I have read every guide on levels that I think exist and the levels adjustment slides seem to work the opposite of how the guides explain. If I'm filtering out the darkest pixel levels (as in moving the dark indicator towards the right),why is it that the image gets darker instead of lighter?

Thanks in advance!

First, I am not a Gimp expert, but use it often (never really used levels).

But from here:

...From which I think that your perspective that it is "filtering" the dark pixels is not correct. It is shifting the point below which all values are dark (and above which all values are lighter). Or similarly, the white end sets the point above which all values are white and below which all values are darker.

So don't think of it as a filter, it is a set-point. As you have found, that works the opposite of a filter.

See this episode of Meetthegimp: http://blog.meetthegimp.org/episode-172-chasing-ducks/

because you are MOVING the BLACK point to a lighter value
so all values will get DARKER

basic color and tone theory

and so would lowering the GAMA the "grey point" will be moved to LIGHTER values

Right now I'm trying to get a handle on Illuminance. I don't have the technical knowledge to understand what it does to move a slider in GIMP and the GIMP docs don't bridge that! With the Value Channel the issue is (ambient lighting) obviously.

theKbStockpiler that skill will come in time
i worked in professional Photographic darkrooms for over 12 years
before moving into digital in the end of 1990's

also the current gimp is only 8 bit
it dose not support HDR 16 bit per layer nor 32 bit per layer rgb images

for that i use Nip2/vips
http://www.vips.ecs.soton.ac.uk/index.php?title=VIPS

and the command line version of "Gmic"
http://gmic.sourceforge.net/

and convert raw camera images to 16bit png's or 32bit multilayer tiff's

there is a gimp plugin but that is 8 bit ONLY


also you will find that the "level" tool is mostly useless ( except for a "quick" GAMA change )
the "curves" tool under it in the menu is a LOT more useful
by moving( click and drag) the 45 degree line and changing "the curve"

basically it represents the "expose " curve

If you're wanting to lighten dark areas, curves might be better suited for that task. Levels is way to sensitive for my tastes. But I guess it depends on if you're doing it in gimp or scripting it fu style.

Well I have read a lot of web pages and have this to say.

It looks like the Values Channel treats all the colors in the image like they are a grayscale and the triangles narrow the spectrum of shades represented.Also, the colors that should not be effected get darker. If you move the black triangle to the midway point ,whatever was at the midway point is now black along with every shade the triangle passed over. Having the center triangle move automatically keeps the contrast from drastically changing but it still changes. If you use the brightness adjustment the contrast does not change.


Can anyone explain what happens to the actual histogram dialog box when the triangles are moved? It does not match what is indicated in the levels dialog box.

you do have the "input" and "output" slider for levels
-- screenshot
http://imgbox.com/l4ct7r1L

it is a good idea to go through tutorials
BUT
for the basics
spend a few days and PLAY
play around with things , you will start to "get the hang" of it and remember the tools


as to the histogram it is compressed or expanded or the "gray point" is moved

I have a book on GIMP (The Book of GIMP from No Starch Press) and it recommends using the "input" slider for adjustments. To lighten a picture, it says to grab the right handle and slide it to the left towards the first bump in the curve.

It seems to work for me, though I sometimes have to also tinker with brightness and contrast to fine-tune the result. I'm just a snapshot photographer, though.

Are there any theories on the R G or Blue channels on why you can have either yellow or blue for the blue channel? I'm guessing they are colors that don't mix to create another color. I would say it just looks like controlled color casting. :

From the page I originally linked...

Yellow is the complementary color to blue, hence removing blue adds yellow, adding blue removes yellow...

additive /subtractive color theory
Red,Green,Blue / Cyan,Magenta,Yellow
http://www.novaprinting.ca/images/CMYK.jpg

Cyan + Magenta = blue
Magenta + Yellow = red

you can change any 3 colors by changing ONLY Magenta and Yellow

darkroom background , using hand enlargers for too many years

A link
http://cs.nyu.edu/courses/fall02/V22...lor_theory.htm

also Google " color theory"

Thanks! I'll look into that!