Brighten Photos Like a Pro

Learn the ultimate Photoshop technique to brighten underexposed pictures. In this Photoshop tutorial, you will learn how to use a masking technique to brighten images without overexposing highlights. This Photoshop technique can also be used to darken images without affecting the highlights.

Sample PSD (Photoshop Document)

Most websites charge several dollars to download a sample Photoshop file. We offer it free to everyone. This is possible because we are an ad supported website - we show a few ads so you don’t have to pay.

• exposure-correction.psd

Analyzing the Methods

Step 1

To begin this Photoshop tutorial, open an image that is underexposed. If you don’t have any underexposed photos, then you must be a very good photographer! Just kidding - you can acquire underexposed images by searching “underexposed” on Google Images.

Step 2

Now, let’s experiment with the common brightening methods to see how they perform.

Brightness/Contrast tool

First, let’s use the Brightness/Contrast tool as it is the most simple tool to increase brightness. Choose Image > Adjustment > Brightness/Contrast. Increase the contrast so that the exposure is correct.

If you’re using Photoshop CS2, the results should be quite horrible. In Photoshop CS3, the Brightness/Contrast tool has greatly improved results. But no matter which version of Photoshop you use, you’ll notice that the areas that are the correct exposure got brighter; making them overexposed. This is a common problem with brightening images. Don’t click OK; click cancel. If you did, press Ctrl+Z to undo.

Levels tool

The Levels tool is one of the better ways brighten an image. Load up the Levels tool (Image > Adjustments > Levels). The levels may look daunting, but it is actually easy to use; just slightly harder than the Brightness/Contrast tool.

To increase the brightness with the Levels tool, drag the gray input slider towards the left. If you want to add more contrast, drag the white input slider towards the left. The results are much better than the Brightness/Contrast tool, but the highlights are still being brightened.

You can play around with the Output Levels settings to filter which areas are affected, but that creates posterization in your image - yuck!

The Levels tool may do a good job brightening an image, but it’s not the best. Click Cancel to exit out of the Levels tool.

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Written by admin on February 17th, 2008 with 15 comments.
Read more articles on Exposure and Photo Retouching and Photoshop Tutorials.

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