How to lighten a dark picture

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By John Sweeney - 16th of January 2007

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You've tried the usual methods of Image – Brightness and Contrast or Image – Shadow – Highlights and nothing seems to do the job
If you have a dark picture in your portfolio and you would like to lighten it with the minimum fuss then follow this.

1. Open your dark picture in Photoshop.
   
2. Make a copy of it on your layers pallet (Remember F7 to open the pallet).
   
3. Make sure that the background copy layer on the layers pallet is selected.
   
4. Look for the word Normal on the scroll down menu on the upper left of your pallet, change this to screen on the scrolling menu and hey presto your picture gets lighter.
   
5. Now, flatten and Save the image unless of course you want to make it lighter still, you simply repeat the above process until your are satisfied.