How to Brighten an Image: A Step-by-Step Guide

Have you ever captured an image, just to find out that it looks darker than expected? It is a common photography issue. It hides the important details, and you cannot publish these images on social media or e-commerce platforms.

The good news is that you don't need design skills to fix these images. AI editing tools like X-Design can help you brighten your images for free. In this guide, we shall understand why images end up being dark once they are captured, and how to brighten them like a pro!

What Causes Images to Be Dark

Dark images are the result of unfavourable shooting conditions. However, these conditions can be avoided, and clear images can be captured. The common causes of images being dark are:

• Weak Lighting Conditions: Capturing images in dull environments produced underexposed images. Whereas balanced lighting always gives clear and sharp results. When capturing images in the 'Pro mode' of your smartphone, you must adjust these settings.

• Flaws in the Baklighting: This happens when the source of the light is behind the subject. The camera may end up focusing on the background rather than the subject. This eventually gives you dark images.

• Limitations of the Automatic Camera Settings: Cameras in auto mode sometimes misread the scene and select exposure levels.

• Shadow dominance in the frame: Scenes with heavy shadows can trick the camera into darkening large portions.

• Motion blur with reduced light: Taking pictures in low light without proper exposure often causes both darkness and blur.

Understanding these reasons helps you address the root cause of dark photos instead of relying only on editing.

How to Brighten Images Using X-Design Image Enhancer

With the right tool, you can enhance your dark images and make them ideal for social media posting. X-Design Image Enhancer is an industry-standard tool that helps you edit your images without needing design skills. X-Design uses AI tech to instantly modify the images. Additionally, you can use the built-in editor to make additional changes. These include background removal, background generation, and batch image processing.

Features of X-Design Image Enhancer

• Increase the quality of your images to high definition and ultra high definition.

• Export available in JPG and PNG formats.

• Works directly on your web browser without installation.

• One-click enhancement available. 

• Built-in editor for advanced editing.

Step-by-Step Process to Enhance Images Using X-Design

You can either visit the web tool of X-Design to use the image enhancer. Or you can install the X-Design app from the Play Store and start enhancing images on the go.

Step 1: Upload an Imagr to the Image Enhancer tool

Click the ‘Upload image’ option to import an image to the tool. The tool supports multiple types of image files. 

Step 2: Choose an image quality

Upon uploading, you can choose either ‘High Definition’ or ‘Ultra High Definition’. Then click ‘Enhance’ to view the changes.

Step 3: Download the Result

Once you have finalized the changes, you may click ‘Download’ in the top right corner to export the image.

X-Design offers the simplest way to brighten images instantly. You don’t need to know design skills, nor do you need to hire a designer. The tool is intuitive and easy to use for beginners.

How to Brighten Images Using the X-Design Retouch Tool?

The X-Design Retouch Tool is an alternative to brightening all your dark images. The difference is that while the Image Enhancer allows one-click image enhancement, the Retouch tool gives you more command over detailed editing. 

Features of X-Design Retouch Tool

• Advanced image enhancement by tweaking the lighting, shadows, and highlights.

• Different editing features are available based on Basic Correction and Advanced Correction.

• Apply pre-made filters to easily brighten your images and compare in real time.

• Export in a single click, save instantly to your device without quality loss.

Steps to Brighten Images Using the X-Design Retouch Tool

Visit the retouch tool through your web browser, or install the X-Design application from the Play Store.

Step 1: Upload a Dark Image to the Retouch tool

Click ‘Upload Image’ and select an image from your device. You can also use the Batch Upload feature to import up to 30 images in one go. 

Step 2: Tweak Basic and Advanced Correction Within the Tool

In the left toolbar, click ‘Basic Correction’ to start adjusting brightness. You can also tweak other elements such as contrast, saturation, and clarity.

Step 3: Export the image upon finalizing the changes

After completing the edits, you can export your image with a single click.

The retouch tool helps to get more control over the visual editing of the image. It ensures that even the most faded images reach a comprehensible quality. X-Design is free to use for new users. Whether you use the Retouch tool or the Image enhancer, you get premium results. That too, without having to pay for them.

How to Brighten an Image in Photoshop

Photoshop is popular amongst experienced designers. Yes, this tool is complicated to use. But it is one of the most effective options to brighten your images.

Features of Photoshop:

• Advanced image editing features for graphic designers.

• High-quality exports in multiple formats.

• Precise fine-tuning for every use case.

Steps to Brighten Images Using Photoshop 

Adobe Photoshop is a great alternative for those who like to edit images manually. This is usually used by e-commerce sellers who want to tweak their product images and upload attractive listings.

Step 1: Upload a new image from your computer

Import an image that you want to brighten. Then right-click the layer in the right toolbar and create a duplicate layer.

Step 2: Choose Brightness and Contrast

Click ‘Image’ in the top navigation bar, and then click ‘Adjustments’. From the pop-up, select ‘Brightness/Contrast’. 

Step 3: Adjust the Brightness and Contrast

In the dialogue box, you can adjust the brightness and contrast using the slider. Then click ‘Ok’ to confirm these changes.

Step 4: Export your image

Upon finalizing the changes, you can click ‘File’ and then choose ‘Export’ from the dropdown. You can select the most preferred file format. The image gets downloaded to your device instantly.

Photoshop is one of the most reliable methods to brighten your images. It delivers high-quality results without fail. But it can be somewhat complicated for beginners. Hence, using an AI tool for brightening your images would be a better option if you are just starting out.

How to Avoid Clicking Dark Pictures

You can avoid getting dark images by following a few standard rules of photography. 

You must pay attention to the camera settings of your device to get clear pictures. Lighting plays a major role, too.

• Tweak Device Settings: You must adjust the aperture and make it wider. Plus, the shutter speed needs to be slower than the default setting. Similarly, a higher ISO is needed to help the sensor detect light.

• Use proper lighting: Natural light works best for photography. For indoor shots, position lights to evenly illuminate the subject. Avoid harsh backlighting unless it is intentional.

• Shoot in RAW format: RAW files store more image data than JPEGs. This gives you more flexibility to recover shadows during post-processing.

• Check exposure before capturing: Use your camera’s histogram to confirm that the image is not underexposed. Adjust exposure compensation if needed.

Conclusion

Dark images are a big no when it comes to product listings and social media postings. To edit these images and make them bright, you can use the X-Design Image Enhancer and X-Design Retouch Tool. They are great options to make the images ideal for product listings. To click some great images and avoid dark pictures, you need to adjust your camera settings and ensure a slower shutter speed and lower ISO for best results.