levels

Definition: Graphical representation showing which brightness levels have the greater or lesser numbers of pixels i.e. an overall dark image will show that at low levels, there are a greater number of pixels than at high brightness levels.
Reading your fortune in Levels
On first encounter, the Levels display is not so distant a cousin of the tea-leaves left in the bottom of a real cup of tea. The difference is that you can tell your future in Levels. The trick is to see if the display is a thick display like an unbroken hedge of more or less the same height. Yes? Then you've got happy hours of image manipulation ahead for what you have is a file full of information throughout the dynamic range. Beware the Levels that looks like a comb that has been through the wars: broken, uneven and full of gaps. This little monster will be very rebellious as soon as you try to improve its tonal qualities -- which you are sure to want to do. Our advice: ditch the file and sort out another scan, unless you like making life difficult for yourself.

Related Terms: histogram

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