shortcut to lighten photo?

[peezer]

I attended a Photoshop workshop this summer and the presenter shared a keyboard shortcut that can be used to lighten a dark photo such as one taken in an area without light. It was CTRL + another key. The shortcut can be used numerous times to lighten a photo. I did not write it down as I thought I could remember it. Big mistake!

 

[mscallisto]

Here is a bunch of shortcuts:

http://www.sitepoint.com/article/photoshop-shortcuts-glance

 

[blueark]

I must admit I've never heard of that shortcut, but I use something similar on occasion. I simply set up an action that uses Image > Adjustments > Shadow/Highlight... on a relatively low setting. I then assign a shortcut key to that action, and use it repeatedly as required.

 

[jimoblak]

I use the following to bring up dialogs to make adjustments. I would avoid any single key (if I even recalled it) that would apply a transformation without the ability to quantify the level of the effect. I put more faith in the numbers than what I actually see on my monitor.

Levels - CTRL-L
Curves - CTRL-M
Hue/Saturation (aka Hue, Saturation, Lightness) - CTRL-U

 

[kiddpete]

Such a key would almost certainly operate directly on the image. It is vastly preferable to do this sort of thing with an adjustment layer which can be modified and tweaked as desired.

 

[blueark]

Just in case anyone thinks I'm recommending the use of repeatedly applying an adjustment directly to an image, I should explain that in my last job there was a client that sent dozens of low quality images every day. They invariably needed brightening up, but all I achieved by doing it properly was a long days work and no thanks for it.

I got no complaints for setting up the action I described, but I got home earlier, which gave me the time to set up my own company and get away from that kind of work. Think of it as a slacker's tip rather than a quality one!