Get creative with Curves

Explore four different ways to edit your smartphone shots in Lightroom CC, using one simple adjustment tool

If you’ve been into digital photography for even a little while, there’s no doubt you will have heard about Curves. This powerful adjustment tool is available in both Lightroom and Photoshop. Curves are much more than a method of increasing contrast, which is their most common use. With the ability to affect brightness, contrast and colour, Curves can be used to achieve a wide range of effects.

We’re going to delve into four techniques using an image taken on a smartphone in the Lightroom CC app, which was then automatically shared via the cloud to the Lightroom CC desktop app.

Smartphone photography has come on leaps and bounds in the last few years. Not only can you now process and share images directly from devices, but you can also buy additional lenses, tripods, lights and even ND grads – and the ability to seamlessly go from phone to computer with Lightroom CC is a workflow game-changer.

Add a matte effect

Click the Tone Curve button in the top-right of the Lightroom interface to open the Point Curve, working on RGB Channels. Place three points along the curve by left mouse clicking at ¼, ½, and ¾ of the way along. Place a fourth point just below the one that’s ¼ of the way up the curve, then click on the shadow point at the bottom and drag up. Scroll down to Effects, then increase Grain to 10 and Size to 25.