The source of the your problematic image may have come from a scanned negative, scanned print or digital camera image all converted to an image format (most probably .JPG pronounced “jaypeg”) that can be opened in your image manipulation software.

I will be using Adobe Photoshop CS, but almost all other image manipulation software packages have similar tools so the method described should be repeatable with your own software package.

Step – 1

Select the Levels command in Photoshop using Image->Adjustments->Levels.

A pop-up window will appear showing what appears to be a "mountain range" which is correctly called a histogram.

Below the histogram you will notice small black, grey and white arrow sliders.

What does the Levels Histogram tell us about the photo?

Well ... the black arrow to the left hand side is well away from the "mountain range" telling us that the photo contains no (or very little) pure blacks.

Similarly, the white arrow on the far right tells us there is no (or very little) pure whites in the photo.

We already know this because the white areas of the photo as we perceived the original to be (i.e. the clouds and window frames) have the pink cast to them.

Also notice in the bottom right hand corner of the pop-up Levels window there are three "eye-dropper" buttons, one filled with black, one with grey and one with white.

These can be used to "sample" your photo and pick out where it is perceived the original black, grey and white areas of the photo are. These eye-droppers are what we will use in the basic correction of the photo.

Which one to use I hear you ask? Well it depends on the photo. I tend to favour using the grey eye-dropper first since I can usually evaluate a photo and find a mid grey part to sample from.

If your photo has a definite area of pure black or pure white then try the corresponding eye-droppers.

Remember one of the best tools to be using here will still be your eyes.

In our example image on our web-site I am going to use the grey eye-dropper and sample the cloud just above and to the left of the house roof-line because I think in the original this would have been a mid grey in colour.

Step – 2

Click on the middle eye-dropper button and then moving the mouse cursor to the photo, left click on the bottom side of the cloud.