I love playing with smartcurves. For those who are looking for a true (and free) curves plug-in for Elements, here it is:
http://free.pages.at/easyfilter/curves.html
I'll be frank with you, I rarely use it for normal curves editing. This is because I have learnt other way to do curves adjustments, either with gradient maps or combinations of levels, blend modes and masks. Also I am not at ease to color correct with curves. Maybe it is just me, but I find the interface to tweak many points in curves is not very precise and responsive.
But...
This free software has many advantages:
- works in 16 bits
- lets you play with other color modes, especially Lab or HSB/HSL etc...
- shows histograms not available elsewhere: saturation, chroma...
The killer advantage I am presently playing with is the ability to save your curves in presets, and even use any preset (.acv curves) for CS.
Just for play, I saved presets for channels, RGB, Lab lightness or a or b channel, standard or inverted S-curves, Lab colour enhancement, tones selections for masks (midtones...)
Can anyone help me find useful curves presets for CS on the Web?
http://free.pages.at/easyfilter/curves.html
I'll be frank with you, I rarely use it for normal curves editing. This is because I have learnt other way to do curves adjustments, either with gradient maps or combinations of levels, blend modes and masks. Also I am not at ease to color correct with curves. Maybe it is just me, but I find the interface to tweak many points in curves is not very precise and responsive.
But...
This free software has many advantages:
- works in 16 bits
- lets you play with other color modes, especially Lab or HSB/HSL etc...
- shows histograms not available elsewhere: saturation, chroma...
The killer advantage I am presently playing with is the ability to save your curves in presets, and even use any preset (.acv curves) for CS.
Just for play, I saved presets for channels, RGB, Lab lightness or a or b channel, standard or inverted S-curves, Lab colour enhancement, tones selections for masks (midtones...)
Can anyone help me find useful curves presets for CS on the Web?