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S T E P 4
The data comprising an image contains a variety of brightness settings ranging from
shadows to highlights. These settings are represented in Plug-in Module CS-U by values
ranging between 0 and 255. The difference in these values determines the image’s
contrast. To show how much of the image data falls into each brightness setting, Plug-
in Module CS-U contains a Histogram feature that shows this data distribution clearly.
With the Histogram you can adjust the level of shadows and highlights to achieve
beautiful tones with the best possible contrast.
Hint
• You may not alter the histogram for images scanned in the Color mode when
ColorSync is active or for images scanned in the Black & White mode.
• You can use the Histogram only with grayscale, color or high definition color
images.
How to Interpret Histograms
You can select the entire image or specify an area for which a histogram will be
generated. The height of the peaks of the histogram is directly related to the volume
of data with the corresponding value.
How to Adjust Histograms
To change the contrast in an image, the distribution of data between shadows and
highlights can be adjusted by dragging the shadow and highlight marks at the bottom
of the histogram. All of the data lying to the outside (left) of the shadow mark is
changed to a zero value and all of the data lying to the outside (right) of the highlight
mark is changed to a 255 value. The examples below show adjustments to improve the
contrast. Use the Auto setting to adjust the Histogram for most jobs (p. 41). The
graphs below show images adjusted with the Auto setting.
Using the Histogram Feature to Adjust Image Contrast
Move the highlight mark
toward the shadow end.
Move the shadow mark
toward the highlight end.
Move both the shadow and
highlight marks inward.
Image with a bias
toward highlights
Image with a bias
toward shadow
Image with well
distributed data
IMAGE
1
IMAGE
2
IMAGE
3
Portion with
Highlights
Portion with
Shadows
Entire Image
Distribution of data
with a bias toward
highlights.
Distribution of data
with a bias toward
shadows.
Distribution of data
widely distributed
between shadows and
highlights.