How to lighten a picture in Photoshop

In this tutorial, we'll talk about how to quickly lighten a dark image in Photoshop.

There are many different ways to do this. 

First, copy the picture you want to edit to a new layer.

To do this, in the list of layers, drag the  main layer onto the “Create a new layer” icon:

After that we can start editing.

Open the Shadows / Highlights menu from the main menu:

Image → Adjustments → Shadows / Highlights

In the “Shadows” section move Amount to the right until you achieve the desired effect (it depends on the original image).

If the changes are not visible when dragging the slider, check that there is a check mark next to the Preview item.

When you have achieved the desired result, click “Ok”. If the picture is still dark, then you can repeat this step again.

Result:

Bonus:

Photoshop has a tool that allows you to selectively lighten the desired areas of an image. It is  “Dodge tool”.  Select “Dodge tool” in the toolbar, then set the Range - Shadows option (this means that the dark areas of the image will be affected):

Then select the size and opacity of the brush and simply use this brush in the places that you want to lighten.

Video tutorial