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How to Fix Overexposed Shots

At times, the light meter in your camera can be fooled and your pictures will appear over exposed. This can happen for a number of different reasons. When it does happen, you can use an advanced photo editing program like Adobe Photoshop, GIMP or Paint.net to correct the over exposure. If the picture is too over exposed, the amount of adjustment you can make is limited. Photo editing programs need to be able to adjust information recorded by the sensor. If the area is completely over exposed, there is no data for the program to adjust.

Things You'll Need

Adobe Photoshop, GIMP or Paint.net

Instructions

- 1
  Turn your computer on and open Adobe Photoshop, GIMP or Paint.net. Photoshop is a program you buy, while GIMP and Paint.net are free programs based on Adobe Photoshop. The name of some tools is slightly different from program to program; however, the necessary steps are the same.
- 2
  Click "File" and select "Open" from the drop down menu. Use your cursor to navigate to the folder containing the over-exposed picture. Highlight the picture and click "Ok" to open the image.
- 3
  Click "Layer" and select "Adjustment Layer" and then select "Brightness/Contrast" from the subsequent menu. Click the thumbnail in the right margin for the layer you just created.
- 4
  Select the "Quick Selection tool" in the left margin. Position your cursor over the area of the photograph that is over exposed. Click the "Brightness/Contrast" layer you created, click and hold the adjustment tab and move the tab to darken the over exposed areas on your picture. Release the tab and the program will make the adjustment to the picture.
- 5
  Click "Layer" and select "Flatten Image" so you can save your edited picture. Click "File," select "Save as" and give your edited photo a new name or title before saving the image to your home computer.

Photography