Adjust Shadows and Highlights in Photos Online

Frequently asked questions

How do I brighten shadows without brightening the whole photo?

Increase Shadows to lift dark areas while keeping midtones and highlights steadier. Use Strength to reduce the overall correction if it looks too strong.

How do the Shadows and Highlights controls work?

Positive values brighten the selected tonal range, and negative values darken it. Increase Shadows for a dark subject, or decrease Highlights to soften bright areas. Strength at zero shows the original image.

Can this recover a blown-out sky?

It can make existing highlight detail easier to see, but it cannot restore detail lost to clipping. Pixels that are already pure white stay white.

How is this different from brightness or exposure?

Brightness and exposure affect the image broadly. Shadows & Highlights targets dark and bright tonal ranges separately, with smooth transitions and stable midtones.

Does this preserve colors and transparency?

The correction adjusts perceptual lightness while retaining the color components and alpha. Dimensions and transparency are preserved. Strong corrections on saturated colors may reach the output color gamut limits.

Is my photo processed locally?

Yes. Shadows & Highlights runs in your browser without uploading your photo, requiring a login, or adding a watermark.

What file formats can I export?

You can export as PNG, JPEG, WebP, TIFF, BMP, or HEIC.

Is this tool free to use?

Yes — completely free, no account needed. Your images are processed entirely in your browser and never uploaded to a server. Downloads have no watermarks.