In tone curve adjustments, what does a steeper curve do?

• A. Increases Contrast
• B. Reduces saturation
• C. Softens shadows
• D. Increases sharpness

Answer: (A)

A steeper tone curve changes how input brightness maps to output brightness by increasing the slope of the curve. That means small changes in pixel values produce larger changes in output, which makes light areas lighter and dark areas darker overall. The result is more separation between shadows and highlights, i.e., increased contrast. This adjustment targets luminance relationships, not color saturation, sharpness, or shadow softness, which are controlled by other tools or edits. Be mindful that pushing the curve too far can clip highlights or crush shadows and lose detail.