How To Fix An
Underexposed
Photo
The easiest way to avoid underexposed photos is to adjust your aperture
settings, your shutter speed and your film speed when shooting. But, if
not you can use photoshop to adjust the image.
So how easy is it to fix an underexposed photo? Very easy. Open your photo up
and choose Image> Adjustments> Shadow/Highlight (CS-only. For pre-CS look
below). You'll see an immediate change in your photo and it will probably
be too extreme, but don't panic. Photoshop ships with defaults that are often
way over the top. Just play with the Amount Slider and the
Tonal Width Slider until you find just the right balance. And you're
done!
Fixing Underexposed Photos, Pre-CS — The Layer
Sandwich Trick
If you don't have CS, then the following trick will help you achieve similar
results. I actually find this method produces better results.
Step 1 — New Layer
Open your photo and make a copy of the Background Layer by choosing
Layer> Duplicate Layer, or by dragging it to the New Layer Icon at the
bottom of the Layers palette.
Step
2 — Change The Blend Mode
In the Layers palette change the Blend Mode of the new layer from
Normal to Screen. This will lighten the photo uniformly.
Step 3 — Repeat
Now repeat the entire procedure again. Create a new layer, change the
blend mode to screen, and then take a look at the result. Continue doing this
until you go from "oh-my-god it's almost perfect" to "oh-my-god I've ruined it!"
Step 4 — Lower The Opacity
Now leave that last layer active even though it's taken you too far
and lower the Opacity using the slider at the top right of the layers
palette. This lowers the intensity of the effect. When you've found the right
amount, you can flatten your image.
Step 5 — Flatten And Save
Choose Layer> Flatten or use the palette’s flyout menu and
choose Flatten Image. That's it. Save your file (File> Save) and
you're done.
How To Fix An
Overexposed Photo
The easiest way to fix an overexposed photo is to open it in Photoshop and
choose Image> Adjustments> Shadow/Highlight (CS-only. For pre-CS look
below). You'll see an immediate change in your photo and it will probably
be too extreme, but just use this setting as a starting point. Photoshop ships
with defaults that are often way over the top. Just play with the Amount
Slider and the Tonal Width Slider in both the Shadows and
the Highlights until you find just the right balance. And that's it!
Fixing Overexposed Photos, Pre-CS — The Layer
Sandwich Trick
If you don't have CS, then the following trick will help you achieve similar
results.
Step 1 — New Layer
Open your photo and make a copy of the Background Layer by choosing
Layer> Duplicate Layer, or by dragging it to the New Layer Icon at the
bottom of the Layers palette.
Step
2 — Change The Blend Mode
In the Layers palette change the Blend Mode of the new layer
from Normal to Multiply. This will darken the photo uniformly.
Step 3 — Repeat
Now repeat the entire procedure again. Create a new layer, change the
blend mode to multiply, and then take a look at the result. Continue doing this
until you go from "it's almost perfect" to "it's ruined!"
Step 4 — Lower The Opacity
Now leave that last layer active even though it's taken you too far
and lower the Opacity using the slider at the top right of the layers
palette. This lowers the intensity of the effect. When you've found the right
amount, you can flatten your image.
Step 5 — Flatten And Save
Choose Layer> Flatten or use the palette’s flyout menu and
choose Flatten Image. That's it. Save your file (File> Save) and
you're done.
