PhixitFix dark shadows and bright highlights
A backlit portrait leaves faces in the dark; a bright sky leaves clouds as white blobs. The Shadows control lifts only the dark areas, and Highlights pulls back only the bright ones.
Free, no sign-up. Your photo stays on your device. Try it on a sample photo
How to fix shadows and highlights
- Choose or drop a photo. It opens with Shadows raised to 40.
- Drag Shadows until the dark areas show detail. Then lower Highlights to bring back bright skies and windows.
- If the photo now looks flat, add a little Contrast back. Save from Export.
Good to know
- The controls look at the surrounding area, not just single pixels, so local contrast survives.
- Areas that are pure white in the original have no detail left to recover.
- Lifting shadows reveals noise; add a touch of Noise reduction if needed.
Questions
Why is my subject dark against a bright sky?
The camera exposed for the sky, which is much brighter. Lifting the shadows balances it after the fact.
Is this the same as HDR?
It gives a similar balanced look from a single photo, without the halos that heavy HDR often adds.
How is this different from Exposure?
Exposure brightens everything equally. Shadows and Highlights only touch the dark and bright ends.
Related tools
- Brighten a photoFix underexposed photos in one click with Auto, then recover shadows, tame highlights and correct white balance.
- Adjust contrastAdd punch to flat photos or soften harsh ones with a contrast control that protects highlights and shadows.
- Color correctionCorrect exposure, contrast, white balance and saturation with the same controls photographers use.
- Reduce noiseClean up grainy night and indoor photos with edge-aware noise reduction, plus a separate fix for colored speckles.