slider so that the brush gets enormous, about as large as the picture, or slightly smaller or bigger. This will give the soft gradual edges we need to paint a vignette into the mask.