Image Adjustment Fundamentals

One of the most frequent and important image-editing tasks that all graphic designers are faced with is color correction. Unfortunately, a majority of the photographs you wind up working with are rarely perfect. They usually require a bit of tweaking, and some might even need a complete overhaul. The good thing is that there are many tools available in Photoshop for adjusting images—but which ones are the best to use for high-quality output? In this chapter, I’ll set you on the right path and show you the best tools and methods to use for making tonal and color corrections for print images in Photoshop CS3.

The images that you use in your layouts should draw your audience into the design and ultimately help communicate your message. Therefore, image color is essential. The overall tonal quality of your images must be exciting, yet balanced—not lifeless, overly  dark, or blown out. It’s your job to correct and enhance them so that they “pop” right off the printed page. But before we get started with tonal manipulation and the best ways to color-adjust images for print, you must understand that there is no magic formula for this task. Color adjustment is truly a delicate balancing act, and the amount of correction you should apply can vary from image to image. It’s important to learn how to identify what needs to be fixed in an image before you start making corrections. You must also understand that color correction means data loss. Image adjustment involves “stretching and squeezing” various parts of the image’s tonal range, and in the process, losing image data. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as long as you  make sure to throw away what you don’t need and to keep what you do.