Fix Underexposed Photo

Brighten dark photos and restore shadow detail in seconds with AI.

Type 'brighten the photo and restore detail in the shadows' and EditThisPic's AI intelligently lifts exposure while preserving highlights in 15-30 seconds. No exposure sliders to adjust, no curves to learn. Just describe what you want fixed. Works on indoor shots, backlit subjects, and night photography. Free to try, no account needed.

Dark silhouette of person against bright window — Before

→

Same person with properly exposed face and balanced window light — After

How it works

Upload your dark photo

Drop your underexposed image into EditThisPic. JPG, PNG, WebP up to 7MB. The AI works best with photos that have at least some recoverable detail in the shadows.

⏱ Simple exposure fixes: 15-30 seconds. Severely dark photos: may need 2-3 refinements to balance exposure throughout.

Describe what you want

Type your instruction: 'brighten the photo and restore detail in the shadows' or 'fix the dark exposure and bring out the subject.' Be specific about areas if needed. No marking required - the AI understands that underexposed means the whole image needs exposure correction.

💡 Mention specific areas if they need extra attention: 'brighten the shadows on the face while keeping the window from blowing out'

Copy one of these to get started:

General dark photo fix brighten the photo and restore detail in the shadows

Indoor portrait with bad lighting fix the dark exposure on the face and bring out natural skin tones

Backlit subject (silhouette effect) brighten the subject in the foreground while keeping the background balanced

Evening or night photography increase exposure and reduce noise in the dark areas while preserving the mood

3 more prompts

Real estate interior with dark corners brighten the dark corners and shadows to show the full room clearly

Product photo with poor lighting fix the underexposure and make the product details clearly visible with even lighting

Outdoor photo in heavy shade brighten the shaded areas and balance the exposure with the sunny background

Generate and review

Check that shadows are lifted without looking washed out. Verify skin tones look natural and highlights aren't overexposed. Zoom to 100% to check for noise that might have appeared in the lifted shadows.

Refine with markers if needed

If some areas need more brightening than others (like a face in shadow while background is fine), tap markers on those specific spots and regenerate. This is optional for most exposure fixes since the AI handles global adjustments well.

💡 Markers help when you have mixed lighting - bright windows with dark interiors, for example.

Try it free ↓

"My indoor photos were way too dark. Just typed 'brighten and fix the shadows' and it looked professional." @melissa_creates

See it in action

→

Indoor portrait with window backlight

Subject sitting by a window appeared as a dark silhouette. AI brought out facial details while keeping the window from blowing out.

Prompt: brighten the person's face and body while keeping the window light natural

Nearly black restaurant photo with only candle flames visible — Before

→

Same restaurant scene with visible faces and food, maintaining warm ambiance — After

Evening restaurant photo too dark

Dinner photo was almost black except for candles. AI recovered the food and faces while maintaining the ambient atmosphere.

Prompt: brighten the photo to show the food and people clearly while keeping the cozy evening mood

Dark living room with shadowy corners and poor visibility — Before

→

Bright, evenly lit living room showing all furniture and corners clearly — After

Real estate room with dark interior

Living room shot was underexposed with dark corners hiding the space. AI evenly brightened to show the full room.

Prompt: fix the dark exposure throughout the room and brighten all corners to show the full space

If something looks off

Photo looks washed out after brightening

Why: The AI may have lifted exposure too aggressively, losing contrast. Very dark originals sometimes need a balanced approach.

Try: brighten the shadows while maintaining strong contrast and rich colors

💡 Adding 'maintain contrast' prevents the flat, washed-out look.

Noise appeared in the shadow areas

Why: When shadows are lifted, noise that was hidden in the dark becomes visible. This is a common issue with high-ISO or phone camera photos.

Try: brighten the photo and reduce noise in the shadow areas for a clean result

💡 Mentioning noise reduction alongside brightening helps the AI handle both issues.

Highlights got blown out (too bright)

Why: The AI brightened the whole image equally instead of targeting just the shadows. This happens with mixed lighting scenes.

Try: lift the shadows and dark areas only, keeping the already-bright areas unchanged

💡 Be explicit about protecting highlights when you have bright areas in the frame.

Colors look unnatural after fixing

Why: Aggressive exposure correction can shift color balance. Some cameras record color data poorly in underexposed areas.

Try: brighten the exposure and correct the color balance for natural-looking results

💡 Adding 'natural-looking' or 'correct color balance' helps restore proper hues.

AI changed the wrong area or something I didn't want changed

Why: The AI couldn't determine exactly which area you meant from description alone. This happens with ambiguous requests.

Try: Tap a marker on the specific area you want to brighten, then regenerate with the same prompt

💡 Markers tell the AI 'I mean THIS area specifically.' Use them when you only want to brighten certain parts.

Photo is still too dark after one attempt

Why: Severely underexposed photos may need incremental adjustment. The AI avoids over-correction on the first pass.

Try: brighten the photo significantly more and recover all shadow detail

💡 Adding 'significantly' or 'much more' tells the AI to be more aggressive with the correction.

Quick answers

Do I need to mark the dark areas before describing?

No! For exposure correction, just describe what you want: 'brighten the photo and restore shadow detail' or 'fix the dark exposure.' The AI understands these concepts globally. Only use markers when you need selective brightening - like lifting just the subject's face while leaving a moody background dark.

Can AI fix a completely black photo?

If there's truly no data in the shadows (pure black), no tool can recover it. But most 'black' photos actually have hidden detail. Try the fix and you might be surprised - modern cameras capture more shadow information than you can see on screen.

Will fixing underexposure add noise to my photo?

Lifting shadows can reveal noise that was hidden in the dark. EditThisPic's AI handles this intelligently, but for very noisy results, add 'reduce noise' to your prompt for cleaner output.

How is this different from just increasing brightness?

Simple brightness affects the whole image equally, often blowing out highlights. AI exposure correction intelligently lifts shadows while protecting already-bright areas, similar to HDR processing or professional curves adjustment.

Can I fix underexposure on just part of the photo?

Yes! If you have a backlit subject or mixed lighting, describe what you want: 'brighten only the person in shadow' or tap markers on the dark areas you want to fix. The AI can selectively adjust exposure.

Ready to fix your underexposed photo?

Free to try. No signup required.