Online Brightness & Contrast

Adjusting Brightness and Contrast

Brightness and contrast are the two most fundamental image adjustments. Brightness shifts the overall luminance of an image — increasing it makes all pixels lighter, decreasing makes them darker. Contrast expands or compresses the range of tones — higher contrast makes darks darker and lights lighter, creating a more dramatic look.

A well-adjusted image should have a good range of tones: true blacks, bright whites, and smooth gradients in between. Use the histogram as a guide: a well-exposed image has data spread across the entire range without clipping at either end.