Brightness and contrast — Verify the result

Worked example

Compare the saved file with the original at the same zoom and check that bright areas keep texture and dark areas keep shape at 100%.

Start with the highlights. On the mug, look at the glaze reflection, the white backdrop and any window. If a region has turned into a flat, featureless white patch, it was clipped; reduce Brightness or lower Highlights and export again. A tiny clipped speck on a specular reflection is acceptable, a clipped wall is not.

Then look at the shadows. The inside of the mug and the contact shadow under it should show some tone and shape. If they have turned into grey fog, Brightness was pushed too high and the blacks have lost depth; if they are still solid black blocks, raise Shadows by 10 to 15 instead.

Check colour with a neutral object. A white plate or the backdrop should look white, not yellow or blue. Compare against a printed or known colour reference if the product colour matters to customers, because screens differ and a mug sold online must look like the one that arrives.

The common mistake is reviewing only the live preview. Open the saved JPG in a different viewer, compare its file size with the original (a roughly similar size is normal), and look at it next to the unedited photo. If you cannot tell the difference on purpose, the adjustment may be too small to matter.

Underexposed photograph

Adjusted image; highlights inspected

Check highlights and shadows in the saved file, not only in the preview, and compare with the untouched original.