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Set the Shadow Point

In a Nutshell

The Wizard invites you to increase image contrast by making blacks blacker. Click on the darkest part of the image in which you wish to retain detail.

More Detail

Usually, but not always, the shadow point, sometimes called the black point, should simply be set to the darkest area of your image.

Some of your images may contain uninteresting areas that are black, such as deeply shadowed background areas devoid of detail. Your image will probably benefit if you ignore these areas, allowing them to go completely black, and click on a part of your image that is dark, but contains interesting detail or texture.

too many solid patches of black

just right. See how the black pixels are broken up?

You may click on and drag the shadow point to fine-tune its location. The preview image will change, showing the remainder of the image in a grayed out condition to make any pure black stand out better.

Blocks of pure black should be avoided, in general, especially when they overlay areas that should retain detail. To retain detail in these shadow areas, move the shadow point to minimize or "break up" the area actually set to a pure black.

For example, the images to the left show setting the shadow point to some trees in the background of an image. The top image shows too much pure black - dragging the shadow point slightly, toward the larger pure black areas, will limit the pure black areas to just a few pixels on a side. This is preferred because it retains detail in the black areas. For another example of setting the black point, check out this tutorial.

Not all images have a shadow point. For example, an image of blue sky with clouds - called a high key image - will suffer if the sky is forced to a black color. Other images may have a very dark shadow that has some color. For these images, click Next.

Power Users

You may also drag the left and right Threshold Lines of the Master or luminance curve to quickly and conveniently determine the brightest and darkest areas of your image. Although you may leave the threshold line in place to change the darkest areas of your image, it is usually better to move the threshold line back to the edge of the curve, and set an explicit shadow point.

Use the information gained by dragging the threshold lines to help determine where to place the shadow point.

In Lab mode, the shadow does not contribute any color balance information.