**Levels**

===Adjusting Contrast with the Levels Tool (from the [|How-To Geek Guide to Learning Photoshop])===

**Marc Fay**
4. The box that opens up is called the Adjustments-Levels Window. 5. Now that the window is open you can adjust the to change the darkness and lightness. 6. The represents the shadows in your picture 7. Messing around with the changes your picture. 8. You can keep messing around with the until your picture looks the way you want it to. 9. Once your done click the Ok Button and your picture should be ready for use.
 * Steps Below:**
 * 1) Copy and paste a picture you want to use into photoshop.
 * 2) Once your picture is in photoshop press Ctrl + L
 * 3) A box should open up looking like this:

[[image:http://www.howtogeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/sshot-789.png width="650" height="455" caption="sshot-789"]]
Shooting images on overcast days can give you gloomy images that are either too dark or devoid of detail.Copy-paste the image above into Photoshop. First try Adjustments--Auto adjustments--levels. Sometimes this helps. Not in this case, though.

Here's what you do:

While the Brightness and Contrast tool is an acceptable way to adjust your images, the best tool to use is usually the Levels tool. With your photograph open, simply press to open your levels dialog box (or Adjustments-Levels). By default, this is what it looks like. The three sliders (the arrows illustrated above) represent Shadows (your photograph’s darkest areas), Mid-tones (the middle darkest areas), and Highlights (the brightest areas of your photo). By adjusting them as illustrated above, brighter whites are created, mildly darker shadows, and the Mid-Tone point is moved closer to the shadows, allowing for more space between the Mid-Tones and the Highlights. Clicking OK will close the Levels and render them. Immediately, we see more detail in the bird, and our sky is less overcast and gloomy. With little effort at all, you can give your photographs a more naturalistic look and bring out detail you might not have known that you even had! Select a picture you wish to brighten.

The three sliders (the arrows illustrated above) represent Shadows (your photograph’s darkest areas), Mid-tones (the middle darkest areas), and Highlights (the brightest areas of your photo). By adjusting them as illustrated above, brighter whites are created, mildly darker shadows, and the Mid-Tone point is moved closer to the shadows, allowing for more space between the Mid-Tones and the Highlights.