Levels

Levels is a tone control panel with three sliders under a histogram. The black slider sets the darkest input value that becomes pure black. The white slider sets the brightest value that becomes pure white. The midtone slider shifts overall brightness between those endpoints. Photographers use levels to fix flat exposure, set black and white points, and add contrast quickly.

Levels moves three fixed points: black, midtone, and white. Curves bend a line across the full tonal range with custom points in between. Levels suits quick endpoint and brightness fixes. Curves offers finer control over specific brightness ranges, such as lifting only deep shadows. Many editors include both; levels often comes first in the workflow.

The black point is the darkest tone in the image that maps to pure black after the edit. Dragging the black slider right tells the editor that pixels at or below that brightness should print as black. That deepens shadows and removes a gray haze in dark areas. Pushing too far clips shadow detail to solid black.

The white point is the brightest tone that maps to pure white. Dragging the white slider left pulls hot highlights down so bright areas retain detail instead of blowing out. In a high-contrast scene, a small move can recover window light or sky tone. Moving too far flattens highlights and can look dull.

The midtone slider shifts middle gray brighter or darker without changing where black and white endpoints sit. It acts like a gamma control. A file that looks too dark overall but has good shadow and highlight separation often responds to a midtone move alone. Large midtone shifts can shift perceived contrast.

Levels cannot restore detail from severely blown highlights or crushed shadows. Those pixels hold little usable data. In a RAW file, mild clipping may respond to pulling the white slider left or lifting the black slider. Severe overexposure stays lost. Levels work best when capture left enough data to remap.

RGB levels shows one master histogram plus separate sliders for red, green, and blue channels. Adjusting a single channel shifts color as well as brightness. Lowering green in shadows can reduce a green cast. The master slider moves all channels together, which is the usual starting point before per-channel fixes.

Levels usually follow basic crop and white balance steps. Global tone needs a stable base before fine work. Many photographers apply levels early to set endpoints and overall brightness, then move to curves or local adjustments. Saved presets can store a favorite slider position for batch work on similar scenes.

Yes, levels work on JPEG and other compressed formats. JPEG files carry less tonal headroom than RAW, so strong slider moves can band skies or add noise in lifted shadows sooner. RAW files tolerate larger adjustments because they store more brightness data. Levels on any format should stay moderate when the file was heavily processed in camera.

The levels panel displays the image histogram beneath or beside the sliders. Dragging a slider remaps input tones and the histogram shifts in response. A spike at the right edge after moving the white slider means highlights are clipping. A spike on the left means shadows are crushed. Watching both together helps avoid lost detail.