Quick links to procedures on this page:

Adjusting brightness and contrast

Corel Painter offers two different methods for adjusting image brightness and contrast. You can adjust brightness and contrast more quickly by using the Brightness/Contrast effect, or more precisely by using the curve in the Color Correction dialog box.

When using the Brightness/Contrast effect, you can adjust all image colors at once.

brightness contrast

Before (left) and after (right) applying the Brightness/Contrast effect.

When using the curve, you can adjust the contrast or brightness of colors while maintaining the tonal transitions in the original image. You can adjust all colors at once, or adjust R, G, and B individually. As you adjust the Contrast or Brightness sliders, the endpoints of the curves remain fixed. Because the effect maintains the levels from the original image, there are always 256 distinct levels, regardless of how much you adjust the sliders.

Contrast adjusts the difference between light and dark values. As you increase the contrast, the curve takes on an "S" shape, indicating that light colors are becoming lighter and dark colors darker. If you decrease the contrast, the curve takes on an inverted "S" shape and tones down the contrast of all midtone colors.

An image before adjusting brightness and contrast by using the curve.

An example of increasing the contrast by using the curve.

Brightness moves all values on a curve to a brighter tone or darker tone.

An example of increasing brightness by using the curve.

To quickly adjust brightness and contrast Back to Top

*

You can reset the sliders to the default settings by clicking Reset.

You can compare the adjusted image with the original image by enabling and disabling the Preview check box.

To adjust brightness and contrast by using the curve Back to Top

Channel icons in the Color Correction dialog box.

*

You can clear all corrections so that you can start again by clicking Reset.

You can compare the adjusted image with the original image by enabling and disabling the Preview check box.


Feedback
Was this page helpful? Send feedback. (Internet connection required.)

Copyright 2016 Corel Corporation. All rights reserved.