Curvemeister 101

This class is about improving the color of your photographs by modifying color and contrast, and how to use curves to change them, and make your images look better using Curvemeister 3, an amazing curves plug-in for Adobe Photoshop and Elements. Although the Curvemeister plug-in will be used throughout this class, the principles you learn can be applied to any program that supports curves, particularly if that program offers access to individual color channels.

This class was written by Mike Russell, the creator and programmer of Curvemeister; however, Mike wants more time to devote to the development of his Curvemeister software, and he asked me to take over teaching the course. Having been a Curvemeister fan for a long time now, I was delighted to do so. This software will add a whole new dimension to your correction arsenal, whether you use full Photoshop or Photoshop Elements.

Prerequisites:

You must have Photoshop or Elements installed and you must know how to open and save files, and how to perform basics photo editing in your program of choice. This course covers only the use of Curvemeister, not Photoshop or Elements.

Besides Photoshop or Elements, you will need to have Curvemeister 3 or the demo installed. Curvemeister can be purchased from http://www.curvemeister.com, or you can download the demo to use for the course. Be aware that if you use the demo, you cannot save the changes and the images will be watermarked.

Links:

Curvemeister

Enrollment:

Classes are $30 for a six week session.Enrollment is open now for this class at Eclectic Academy!

Syllabus

Lesson 1

Welcome to the class
Installing Curvemeister
The Color Wizard: A Dark Day in Duck-land
How Curves Work
Exercise Examples 1-8

Lesson 2

Rearranging Curvemeister's Windows and Buttons
The Hue Clock, a Visual Speedometer
Color Spaces are Countries
Say Hello to Lab Color
Increasing Contrast using RGB and Lab mode
Adding texture to Highlights, Shadows, and MidTones
Finding the Shadow and Highlight
Color Casts and How to Remove Them
Finding the Neutral Point in a Photo
Using the Hue Clock to Correct a Neutral
Using Floating Neutrals to control Overall Brightness

Lesson 3

Color Correction "By the Numbers"
Calibrating your Monitor and Printer
Fixing Multiple Color Casts with RGB and the Hue Clock
Pinning Skin Tones
Fixing Blue Shadows

Lesson 4

Contrast Pinning to Increase the Contrast of an Object
Histograms
Copying a Channel for use in Photoshop or Elements
Comparing Colors Measuring Statistics
Smart Filters (Photoshop Only)
Painting a Fire Engine Green
Painting a Car Yellow

Lesson 5

The Wonderfulness of Mask
Selecting a Mask Channel and Inverting the Mask
Darkening a Sky and Making it More Blue
Adding Color Without Creating "Demon Eyes"
Masking by Lightness

Lesson 6

Dan Margulis's "Man From Mars" Procedure
Man from Mars, on Steroids
Using the A and B Channels to Drive Colors Apart
Using Masks With Selections
Using an Alpha Channel as a Mask

<<<--- Go Back to the previous page

Eclectic Academy
Other classes I teach
If you aren't sure what an online class is, read What are Online Classes?

Contact Me

Disclaimer

All designs and images on these pages are copyrighted to me, Sara Froehlich and Northlite Designs, or in the cases of software boxes and logos, their respective copyright holders. If you want to use something of mine you see, please contact me for permission. Thank you!