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Simple Examples
Each of these examples was done with a single popup menu selection and a single slider adjustment. Normally, one would do a sequence of such operations but to clearify the effect of each one, the image was reverted to the original before each adjustment.
These simple operations show the fundamental capability of ColorBender. That is, very precise transforms that do not clip, do not shift colors, do not posterize, and that have a uniform visual change as the slider is adjusted.
- Original Image
- Brighter
- Darker
- Higher Contrast
- Lower Contrast
- Brighter Shadows
- Darker Shadows
- Brighter Highlights
- Darker Highlights
- Deeper Colors
- Whiter Colors
- More Vivid Colors
- Grayer Colors
- Brighter Colors
- Blacker Color
- Lighter Colors
- Darker Colors
- Sharper Edges
- Blurred Edges
- More Acute Textures
- Smoother Textures
Selective Examples
The simple adjustments above can be restricted to parts of an image using region, color and neutral selectors. ColorBender technology assures that any sequence of selective operations preserve quality and precision without undesirable interactions.
Comparison of iPhoto and ColorBender for Brightness/Contrast and Tone
THEHED
Basic Concepts for Brightness, Contrast, Shadows and Highlights
The visual effects of brightness, contrast, shadows and highlights are interrelated. With a little thought we note the following.
- If Shadow brightness is increased, then overall brightness is increased and overall contrast is decreased
- If Shadow brightness is decreased, then overall brightness is decreased and overal contast is increased
- If Highlight brightness is increased, then overall brightness is increased and overall contrast is increased
- If Highlight brightness is decreased, then overall brightness is decreased and overall contast is decreased.
Thus, for various combinations of brightness and contrast we would expect the following effects on Highlights and Shadows.
- To brighten highlights while preserving shadows, increase brightness and decrease contrast.
- To darken highlights while preserving shadows, decrease brightness and increase contrast.
- To brighten shadows while preserving highlights, increase brightness and increase contrast.
- To darken shadows while preserving highlights, decrease brightness and decrease contrast.
For ColorBender, these relationships hold exactly. (If, for example, you increase brightness to +60, then the shadow value and highlight value will be automatically adjusted to +60 each.)
ColorBender Test Images for Brightness, Contrast, Shadows and Highlights
The following 9 images give the results from the settings of Brightness = (-60, 0, +60) and Contrast = (-60, 0, +60). Although ColorBender has Highlight and Shadow adjustments to give greater control, the results are exactly the same whether, for example, the bright highlights image is set
bright highlights high brightness bright shadows
low contrast original high contrast
dark shadows low brightness dark highlights
Overall Brightness, Contrast, Shadows and Highlights in iPhoto
bright highlights high brightness bright shadows
low contrast original high contrast
dark shadows low brightness dark highlights
Tone changes
whiter lighter brighter
grayer original more vivid
blacker darker deeper
Tone changes for iPhoto
whiter lighter brighter
grayer (less saturated) original more vivid (more saturated)
blacker darker deeper
The following image is a 3872 x 2592 pixel image taken with a Nikon D200 camera. It was resized in ColorBender to 6 x 4 inches at 150 dpi.
All of the examples in this section were processed with the adjustment panel settings shown to the left of the resulting image.
ColorBender brightness is easy to use: just select brightness in the popup menu and adjust the slider. The brightness control has the following characteristics.
- Neutrals brightness and color brightness are changed in the correct proportion
- There is no clipping, or burn outs in the bright regions
- The black point and white point are not changed
- There is no color shift
- There is no posterization, flattening or mach banding
Selective Examples
The following examples use a combination of region, color and neutral selectors to limit the operations to part of the image. Any sequence of selective operations can be done.
In addition to the above simple operations, the following include color shift and cast adjustments.
Selective Color Shift For Greens-Yellows
Selective Color Darken for Greens-Yellows
Selective Color Darken Blues-Cyans
This image started with the above Darker Colors Setting. Next, the center region is selected and the brightness increased as shown on the Adjustment Panel. Also, the center contrast and center color deepness was increased.
ColorBender 1.1 is a Universal Application that runs on Mac OS X 10.4 or later
© 4G Color 2005, 2006, 2007 all rights reserved, Website updated March 7, 2007