# Is the TONE CURVE in Lightroom the same as CURVES and LEVELS in Photoshop?



## michael8765 (Oct 24, 2013)

Can the TONE CURVE in Lightroom do everything the CURVES and LEVELS can in Photoshop? If not what is the difference?


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## Tony Jay (Oct 24, 2013)

Hi Michael.

The best answer that I can give is that using the tone curve in Lr can give you an image that could look identical to an image processed in Ps using levels and curves.
I can say however that I would not use either of the curve controls or levels as a primary tone control.
In process 2012 the tonal sliders are my first go to for global tonal control.
I do use the tone curve in Lr to manipulate specific areas of an image that share tonal characteristics but again the adjustment brush is often the only way to get what I want.

I understand that I am not really directly answering your question but I may be addressing the question behind the question.
The tonal controls in Lr and Ps are not directly comparable although the principles governing how they work are similar, and limited.
The best summary I can give is to say this:
If one needs to do global tonal manipulation then Lr or ACR is definitely the way to go.
The greater the need to do regional tonal manipulation the more Ps becomes useful but this is because of the ability to use masks and channels to limit what is altered and not necessarily the tonal controls themselves.

Please feel free to redirect your question because I do believe that it is an interesting issue that you raise because it does examine the relative utility of Ps versus Lr.

Tony Jay


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## loki (Oct 25, 2013)

yes, it pretty much is.  you can adjust the tone curve and you can adjust the red, green and blue channels individually by clicking on the box in the bottom right corner that looks like it contains a small curve (to the right of where it says point curve: linear/medium contrast/strong contrast).


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