Photoshop How To

We’ve featured several tutorials on how to use the powerful Curves tool in Photoshop and Shutterbug readers keep asking for more so here’s another one, this time from Colin Smith at photoshopCAFE.

“In this tutorial I’m going to demystify curves for you,” Smith says at the start of the video. “Curves are sort of like opening the hood…and looking at the engine, and seeing actually how Photoshop works. Nothing compares to Curves when it comes to getting pinpoint accuracy and adjusting exactly where you want in the image and exactly how much.”

In particular, Smith shows you how to target tones and color in your photos using Curves to make them look better. He also shows you how to use Curves to precisely lighten or darken photos, which should make all your other techniques seem weak by comparison.

Check out the video below and then watch another video on Curves from Photoshop pro Nathaniel Dodson. You’ll probably also want to check out yet another Curves tutorial from Dodson to give you a richer understanding of this powerful and complex tool.

You can see more of Smith’s tutorials on his photshopCAFE channel. Here’s a video from him we showcased yesterday on 5 Photoshop Tips you probably weren’t aware of.