Brightness and contrast — Settings and quality

Worked example

Start an underexposed photo at Brightness 120-135, Contrast 105-112 and Shadows 20-35, then change one of the nine sliders at a time.

For an underexposed 3000 × 2000 px mug photo, a sound starting point is Brightness 120 to 135, Contrast 105 to 112 and Shadows 20 to 35. Shadows mostly lifts the dark pixels, so it opens the interior of the mug without washing out the white backdrop the way a large brightness value does.

Highlights works in the opposite direction. A negative value around minus 20 to minus 40 pulls glaze reflections and a bright window back down, while a positive one brightens the lightest parts and can burn them. Warmth shifts red against blue: plus 10 to 20 warms a cold cloudy photo, and minus 10 to 20 cools a yellow indoor shot.

Every gain has a price. Brightness above 150 usually greys the blacks and clips the whites, Contrast above 130 hardens edges, and Saturation above 140 gives skin and ceramic a plastic look. Softness is a blur, not a noise remover, so keep it at 0 unless you want a deliberate soft look; Grayscale and Sepia are style choices, not corrections.

The common mistake is raising Brightness alone until the dark areas look right. Fix: make smaller moves on Brightness, then use Shadows for the dark parts, Highlights to protect the bright parts, and press and hold the compare button to see the original.

Underexposed photograph

Adjusted image; highlights inspected

Move one slider at a time and stop when the highlights start to lose texture; beyond that, the original has no more to give.