How to Remove Darken in Photoshop

Use various Adobe Photoshop tools to brighten up a dark photo.

One of the most common uses for Adobe Photoshop is photo retouching; lightening up dark photos is a frequent adjustment. When using low-quality or wrongly configured cameras, such as cellphones or point-and-shoot cameras at night, it's all too easy to take a photo that's dark. Luckily, Photoshop contains tools that allow the user to selectively brighten a photo.

Instructions

1. Log in to your computer and start Adobe Photoshop. Click "File" and then "Open." Navigate to a photo you'd like to lighten. Click "Open."

2. Click "Image." Hover the mouse cursor over "Adjustments" and click "Curves." Click and drag the curve line to adjust the image brighter or darker. Click "OK" to apply the change.

3. Press "Ctrl" + "Z" to undo the previous change. Click "Image." Hover the mouse cursor over "Adjustments" and click "Exposure." Move the "Exposure," "Offset" and "Gamma Correction" sliders to the right to boost the image's brightness. Click "OK" to apply the change.

4. Press "Ctrl" + "Z" to undo the previous change. Click "Image." Hover the mouse cursor over "Adjustments" and click "Hue/Saturation." Move the "Saturation" and "Lightness" sliders to the right to adjust the image's color values. Click "OK" to apply the change.

5. Press "Ctrl" + "Z" to undo the previous change. Click "Image." Hover the mouse cursor over "Adjustments" and click "Shadows/Highlights." Move the "Amount" slider under "Shadows" to the right to adjust the image's shadow values. Click "OK" to apply the change.

6. Press "Ctrl" + "Z" to undo the previous change. Use any of the techniques in the previous steps to lighten a dark image or use multiple effects to achieve your desired result. If only one portion of the photo is dark, use the Photoshop selection tools to select the dark area and apply adjustments to only the selected portion of the photo.

7. Click "File" and "Save as." Save a copy of the photo to your computer's hard drive. Click "Save." Do not overwrite your original image unless you have a backup.