Expert: Scott Valentine - 10/19/2007

Question
I have a book on learning to use curves adjust and it has the gradient under the curves grid with the black on the right instead of the left. It also says to click inside the gradient to change the  the gradient. I have CS3 and cliked inside the gradient and nothing happens. In order to follow the book easily I would like to change the  the gradient the way the book is.Could you please tell me how to do this? Thanks Ed

Answer
Thanks for your question, Ed. And welcome to the world of Curves! I'm guessing you are using Dan Margulis' LAB book? If so, congratulations - it's one of the best resources on this powerful color space. If not, then go get Dan's book ;)

In CS3, the options for the curve adjustment layer dialog are a little different. You can Alt + Click on the grid to get a smaller unit size, but to change the gradient, you have to open the Curve Display Options panel and change the settings from Light to Pigment.

With the curves adjustment dialog open, look to the bottom left for a button with double arrows next to the "Curve Display Option" label. Click it, and you'll find some additional options. That should get you what you need.

Here's another handy tip that works in most dialog boxes; holding down the Alt key changes the Cancel button temporarily to a Reset button. This is good for times when you want to start your changes in that box over, but don't want to cancel out of the dialog just to open it again.

Please let me know if you have further questions!

-Scott