How to brighten an image using Levels adjustments in Photoshop CS6 - (Non Destructive)

There are  various ways of changing the brightness of an image.Here we shall discuss the method using Levels command.This is a non destructive method which means that it does not make any changes to the image.The advantage of using this method is that if later we are not satisfied with the brightness changes we can modify the brightness levels again.

                                                    Before                                    After
1) Opening the image in the Photoshop window

Open the image that is underexposed (means the one that needs to be brightened) in Photoshop CS6 by using the menu File > Open or by using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + O.This will open a dialog box.Select the image by clicking on its name  and click Open button.

We can see the image opened as a Background image in the Layers Panel.


2) Selecting the Levels option

After we see the image in Photoshop window we need to open the Levels properties window.For this we need to select the Levels option.There are two ways of selecting the Levels option.

a) Select menu Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Levels...

We can see a dialog box asking the name of the new adjustment layer.By default Photoshop names it Levels 1.If we want we can type in any other name or we can leave it as Levels 1.Click on OK button after naming the layer.
                                                  
b) The other way to get the Levels option is by clicking on the Create new fill or adjustment layer icon (half colored circle) in the bottom of the layers panel on the right side of the photoshop window and selecting Levels option.
                                                     

 

3)Levels Properties panel

Now we can see a Levels Properties panel where we can see three sliders.To edit the brightness of the image we need to drag the rightmost and middle sliders to the left.We need to experiment with the sliders and once we are satisfied with the results we can click on the double pointing arrow on the top right of the properties panel to apply the changes and hide the properties panel.

We can also see a new Levels adjustment layer with a thumbnail added in the layers panel on the right side of the photoshop window.

5)Saving the image

After we are satisfied with the adjustments we will save the image by selecting the menu File > Save or by using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + S.This will open a dialog box where we can write the name of the image.After typing a name click on Save button.

The advantage of using an adjustment layer is that we can double click on the layer thumbnail anytime and change the adjustments again if we are not satisfied with the previous adjustments.