Page 409 - Xara Designer Pro X17

The Photo Tools 409

spread of brightness levels across the range, dark to light, as in the above example. Here
are some pictures and example histograms.

1. The first image shows a good spread, from the darkest to lightest shades, with a
predominance of mid-brightness shades.
2. The second image is obviously very dark, and the histogram reflects this with peaks
at the dark (left) end.
3. The third image has peaks at the bright (right) end which are typical for images that
have a bright sky. There is nothing wrong with this and the overall exposure is
about right and you can see a good distribution of shades across the histogram.

Adjusting brightness

Dragging on the center gray triangle adjusts the brightness (technically this is altering the
gamma). It does the exact same thing as the brightness slider on the InfoBar.
The brightness slider alters the darker shades in a picture more than it does the lighter
shades, so it is particularly good for revealing details in shadows.
Selecting the black, gray and white points

The three eye-dropper icons can be used to pick the black, gray or white points on the
photo, and adjust the three controls for you automatically. These tools have the
advantage that they also adjust the white balance or color cast that your photo might
have.