# PhotoshopElements

# Set press target values for images with specular highlights

1. Select the eyedropper tool, and choose 3 By 3 Average from the Sample Size menu in the eyedropper tool options. This ensures a representative sample of an area rather than the value of a single screen pixel.
2. Choose View > Actual Pixels to make sure you view the true color and tonal values of your image as you make adjustments to it.
3. Do one of the following:

   - Choose Enhance > Adjust Lighting > Levels.

   - Choose Layers > New Adjustment Layer > Levels, or open an existing Levels adjustment layer.

     When you open the Levels dialog box, you still have access to the scroll controls in the document window, the View menu, and to the Hand and Zoom tools by using keyboard shortcuts.

4. To identify areas of representative highlights and shadows in the image, move the pointer around the image, and look at the Info palette to find the lightest and darkest areas. If the Info palette isn’t open, choose Window > Info.
   To identify the darkest pixels, press Option and move the Black point slider; to identify the brightest pixels, press Option and move the White point slider.
5. Double-click the Set White Point eyedropper tool in the Levels dialog box to display the Color Picker. Enter the color values to assign to the lightest area in the image, and click OK. Follow these guidelines:

   - When you are printing on white paper, you can achieve a good highlight in an average-key image using RGB values of 244, 244, 244. An approximate grayscale equivalent is a 4% dot.

   - You can approximate these target values quickly by entering 96 in the Brightness (B) text box under the HSB section of the Color Picker.

   - With a low-key image, you might want to set the highlight to a lower value to avoid too much contrast. Experiment with Brightness values between 96 and 80.

6. In the image, click the highlight area that you identified. If you accidentally click the wrong highlight, click Reset and try again.

   The pixel values throughout the image are adjusted proportionately to the new highlight values. Any pixels lighter than the area you clicked become specular white. The Info palette shows the values both before and after the color adjustment.

7. Double-click the Set Black Point eyedropper tool in the Levels dialog box to open the Color Picker. Enter the values to assign to the darkest area in the image, and click OK. Follow these guidelines:

   - When you’re printing on white paper, you can achieve a good shadow in an average-key image by using RGB values of 10, 10, 10. An approximate grayscale equivalent is a 96% dot.

   - You can approximate these same values quickly by entering 4 in the Brightness (B) text box under the HSB section of the Color Picker.

   - With a high-key image, you might want to set the shadow to a higher value to maintain detail in the highlights. Experiment with Brightness values between 4 and 20.

8. In the image, click the shadow area that you identified, then click OK.

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- About Levels adjustments
- Create adjustment layers

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- This page on the Web