How to darken an overexposed image using Brightness/Contrast in Photoshop CS6 (Non-Destructive)

There are  various ways of darkening an image.Here we shall discuss the method using Brightness/Contrast command.This method is non destructive which means that it does not make any changes to the image.Photoshop adds a new layer and applies the changes to it.

                                                               Before             After                                    

1) Opening the image in the Photoshop window

Open the image that is overexposed (means which is too bright) 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.

In the layers panel on the right side of the window we can see that photoshop opens the image as a background layer and names it Background by default.

2) Selecting the Brightness / Contrast option

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

a) Select menu Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Brightness/Contrast...

We can see a dialog box asking the name of the new adjustment layer.By default Photoshop names it Brightness/Contrast 1.If we want we can type in any other name or we can leave it as Brightness/Contrast 1.Click on OK button after naming the layer.

b) The other way to get the Brightness/Contrast option is by clicking on the Create new fill or adjustment layer icon (half colored circle) in the bottom of the layers panel and selecting Brightness/Contrast... option.

3)Brightness/Contrast Properties panel
Now we can see a Brightness/Contrast Properties panel where we can edit the brightness/contrast of the image by dragging the sliders to the left or right.

a)If we drag the Brightness slider towards the left the brightness of the image decreases. 

b)We can also adjust the contrast by moving its slider to the left or right.Moving the slider towards the left will decrease the contrast and moving it towards the right will increase the contrast.

c)To exit out of the Brightness/Contrast Properties panel click on the cross mark on the top right of the properties panel or click on the down pointing arrow on the top right corner of the properties panel and select Close.

 d)To hide the properties panel click on the double pointing arrow on the top right corner of the properties window .The properties panel will collapse to an icon.

e)We can also see a new layer with a half colored circle surrounded by little rays added just above the image layer in the layers panel on the right side of the photoshop window.

 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.