Ok, this is T's new section for exploring one feature or technique, so I thought maybe we could post examples of unusual uses for Levels adjustments.

I frequently use the midtone slider in Levels to fine-tune my layer masks (called "choking"). Just click on the layer mask and activate levels (Ctrl-L or Cmd-L) or Image>Adjustments>Levels. This works equally well in Elements or Photoshop.

Here is an example of a feather I masked (badly) and how it can be fixed with Levels (and taken to the extreme, ruined or used for a special effect).

In case you can't tell, the middle one is what I'm aiming at :) On the left is a loose-fitting layer mask, on the right we've started to lose fine detail.

Post your unusual use for Levels here.

I'm impressed with how levels cleaned up that feather selection. I will definitely have to remember this technique. Looks like a real timesaver. Thanks Doug!

~T

If you have applied Find Edges and Desaturate to an image and want the final result to be black lines on a white background, you can use Levels to suppress midtone noise.

~Danny~

I use levels to change day into night - by forcing the left slider way way past its usual range.

Hi,

Back on line after quite some absence. Nice to be back. I missed you all.

Have a play with this. Open an image and press Control/Shift/Alt/Tilde (That's key on the rhs with the horizontal squiggle on it.)

You will have a set of marching ants. Open a Levels Adjustment Layer and the layer mask on that adjustment layer will now have a mask relating to the Luminesence of your original image. Pull the gamma over to the right and watch what happens.

The strongest application of Levels occurs where the mask is whitest. Neat!? You can smudge the edges of the effect by bluring the mask.

You can Alt/Left Click the mask then Control/Shift/I to invert it and open another Levels Adjustment Layer which will have the obverse effect.

If you are trying for a night shot you can move the bottom rh slider in to suppress the output of the highlights.

Apoligise for not posting examples but short of time.

Thanks for an interesting thread. Just noticed how old this thread is. I came here on a link from the Retouching Forum on dpreview.com http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1006&message=13588968

Indigo

...Back on line after quite some absence. Nice to be back. I missed you all. Welcome back, Indigo. It's always a pleasure to have folks stop by who have been gone awhile.

Very interesting technique you cited.

Just noticed how old this thread is. I came here on a link from the Retouching Forum on dpreview.com http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1006&message=13588968 Just goes to show that good info never goes out of date!