How to make a photo brighter

If your photo came out too dark, Luminar Neo provides powerful tools to enhance brightness while preserving details. With digital photography, it’s easier to save a shot if it has been underexposed since the data is mostly retained in the dark areas. This means dark areas often contain recoverable color and texture, unlike overexposed areas where data is completely lost (clipped to pure white). In contrast, an overexposed photo loses details in bright areas because once pixels are maxed out to white, there's no color information left to recover. Nevertheless, modern digital camera sensors record subtle variations in light and color that aren't immediately visible. Luminar Neo can amplify those details, revealing hidden colors and textures. Follow these steps to correct underexposed images effectively.

Brightening the Underexposed Photo with the Develop Tool

1. Open your image in Luminar Neo.

2. Navigate to the Develop tool in the 'Edit' panel.

3. Use the Exposure slider to brighten the entire image. Be cautious not to overexpose highlights.

4. Increase the Shadows slider to bring out details in dark areas.

5. Adjust the Highlights slider to prevent bright areas from becoming too intense. The lower the setting, the darker the highlighted zones will become.

6. If the image still looks flat, fine-tune the Blacks & Whites sliders, which are accessible in a separate panel in the Develop tool.

Note: Don’t overdo the brightness. Extreme recovery can introduce noise, as darker areas have fewer photons hitting the sensor. Try to find a balance between brightness and noise. If you notice too many “noisy” patches in your photo, don’t hesitate to use the Noiseless AI tool.

1. Open the Curves section from the Develop tool.

2. Lift the midtones and shadows slightly to enhance brightness without washing out the highlights. Shadows are displayed on the left in the curves graph, so start from there.

3. Adjust the curve carefully to maintain contrast and depth.

Working with White Balance

White balance (WB) is crucial for achieving accurate colors in your photos. It helps correct unwanted color casts caused by different lighting conditions. In Luminar Neo, you can adjust white balance manually or automatically.

1. Open your image in Luminar Neo. Navigate to the Develop tool in the 'Edit' panel.

2. Click on the ‘Color’ panel.