Adjust Image Brightness
Brighten or darken a photo without other editing.
Processing: This tool runs entirely in your browser. Your input and any file you open stay on your device — nothing is uploaded to a server.
How to use the adjust image brightness
- Open your image.
- Move the slider until it looks right — hold the compare button to see the original.
- Download the adjusted image.
About this tool
Brightness scales every pixel by the same factor, which lifts the whole image evenly. It fixes an under- or over-exposed photo up to a point, and that point is worth knowing: detail lost to pure white or pure black is gone, and brightening cannot bring it back — it only makes the flat area grey.
For an image that looks dull rather than dark, contrast is usually the better control.
Common uses
- Lifting a photo taken in poor light.
- Toning down an over-exposed shot.
- Matching brightness across several images.
Frequently asked questions
- Why does brightening make my photo look washed out?
- Scaling everything up raises the dark tones too, which reduces contrast. Pair it with a small contrast increase.
- Can it recover a very dark photo?
- Only partly. Where the sensor recorded nothing, there is no detail to recover — brightening produces grey noise.
Related tools
Adjust Image Contrast
Increase or reduce the difference between light and dark tones.
Adjust Image Saturation
Make colours more vivid or more muted, up to full greyscale.
Convert Image to Black and White
Turn a colour photo into greyscale, with control over how far to go.
Image Compressor
Reduce image file size with an adjustable quality setting and an instant before/after comparison.