Lighten image with GIMP

[sheldonc]

Took some sunset images last night but some of them are very dark

Can anyone tell me how I can make them lighter with GIMP please

Thanks

[PrimeTime]

Originally Posted by sheldonc

Took some sunset images last night but some of them are very dark

Can anyone tell me how I can make them lighter with GIMP please

Thanks

It would help if you posted one of the pics so everyone can see what you want to do to the photo.


There are lots of ways to lighten a photo. You could click colors--brightness/contrast and adjust that way.
You could click on colors---curves. After you bring up the curves tool ( it will look like a slanted line), click on the picture in an area you want to brighten or darken, and a virtical line will appear on the curve tool. If you click on(click and hold) the curve line at that point and move the curve line up it will brighten that area. If you move it down, it will darken that area.

You could dodge and burn using layers. Click on image -- duplicate layers---image - add new layer to image (make layer White layer)---Click on color swatch(black and white square in tools bar) and the color display will pop up. Move the 4th slider from the bottom to 50%. If you look in the tool bar the black swatch will have turned grey. Click and hold on the grey swatch and drag it over to the white layer and fill it with grey. After that you can change the grey swatch back to black by moving the slider back to the left and hit ok. Next change the mode in the tool bar to overlay and your image will appear on the screen. Next click on the brush tool and choose a feathered brush and move the opacity to about 20% or so( you'll need to play around with this. I depends on how much of a change you are looking for.) . Next you choose either black or white for your color. White will brighten and black will darken the image. Just keep brushing over the areas you want to change.

I would use the curves tool first and get the image as close as posible and then the dodge and burn or brightness to finish it off.

If you want to learn more about gimp, go to meet the gimp . org and you will find over 100 video's on how to use gimp.

Hope this helps.

[sheldonc]

Thanks for the tips - I'll try all the different things you have suggested but I suspect that there is just too much wrong with the image to salvage it but it is a great way of experimenting with GIMP and seeing what you can & can't do

[LauraRJC]

Originally Posted by sheldonc

Thanks for the tips - I'll try all the different things you have suggested but I suspect that there is just too much wrong with the image to salvage it but it is a great way of experimenting with GIMP and seeing what you can & can't do

I just discovered gimp not all that long ago, and I am having a blast with it.
It has some great features for perfecting your shots, but it also has some fun stuff that if you really mess up a pic, you can always have some fun with it.

Laura

[sheldonc]

Originally Posted by LauraRJC

it also has some fun stuff that if you really mess up a pic, you can always have some fun with it.

Laura

well i have plenty of those to work with

[LauraRJC]

Originally Posted by sheldonc

well i have plenty of those to work with

Dont we all? Out of maybe 300 shots I maybe get 25-50 decent ones I can work with.

I save the other ones sometimes to practice with editing. Its fun!!!

Laura

[PowerPix]

A SUPER easy way to brighten it up is to mouse over *layers* go down and select *new from visible*, open up your layers box, click on the drop down box and set your layer to *screen*. If it comes up too bright, adjust the opacity. Hope this helps!

[sheldonc]

Originally Posted by PowerPix

A SUPER easy way to brighten it up is to mouse over *layers* go down and select *new from visible*, open up your layers box, click on the drop down box and set your layer to *screen*. If it comes up too bright, adjust the opacity. Hope this helps!

I'll look at that too thanks