Ok. So PL has a blacks slider but no whites slider.
In some (really most) images, I like to set the black point and white point specifically to just before clipping.
How are you folks accomplishing this in PL? Are you just using the curves tool for this purpose? Am I missing something here?
Tom
Just the curve tool.
George
Have you tried using the âSpotâ feature within 'Smart Lighting? That allows you to draw boxes over the brightest and darkest areas on an image. The magic of Smart lighting then adjusts things accordingly. You can then increase / decrease the strength of the smart lighting using the slider.
I adjust the Exposure slider to âsetâ the white point then adjust the Black Point slider.
Using the curve tool is probably the best and most straightforward option.
Here is my routine.
Starting with the SOOC imageâŠ
The first thing I do is to activate the under and over-exposure warnings under the histogram, as well as the Spot Measure mode on the Smart Lighting toolâŠ
Notice how this has slightly âflattenedâ the tonalities.
Next, I adjust the Luminance Tone Curve to force the highlights and shadows to blow and blockâŠ
Now, I know where the darkest and brightest parts of the image are to be found. So, I draw a couple of Smart Lighting âspotâ rectangles around these areasâŠ
Now, adjust the ends of tone curve until the over/under-exposures markers just extinguishâŠ
You have now established the darkest and brightest (back and white) points on the image and Smart Lighting has âequalisedâ the tones in between. If you find that the white point or the black point still light up the warnings, I find that lowering the top to 250 and raising the bottom to 5 is about right, but that is going to depend on the image.
Now you can start playing with other adjustments. Here is my basic curve for this particular image, along with, more importantly, the Fine Contrast slidersâŠ
Finally, I adjusted the saturation on the grass tones and added a Control Line over the sky and made a few adjustments to bring out the cloud detailâŠ
2,253 for the vertical sliders is enough to have all the clipping disappear. Itâs the threshold PL uses. For the black and white point you use the horizontal sliders.
You use Smart Lighting before the curves. Iâll try that too and see what happens.
George
Excellent step by step @Joanna thank you for sharing.
Thank you everyone. Very helpful.
Tom
Itâs fine if you invent your style, but you should stiil be open and experiment in the free time. Look at photoâs potential, imagine your goal first, and then find the way. For example, I would probably have edited the example by @Joanna very differently, using Selective Tones rather than Tone Curve and VERY different microcontrast and fine contrast settings. If my goal was to get the boat a âmetallicâ feel, the sky a bit dramatic, and everything else a pure background, I would use SelectiveTones (funny to see many -/+/+/- patterns in my edits), a little of FC highlights, larger FC shadows, negative microcontrast and tune the FC midtones as desired (WB and Sat/Vib being a different story). The difference between ST and TC is in local contrasts and color preservation. Many paths may lead to similar targets, to be trivial. Stay open.
Right.
But the story of the threshold still exists. Itâs hard coded in PL. Iâve mentioned that before. Between 2 and 254 thereâre no blinkies.
But for printing it might be right to go to about 5 and 250 to force the printer to cover all the white of the print paper
George
I discuss the disadvantages of Selective Tones in this post and related onesâŠ
The main problem is that it can produce posterisation in some cases.
Even if it is a wooden boat like this one? 
Always. And, as I am constantly finding out, donât stick to older tools when newer ones do the job better.
Agreed but, as you sayâŠ
This is exactly why I tend to the +/- 5 to avoid artefacts on paper.
When you folks are talking about these numbers, where are you setting them? Are you setting these in the tone curve? âBlinkiesâ were mentioned⊠are you setting your warnings to +/- 5?
Tom
On the steppers for the Tone CurveâŠ
We donât really have true âBlinkiesâ as such, just the over and under exposure warningsâŠ
Which produce warnings like thisâŠ
Thank you @Joanna
Tom
The tone curve tool exists out of 2 axes. The horizontal is showing what is read, the input. The vertical is what is written, the output. Normally the input and output are the same connected through the diagonal. Input x is output x.
The output,vertical ax, is what we see. Blinkies, just a warning, are based on the output.
When changing the limits on the output we compress the output.
When adjusting the input, horizontal ax, for setting the black or white point to the shape of the histogram we do the same. The 2 horizontal sliders represent the values 0 and 255. By moving these sliders we correct the input When the right slider is set to 200 by example we correct the input so that that value becomes 255. Everything above the 200 will become 255 by definition. Play with it and watch the histogram and the blinkies.
George
Thanks @George
Tom
