Photoshop Question - Tonal Representation

synergy11

I'm wondering if there is a function in Photoshop that allows you to check values of your image to see how wide or narrow the tonal range is?

When you are writing and mixing a song for music you want a wide representation of lower frequencies to higher frequencies in order to maximize the impact.

Carrying this over to texturing I was wondering how to check these values in Photoshop.

Thanks.

pinkbox

window > Histogram

?

jeremiah_bigley

window > Histogram

!

synergy11

Interesting.

Should a diffuse texture always be high contrast?

I created a texture that to my eye looked great. But after tweaking with the histogram the texture was very low contrast.

jeremiah_bigley

I would say no. It really depends what you are painting.

Example: If you are painting wood. Wood is usually fairly monotone. Metal is another that you want very little contrast in. More contrast in the spec than in the diffuse.

There is never usually a set "rule" for everything. They are just tools... And not every tool works for every situation.