Photoshop Tutorials: Fix Tone and Color with Levels In Photoshop

Step 7: Add A "Levels" Adjustment Layer

Click on the New Adjustment Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers palette once again:

This time, choose Levels from the list:

This brings up the Levels dialog box, just like we saw at the beginning of the tutorial when we made changes to the white and black point default values. Even though we're using an adjustment layer this time rather than selecting Levels from the Image menu, the dialog box is exactly the same:

If you look at your image, you'll see that your two target markers have come out of hiding now that we have our Levels dialog box on the screen:

Step 8: Click On The First Target Marker With The White Point Eyedropper

At this point, fixing the overall (global) tonal and color problems in the image is a snap. First, click on the white point eyedropper in the bottom right of the Levels dialog box to select it:

With the white point eyedropper selected, all we need to to in order to fix any tonal and color problems in the highlights is click on the first target marker (the one labeled "1"):

If you're having trouble lining up the eyedropper icon with the center of the target marker, press the Caps Lock key on your keyboard, which will turn the eyedropper icon into a target marker icon itself. You'll know you have the two target markers lined up perfectly when they both disappear from the screen, at which point you can click your mouse to correct the highlights.

Step 9: Click On The Second Target Marker With The Black Point Eyedropper

We've corrected the highlights, now we just have to correct the shadows (the dark areas). Click on the black point eyedropper in the Levels dialog box to select it:

Then, with the black point eyedropper selected, simply click on the second target marker to correct any tonal and color problems in the shadows:

And with just two clicks of the mouse, we've managed to fix any overall tonal and color problems in the highlight and shadow areas of the image. Here's a "before and after" comparison to see how much the image has improved already. The original, uncorrected version is on the left, and the corrected version is on the right. I've temporarily hidden the target markers using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+H (Win) / Command+H (Mac). I can bring them back again using the same keyboard shortcut: