www.eSCRAPPERS.com by Denis Germain

The big mean Curve Tool Keywords: Tutorial, colors, modifications, free, photoshop Here are a few basic concepts to help you better understand the Curve Tool.
First there was "Contrast and Brightness"... Then there was "Levels"... and now, the Curve Tool. The tool that gives you more control than the previous two. Once you get past the intimidating look of this tool, it might become your new best friend!

The Curve Tool has two main indicators. The horizontal (black to white) line could be seen as a "before" map. The vertical line as an "after" map.
By moving the middle-horizontal point higher on the vertical line, you lighten the mid-tones on your image.
By moving the far left point all the way to the top of the horizontal line and the far right point all the way to the bottom, you invert your image, as black becomes white and white becomes black.
Curves = Levels with a lot more control! On a "normal" curve the bottom left point could be seen as the "shadows" (or dark triangle in the Levels menu): the top right represents the "highlights" (or white triangle in Levels): and the "dead center" point is the "midtones" (or gray triangle in Levels).

Once again here are the three basic "points" and 256 values on the "before" map (Horizontal) and 256 values on the "after" map.
By moving the lower left point you reduce the number of values available. The mid-grays on the "before" map now equal the "shadows" on the "after" map.
The same concept is applied here, but this time to the "highlights" point. White value (Hor) is now Gray on the "after" map.
There is so many possible controls in this menu, it's like being able to chose what point gets contrasted or highlighted in the "Levels" menu.
Test 1 You want to brighten the darkest area of your image by 50%. What would you do?

You have most likely realized the the "Midtones" point was moving along with the new curve on previous examples. If you want to move the "Midtones" point, simply click on the Curve and move it. (To remove a point, simply drag it outside the dialogue box). If you work on a specific Channel, you'll get even more power on the effect but we won't get into that for now!

You can also get amazing results with Power Retouche Photoshop Plugins