How to Lighten a Dark Photo in Photoshop - Photo Editing

Photoshop is definitely an indispensable tool for anyone who works with visual content, be they photographers, illustrators or graphic designers. You should also know that you don't need to be a pro for use the app.

With a little ingenuity and through multiple courses, learning techniques how to fix or fix blurry photos in Photoshop, you can master most aspects of the application.

In this case we will talk about lightening a dark photo, which is fundamental for any photographer and hobbyist.




How to Lighten a Dark Photo in Photoshop - Photo Editing

How to lighten a dark photo in Photoshop the easy way

In general, lightening a photo with this useful Adobe tool is a fairly straightforward process. To fix that dark image, keep the following in mind:

  • The first step is to select the image you need to clarify and open it. However, keep in mind that before you begin, it's important to know the basics of copying and pasting layers, images, and selections in Photoshop.
  • We advise you to duplicate the level, so that you can compare the original image with the one you will be working on. For now, deselect the display icon (the one in the shape of an eye) so as not to get confused.
  • Go up Settings, in this section you will find many very useful tools for checking images.
  • The options that interest us to improve the light of our photo are Exposure, Brightness e Contrast, the most relevant to change the brightness of our photos.
  • For less experienced users we recommend selecting Brightness and Contrast, options suitable for making one quick adjustment in case you have a very dark image.

Remember to always select the working layer before making changes to an image in the application. Let's continue:




  • Drag the brightness and contrast controls so you're happy with the result. This depends solely on your vision and what you expect from the photo.
  • This is pretty much the procedure for lighten an image in Photoshop. After that it is a matter of exporting the working layer and using the image.

In any case, there are other points that may interest you to clarify your photo in the appropriate way possible. We invite you to look at these details, which will surely help you improve your photos even more.

Other aspects you need to take into account to clarify a photo in Photoshop

The photo editing process is entirely up to the user, a photographer may not take the same measurements as an average user. But if what you want is to know how lighten a dark photo in Photoshop, it is essential that you have some points in consideration.

Do not overexpose the image

An image is said to be overexposed when details are lost due to excessive brightness. Regardless of whether you are a professional or an amateur, avoid overexposing the images, as this will lose their beauty. To have a beautiful image, balance is essential.

If you have any doubts about this, we recommend that you know what the overexposure and sponge tools are for in Photoshop, something that we consider essential if you are new to the application and that will help you to avoid overexposure in images.


Reduce the noise

It is normal for lighting in a photo to lose detail and noise appears. Noise damages the image, making it blurry, so it's best to avoid it. For this you can use the tool Reduce noise, which you will access in Filter.



With it you can reduce the noise caused by increasing the brightness of a photo as much as possible. This noise is usually also presented in the form of pixelation, in this case to solve it you can choose to depixel and recover the pixelated image in Photoshop.


How to Lighten a Dark Photo in Photoshop - Photo Editing

Update the application

It is not an essential question, but it is advisable to have the version most updated Photoshop, which you can buy on its official website. Adobe is constantly updating its programs by offering great performance and performance improvements.

The above points are essential for improve quality of a photograph. Undoubtedly with this application you will be able to achieve significant changes in images.


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