How to brighten an image using Screen blend mode in Photoshop CS6 - (Non Destructive)

There are  various ways of changing the brightness of an image.Here we shall discuss the method using Screen blend mode that basically involves no changes made to any of the values.This method is non destructive  which means that it does not make any changes to the image.

                                              

                                                            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.

 

Now we can see the image opened as a layer in the Layers panel on the right side of the photoshop window.By default photoshop names it as Background. 

2)Duplicating the layer

Now we need to duplicate the image layer(named as Background) in the layers panel.There are two ways to duplicate the layer.

a)First and quicker way is to use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + J .This will place a copy of the image layer(Background)exactly above the Background layer(original image) and name it as Layer 1.

b)Second way is to select the down pointing arrow on the top right corner of the Layers Panel and select Duplicate Layer...option.This will open up a Duplicate Layers dialog box asking us to enter a name for the duplicate layer.By default it will name it as Background copy.We will change the name to Layer 1.Click on OK button to exit out of the dialog box.

3)Changing the blend mode

Now we will change the blending mode of the duplicate layer from Normal to Screen.For doing this we will click on the up-down pointing arrow in the drop down box on top of the layers panel.By default we see the blending mode set to Normal.As soon as we click on the drop down menu we see a list of blending modes.We will select Screen and find that the image has brightened a bit.If we are happy with the results we can save the image.

4)Reducing the Opacity

If the image has brightened up too much we need to reduce the Opacity of the duplicate layer(Layer 1)layer.We can see the layer opacity values at the top in the Layers panel right next to blending options.By default we see the opacity set to 100%.When we click on the down pointing arrow we see a slider which we can drag to the left or right to decrease or increase the opacity values.Experiment with the opacity values to get the desired brightness of the image.
                                             

5)Duplicating the duplicated layer again
If the image needs more brightening,we will skip step 4 above.We need to duplicate the duplicated layer again.For duplicating we need to follow the same procedure mentioned in step 2 above.

a)If we use keyboard shortcut Ctrl + J we get a copy of the Layer 1 with the same blend mode Screen.By default photoshop will name it as Layer 1 copy.

b)If we  select the down pointing arrow on the top right corner of the Layers Panel and select Duplicate Layer...option we will get a Duplicate Layers dialog box asking us to enter a name for the duplicate layer.By default it will name it as Layer 1 copy.Click on OK button to exit out of the dialog box.This will place a copy of the Layer 1 with the same blend mode Screen.               
                                                      

 Now if the image has brightened up too much we can reduce the Layer 1 copy opacity.If we want the image to be brightened more we can duplicate the duplicated layer again.If we are satisfied with the brightening results we can save the image.

6)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.