Tool will allow you to improve your photograph in few seconds. If you are still here, it means that you don't want anything advanced, in this case the combination of the Colors → Brightness-Contrast tool and Colors → Hue-Saturation

If you are looking for more precise, correct and advanced tools, I invite you to read the tutorial about the exposure andĬontrast adjustment using the histogram on the Gimp Level Tools or, even better, the tutorial for exposure and contrast adjustment using Gimp curves.Ībout the corrections of hue and color saturation only, this guide is indicated as a complement to the two that I have linked above. So remember that this tutorial is dedicated to those who are looking for the easiest and fastest way to adjust brightness, contrast. In this tutorial, but you may prefer to not complicate your life. Gimp also provides much more precise and advanced tools than those we are going to see These steps, that are the ABC of photo editing, are actually almost always necessary, or in any case recommended, to fix any photograph. With Gimp it is possible, in a really easy and immediate way, to balance the exposure of a photograph (lighten or darken it), increase or decrease the contrast and adjust the hue and saturation of the color. These two layers keep the color information natural to the background image.Ĭlick 'File' from the menu bar and then click 'Save as' to save the lightened photo once you are satisfied with the results.Gimp tutorial: Brightness, contrast, hue and saturation Gimp Tutorial: easily adjust brightness, contrast, hue and color saturation in a photograph for basic photo editing in few seconds. Opacity of about eighty percent should yield the best results, but experiment until your image looks right.Ĭlick the eye icons next to the 'Hue' and 'Saturation' layers to make these visible again. Click 'OK' to apply the blur, which smooths out the image.Ĭlick 'Overlay' from the Layers panel and then drag the 'Opacity' slider to the left to further fine tune the image. Enter 'Overlay' as the layer name and then click 'OK.'Ĭlick the eye icon next to the 'Saturation' and 'Hue' layers to temporarily hide these in order to monitor the changes you are about to make.Ĭlick the 'Overlay' layer on the layers panel and then select 'Overlay' from the 'Mode' drop-down list.Ĭlick 'Colors' from the menu bar and then click 'Desaturate.' Click the radio button next to 'Lightness' and then click 'OK.'Ĭlick 'Colors' from the menu bar and then click 'Invert.' The photo should immediately appear much lighter.Ĭlick 'Filters' from the menu bar and then click 'Blur.' Select 'Gaussian Blur' from the list and enter a blur radius that is about one percent of the average image size. Right-click 'Background copy' on the Layers panel and then click 'Edit Layer Attributes' from the context menu. Enter 'Hue' as the layer name and then click 'OK.' Right-click 'Background copy #1' on the Layers panel and then click 'Edit Layer Attributes' from the context menu. Enter 'Saturation' as the layer name and then click 'OK.' Right-click 'Background copy #2' on the Layers panel and then click 'Edit Layer Attributes' from the context menu. Right-click 'Background copy #1' from the Layers panel and then click 'Duplicate Layer' from the context menu. Repeat the process to create another duplicate layer so that you have three identical layers in total.Ĭlick 'Background copy #1' from the Layers panel and then select 'Hue' from the 'Mode' drop-down list. Right-click the 'Background' layer on the 'Layers' panel and then select 'Duplicate Layer' from the context menu. Move the mouse horizontally while holding down the left mouse button to adjust the contrast.Ĭlick 'File' from the menu bar and then click 'Save as' to save the lightened photo once you are satisfied with the results Layers Launch GIMP and open the photo that you want to lighten.Ĭlick anywhere on the photo and, while holding down the left mouse button, move the mouse vertically to adjust the brightness. Click 'File' from the menu bar and then click 'Save as' to save the lightened photo as a new file. This is to prevent the lightened image from looking too washed out.Ĭlick 'OK' once you are pleased with the results. Select 'Brightness-Contrast' from the drop-down list and then drag the 'Contrast' slider to the right. Click the check box next to 'Preview' to see the changes and click 'OK' once you are pleased with the results.Ĭlick 'Tools' from the menu bar and then click 'Color Tools.' Select 'Levels' from the drop-down list to open a new window where you are able to adjust the color levels.Ĭlick and drag the middle triangular slider in the 'Input Levels' section to the left to lighten the photo.

Lower brightness gimp