Learn how to enhance a photo taken in poor lighting conditions by making it brighter and more visually appealing.
When you take a picture in low-light conditions, like a dimly lit restaurant, the image may not look as vibrant and catchy for general viewing or sharing on social media platforms like Instagram, X (Twitter), Snapchat, etc.
To remedy this, you can manually adjust the brightness, shadow, exposure, contrasts, and highlights to make shadowy, underexposed photos look more pleasant to the eyes.
Before you begin:
- I’ve found myself in situations where the picture I took appeared dark only because I was in my house with the screen brightness way down. Increasing the iPhone screen brightness made me rethink my choice to edit the photo. Silly, but definitely something to keep in mind.
- Secondly, increase the screen brightness when editing the photo using the steps below. This way, you won’t unintentionally overexpose the image.
Fix dark or low-light photos on iPhone and iPad
1) Open the stock Photos app, tap the picture you want to fix, and hit the edit icon.
2) If you’re in a hurry, tap the Filters option and select the second option, Vivid. This should make the colors pop and enhance the brightness, making the overall image delightful to look at. If the image appears overexposed, drag down the Vivid slider and adjust it accordingly. Now, tap Done to save the changes.
3) In addition to or instead of using a filter, you can also spend a couple of minutes and edit the image accordingly from the Adjust tab.
The first option in the Adjust tab is the Auto tool, which improves the image with one tap. If the default Auto setting is too aggressive, you can lower it.
If you want to tweak things manually on a finer scale, use the Exposure, Highlights, Shadows, Contrast, and Brightness options to adjust the photo appearance. When you try these tools, you will see the preview in real-time. You can also tap the image on the screen to see its original look and then the edited version.
While making the adjustments, remember not to go overboard and oversaturate or overexpose the picture, which can make it look cartoonish.
Once you achieve the right mix of brightness, clarity, and colors and the image no longer looks dark or underexposed, tap the Done button to save the changes.
Pro tip: Fix several dark images in one go
Let’s assume you took 10 photos of an event in the same lighting conditions, and they are all dark and lifeless. Instead of editing all ten of them individually, you can copy the edits made in one photo and then paste them to all other photos in one swoop. This will edit all images with the same Auto, Exposure, Highlights, Brightness, and other parameters.
Use third-party photo editing apps
I’ve always found the stock Photos app to be enough for my editing needs, and the ability to copy and paste edits to several images is truly a godsend.
However, if the editing tools available in Photos are insufficient for you, try apps like Snapseed, Darkroom, LUMINS, Adobe Lightroom, and Afterlight. Just note that some apps may require a payment to unlock all of their features.
Fix dark photos on your Mac
Just like the iPhone and iPad, the Photos app on Mac has robust editing features to fix underexposed, shadowy pictures.
1) Start by opening the image in the Photos app.
If the image is in a Finder folder, you can drag and drop it into the Library section of the Photos app. If you use iCloud Photos to sync your media, your iPhone photos will automatically appear in your Mac’s Photos app.
2) With the image open, click the Edit button from the top right.
3) Now, use the Filters tab to add a premade layer of edits.
You can also go to the Adjust tab and then use the Light option to adjust it accordingly. While you’re at it, expand Options under the Light slider to access Exposure, Brightness, Shadows, Highlights, and other controls.
Additionally, you can try out other options on the editing screen to make the image just the way you like it. Once you’ve finished, hit the Done button to save it.
Use third-party options
Mac has several third-party apps you can use to perfect your photo. Of course, you have the usuals like Lightroom and Photoshop, but I really like Photomato by the makers of the famous Pixelmator Pro app, which Apple recently acquired.
Additionally, if you have a Setapp subscription, you can enhance your image with CameraBag Pro and Luminar Neo.
Finally, given the Mac’s large screen size, you can also use online photo editing websites like Pixlr and fotor to fix your dark, low-light pictures.
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