Learn Photoshop Now: How to Fix Overexposed Images

With Photoshop you have the ability to fix almost any flaw at the tips of your fingers. Overexposed photos are no exception. The simplest way to correct this is to open the photo in Photoshop and select Image> Adjustments> Shadow/Highlight (this is for CS-only, for pre-CS look below). You will notice an immediate and probably extreme change in your photo, but just use this setting as a starting point. Photoshop default settings are often way over the top. Simply adjust the Amount Slider and the Tonal Width Slider in both the Shadows and the Highlights until you find just the right balance. That's all there is to it!

Fixing Overexposed Photos, Pre-CS - The Layer Sandwich Trick If you don't have CS, then this trick will help you accomplish similar results.

Step 1 - New Layer Open your photo and choose Layer> Duplicate Layer to make a copy of the Background Layer, or by dragging it to the New Layer Icon at the bottom of the Layers palette.

Step 2 - Change The Blend Mode In the Layers palette change the Blend Mode of the new layer from Normal to Multiply. This will darken the photo uniformly.

Step 3 - Repeat Now repeat the entire process again. Create a new layer, change the blend mode to multiply, and watch the result. Continue doing this over and over until you go from "it's almost just right" to "it's awful!"

Step 4 - Lower The Opacity Now leave that last layer active even though it's taken you too far and lower the Opacity using the slider at the top right of the layers palette. This lowers the intensity of the effect. When you've found the right amount, you can flatten your image.

Step 5 - Flatten And Save Choose Layer> Flatten or use the palette's flyout menu and choose Flatten Image. Save your file (File> Save) and that's it!

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