Free Online Classes

Learn how to correct exposure without clipping highlights or shadows. This Photoshop technique uses layer masks to prevent highlights and shadows from being blown out.

Correct Brightness Photoshop Tutorial

Step 1

Begin by opening any photo that you like that is either underexposed or overexposed. In the photo below, the image was underexposed to preserve the details of the wedding dress. The photo needs to be brightened so that the skin doesn't look too dark but without washing out the details in the wedding dress.

Step 2

Begin by adding an adjustment layer to brighten the image.  We'll make use of this step to introduce to you the Curves tool. The Curves tool is a great way of brightening images and some say it is better than using the Levels tool.

You can either add a Levels or Brightness and Contrast adjustment layer to brighten the image. However, if you've never used the Curves tool, add a Curves adjustment layer. In the Layers palette, click on the new adjustment layer button and a menu will appear. In the menu, select Curves.

Now a Curves window will appear with what looks like a graph. Adjusting the exposure is easy with the curves. Start by clicking on the middle of the line to create a point. To brighten the image, click and drag that point towards the top left corner create an arch. To darken the image, click and drag the point towards the bottom right corner.

Some details may be clipped so in the next step, we'll work on the layer mask of this adjustment layer to restore the details in those clipped areas.

Step 3

Now, with the adjustment layer selected, choose Image > Apply Image. With this tool, we'll apply a copy of the image to the layer mask. Use the default settings. If you are brightening an underexposed image, checkmark the Invert option. If you are darkening an overexposed image, leave the Invert option unchecked.

After you click OK, your layer mask thumbnail should look like the photo that you are editing.

You can also see that the exposure has been slightly changed, but the details in the clipped areas are restored. Below is an image comparing the results with and without the layer mask. Without altering the layer mask, the wedding dress would have lost many of its details and the rocks will look overexposed. After applying the image to the layer mask, the details have been restored.

Here is an image that compares the original image and the image that we have so far. As you can see, the image has been brightened only in the dark areas. As a result, the image contrast looks lower than the original image. In the next step, we'll restore the contrast while minimizing the details loss in the highlights and shadows.

Step 4

Add a Brightness/Contrast adjustment layer below the other adjustment layer. To do this, choose Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Brightness/Contrast. Adjust the Contrast to correct the contrast in the image. When you adjust the contrast, you'll start to see some details in the highlights being blown out. The shadows are usually OK because most digital cameras do a better job preserving the details in the shadows than the highlights.

Step 5

Choose Image > Apply Image. The settings should be the same as the previous settings you used so just click OK.

Final Results

Before:

After: