Photoshop Tips : Fixing Underexposure

Sometimes when you're taking pictures with your digital camera, you may forget to use a flash or the outdoor lighting may be too dim and the picture turns out dark and underexposed. Fear not! There is a quick and easy way to correct the picture without having to mess with levels or curves.

First of all, open up an underexposed photo and hit Control-J, which duplicates the background layer. The new layer is automatically named Layer 1 in the Layers palette. Click on this layer in the Layer palette. Change the Blend Mode in the layers palette to Screen. The entire photo will lighten up. If the photo still needs lightening, just hit Control-J again. Rinse and repeat if necessary.

If you get to a point where the picture appears over-exposed, use the opacity slider to adjust the intensity until it is to your liking. Then choose Flatten image from the pop down menu in the Layers palette and save your photo.

Open up the photo and make duplicate layer.

Change the Blend Mode to Screen. Whoops! Overshot the runway. A little too much light.

Adjust the opacity to about 34%. Perfect! Flatten image and save.