Changing direction of gradients in Curves dialog

599 views3 repliesLast post: 6/27/2007
I am reading a book about LAB color, and learning to use that colorspace. One of the things the author recommends is to change the direction of the dark-to-light gradient that shows at the side and bottom of the Curves grid in the dialog box. Photoshop standard is light on the right/top. The author suggests switching it so that light is on the left/bottom. In PS7, there's a little icon on the gradient that swaps the direction, but the icon is not available in CS3. Clicking on the gradient (which is what the author states) does not do anything. Is this customization still available, and if so, how to I set it?

Thanks!
#1
Just left-click on either the "dark", or light bar, and they will switch places.

Leigh
#2
As good as Dan's book is, this is one area where I part company. I MUCH prefer having the shadows represented by the lower left hand corner of the dialog box. It just seems more intuitive. There is no effective difference in the Curves action. Use whatever configuration you're most comfortable with. You can still set your Info Palette to read whatever numbers you want - usually set to Actual Color.
#3
Thank you for your responses! Peter, I agree that it makes no difference (Dan says so himself, too) but I thought that if I was going to make the effort, I may as well go all the way! I'm about 1/2 way through the book, so far, and I must admit that I'm VERY impressed with the result on the few pictures I've tested in LAB. I just wish I could get my brain around the concept of positive & negative numbers and magenta/green and yellow/blue... Time will tell!
#4