How to Enhance Dark Photos in Adobe Photoshop CS2

You're out with your friends and family having a blast. You're taking pictures, laughing, talking about old times and just having fun. You get home to upload your pictures of your wonderful day, only to find that all of them didn't turn out like you hoped. So now you sort through your images only to have a few good ones to show your family and peers. All hope is lost for those dark pictures correct? Wrong!

Requirements:

Adobe Photoshop CS2 and a dark picture you wish to enhance.

1. Start by running Adobe Photoshop CS2.

2. Click on File>Open and select your picture you wish to enhance.

3. Once your picture is open press Ctrl+J to duplicate your picture into another layer.

4. Select Image>Adjustments>Curves to make your picture brighter. Be sure to click the middle point and drag the line up to make the picture as bright as you wish. I usually make my Input around 93 and Output 150.

5. Press OK once you have your desired brightness.

6. Next select Image>Adjustments>Brightness/Contrast. Move your Contrast bar over to the right to add more contrast to your picture. I set this image to a contrast of +17. You can add more or less contrast to make your picture as you wish. Once you have what you want press OK.

7. Select Filter>Sharpen>Unsharp Mask.

8. Each picture is different and will require various Amounts, Radius and Threshold. For this picture I used an Amount of 79%, Radius of 30.4 pixels and a Threshold of 14 levels to make this picture look sharp and crisp. Once you have your desired levels press OK.

9. Now we need to save your work. Select File>Save As. Select the JPEG option for great results.