What's the difference between exposure and brightness sliders (Page 2): Your description pretty much covers the query of the OP, with a functional explanation.

anotherview Loc: California

Your description pretty much covers the query of the OP, with a functional explanation.

morkie1891 wrote:

A simple high level answer is that exposure begins its adjustment at the high end or low end of the histogram. Brightness adjustments begin in the mid-range of the histogram. Levels can adjust all three, as does curves. Curves is distinguished from levels because adjust can be made more precisely via the diagonal line. Allot any of them can be used together. Suggest playing with them on an ill exposed image. Hope this helps.

bleirer

So exposure would be the one that raises or lowers all values equally, similar to ISO?

a6k Loc: Detroit & Sanibel

bleirer wrote:

So exposure would be the one that raises or lowers all values equally, similar to ISO?

Changing ISO does not and cannot raise all values equally. There is a simple reason for that. The best illustration can be found on:
http://www.photonstophotos.net/Charts/PDR.htm

Any increase in ISO is actually not the same thing as changing the film speed with real film. But like film, the sensitivity of the medium is a physical characteristic. Like "push processing", something is gained and something is lost when ISO is raised.

Dynamic range decreases approximately evenly as ISO is increased. The interactive chart on the above link will show you that. If all values were to be raised equally there would not be a decrease in DR.

bleirer

a6k wrote:

Changing ISO does not and cannot raise all values ... (show quote)

So if one had an ISO invariant camera, which slider in Photoshop would raise all values equally? Exposure seems to be the consensus, because responders are saying brightness favors certain ranges over others. You?

Kozan Loc: Trenton Tennessee

morkie1891 wrote:

A simple high level answer is that exposure begins its adjustment at the high end or low end of the histogram. Brightness adjustments begin in the mid-range of the histogram. Levels can adjust all three, as does curves. Curves is distinguished from levels because adjust can be made more precisely via the diagonal line. Allot any of them can be used together. Suggest playing with them on an ill exposed image. Hope this helps.

Also, with Curves, you have an input range adjustment and an output range adjustment. I think it was Mark Wallace from Adorama TV that had an excellent Youtube Video on Curves.

sbohne

I rarely use the brightness/contrast sliders. I learned Photoshop from Eddie Tapp, one of the Premier users and teachers of the program. He said to use curves for photographic images, brightness & contrast for text.

JD750 Loc: SoCal

sbohne wrote:

I rarely use the brightness/contrast sliders. I learned Photoshop from Eddie Tapp, one of the Premier users and teachers of the program. He said to use curves for photographic images, brightness & contrast for text.

I like that.

Thank you for sharing.