Photoshop tutorials-3

In this Photoshop tutorials post I'm going to explain how to Improve an Underexposed Photo – Too Dark and Improve an Overexposed Photo – Too Light.

Improve an Underexposed Photo – Too Dark

Steps

1. Click and drag the Background layer over the New Layer icon to duplicate it.
   
2. Click the blend mode up-down arrow and select Screen. The photo should appear lighter. NOTE: The photo may look fine this way or you may need to add another layer and change it as in Steps 3 and 4.
   
3. Click and drag the Background copy layer over the New Layer icon to duplicate the copy.
   
   
4. Click the Opacity down arrow and drag the slider to the left to change the opacity of the top layer.

Improve an Overexposed Photo – Too Light

Steps

1. Click and drag the Background layer over the New Layer icon to duplicate it.
   
2. Click Image.
3. Click Adjustments.
4. Click Shadow/Highlight. When the Shadow/Highlight dialog appears, move the dialog so you can see the image.
5. Click and drag the Shadows Amount to 0.
6. Click and drag the Highlights amount to the right until the image looks good.

Remove a Colorcast

Steps

1. Click and drag the Background layer over the New Layer icon to duplicate it.
2. Click Image.
3. Click Adjustments.
4. Click Match Color.  When the Match Color dialog appears, move it to the side so you can see your image.
5. Click the Neutralize check box to remove the colorcast.
6. Click and drag the Fade slider slowly to the right to reduce the effect.
7. Click and drag the Color Intensity to the right to increase the color range if necessary.
8. Click OK to apply the change.
9. Click the Opacity expand arrow on the Layers palette and drag the slider to adjust the overall effect.

Add a Sepia Tone

Steps

1. Click the Foreground Color box in the toolbar to open the Color Picker.
2. Type 172 in the R, or red, field.
3. Type 122 in the G, or green, field.
4. Type 42 in the B, or blue, field.  You can also click and drag the color slider to the orange area and then click and drag in the color area to select a sepia color.
5. Click OK to close the Color Picker. 
6. Click the New Adjustment Layer icon in the Layers palette.
7. Click Gradient Map.  The Gradient Map dialog appears and applies a very light sepia tone to the image.
8. Click OK to close the dialog.
9. Click the Layer Blend mode up-down arrow and Click Color.

See Photoshop tutorials-4.