If an entire image is too dark, then adjusting the brightness is often a good way to correct the problem. The image below is one such example. There are no truly bright areas in the image on the left, so no part of the image became too bright after increasing brightness, as seen in the image on the right.

Before Brightness Adjustment		After Brightness Adjustment

However, with some images, parts of the image will already be bright enough, while other parts will be too dim. In cases such as these, adjusting the brightness control will cause parts of the image to be too bright, or "washed-out." In the example below, adjusting the brightness caused the silhouette around the animal's fur to be too bright and the fur to look washed out.

Before Brightness Adjustment		After Brightness Adjustment

In cases such as these, the best solution is a more delicate approach, which can be found via the Tone Map. To access the Tone Map in PhotoImpact, click Adjust:Tone Map. The Tone Map individually increases or decreases brightness in three different areas of the image: Highlights (the brightest areas), Midtones (the middle areas), and Shadows (the darkest areas). Positive values increase brightness, while negative values decrease brightness. By using the Tone Map's controls, you can selectively increase brightness in one area of the image, and increase brightness more, increase brightness less, leave brightness unchanged, or even decrease brightness, in other areas of the image.

Click above image to see the enlarged version.

When I adjusted this image's Tone Map, I increased Shadows 12 points, increased Midtones 8 points, and increased Highlights 4 points. The result is an image with a much more balanced improvement in brightness.

After Brightness Adjustment	After Tone Map Adjustment

In next week's Ulead Scan Tip, I'll take a look at (probably either "What Scanner Options Mean" (USB vs Serial vs Parallel) or "The Unsharp Mask Control").

Anthony L. Celeste