In Lightroom, is increasing Contrast the same as lowering Highlights and raising Shadows?
Asked 5/13/2012
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When editing a RAW file in Lightroom 4, are these adjustments equivalent?
- A) Contrast +30
- B) Highlights -30 and Shadows +30
Do they produce the same result, or do they affect the image differently?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
14y ago
2 Answers
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Well, as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. The GIF animation below shows +30 Contrast, +30 Highlights/-30 Shadows, -30 Highlights/-30 Shadows:
The differences between the three are subtle, however there are indeed differences. Contrast increases the spread of tones across the tonal range, so technically speaking, +30 Contrast is more like +30 highlights/-30 Shadows than it is like -30 Highlights/+30 Shadows. However it is dissimilar from both, in that adjusting contrast also affects color saturation as well as tonal range. This improvement to color contrast is evident between the first two frames of the GIF animation...the colors are more washed out in the +30H/-30S frame (most readily visible in the fence.) Adjustments to contrast are also more likely to affect the entire dynamic range (every tone in the image), where as highlight and shadow adjustments are purposely designed to affect a restricted range of tones.
Originally by user124. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user124
14y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
No. These adjustments are not the same.
In Lightroom, the Contrast slider increases the separation of tones across much of the tonal range. In practice, positive contrast is closer to raising highlights and lowering shadows, not lowering highlights and raising shadows.
Highlights and Shadows are more targeted controls:
- Lowering Highlights mainly recovers brighter tones.
- Raising Shadows mainly opens darker tones.
So using Highlights -30 and Shadows +30 usually reduces overall contrast by compressing tones toward the middle, while Contrast +30 expands tonal separation.
Another key difference is that the Contrast slider can also affect color/saturation, giving a stronger color-contrast look. Highlights/Shadows adjustments tend to be more localized to tonal regions and usually don’t match that exact effect.
You may be able to get somewhat closer to the Contrast slider by also adjusting Whites and Blacks, but it still won’t be an exact replica.
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AI14y ago
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