Use histograms in Pixelmator Pro on Mac
A histogram shows the overall distribution of tones or colors in an image. The tonal range includes shadows (dark areas), highlights (bright areas), and midtones (neutral tones in between). Tonal range refers to how all these tones are distributed throughout an image, from the darkest to the brightest areas. When you change the color profile of an image, the histogram is essential for understanding how the file is modified.
Pixelmator Pro features three different histograms: an RGB histogram, a luminance histogram, and a color histogram. Each of these histograms tells you about the distribution of tones or colors in the image in different ways. In Pixelmator Pro on Mac, the histogram is located at the top of the Color Adjustments pane.
RGB histogram
The RGB histogram is the default histogram in Pixelmator Pro. Digital images combine three colors—red, green, and blue—to create all other colors. This histogram displays the RGB channels in an image, and their distribution from pure black (left side of the histogram) to pure white (right side of the histogram). The height of the graph at any point shows how much of the represented color appears in that tonal range.
A dark image with lots of shadows creates a histogram that’s higher on the left side. A bright image creates a histogram that’s higher on the right side. This histogram shows the amount of each color (or channel) in the image. If separate areas of an image are pure red, pure green, and pure blue, the right side of the histogram will also be high.
Luminance histogram
The luminance histogram displays the perceived brightness of an image. It doesn’t look at the individual color channels but at the colors themselves. So, unlike in the RGB histogram, pure blue is not at the far right edge of the luminance histogram. And the luminance histogram also takes into account the fact that the human eye perceives green light as naturally brighter than red or blue. So any pure green areas will show up further right than pure blue or pure red areas.
Color histogram
The color histogram shows the overall distribution of colors in an image organized by spectrum colors—red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, violet, and magenta.
Color histograms help you determine if any colors have been clipped. Clipped colors appear to extend past the top of the histogram. When a color channel is clipped, it means that tones within that channel fall outside of the chosen color profile or color depth of an image and will lack detail as a result.
Modify the histogram view
In Pixelmator Pro on Mac, select
in the Tools sidebar.
By default, the RGB histogram is at the top of the Color Adjustments pane.
In the Color Adjustments pane, scroll down to the bottom, then click Customize.
Do any any of the following:
Choose Histogram to hide or show the histogram at the top of the Color Adjustments pane.
Position the pointer over Histogram, click
, then choose Pin Histogram to pin the histogram to the top of the Color Adjustments pane, so it’s visible when you scroll.
Position the pointer over Histogram, click