Color Correction for Tone, Light, and Balance

What each slider does

The ranges below are the ones the tool uses. At 0, and at 1.0 for Gamma, a slider changes nothing.

Brightness (-100 to 100)

Adds or removes the same amount of light on every pixel. The effect is strong: +10 lifts a mid-gray by roughly 29 of 255 levels, and from about +30 upward bright areas clip to pure white. As a rule of thumb, ±5 to ±20 is enough for most photos.

Contrast (-100 to 100)

Pushes tones away from mid-gray (positive) or pulls them toward it (negative). At +50, dark areas get clearly darker and light areas lighter; -100 leaves an almost flat, washed-out image.

Saturation and Vibrance (-100 to 100)

Saturation scales the intensity of every color: -100 with Vibrance at 0 gives black and white, +100 doubles the intensity. Vibrance is the gentler option: it boosts muted colors more than colors that are already strong, so skin tones and bright areas stay natural.

Exposure (-3.0 to 3.0, steps of 0.1)

A coarser brightness control. Exposure 1.0 brightens as much as Brightness +33, so ±3.0 turns the image almost completely white or black. Values between ±0.1 and ±0.5 usually fix an under- or overexposed shot.

Highlights and Shadows (-100 to 100)

Highlights works on the bright areas of the picture: negative values bring back detail in skies and bright walls, positive values make them glow. Shadows works on the dark areas: positive values lift detail out of the shadows, negative values deepen them. Mid-tones stay largely as they are.

Whites and Blacks (-100 to 100)

These set the end points of the tonal range. Whites +100 pushes the lightest areas toward pure white, negative values dim them. Blacks -100 deepens the darkest areas toward pure black for more punch, positive values lift them for a soft, faded look.

Hue (-180° to 180°)

Rotates every color around the color wheel. Positive values turn red toward yellow and green: +120° makes red green, and ±180° swaps colors for their opposites, so red becomes teal and blue a brownish orange. Gray, black and white stay unchanged.

Temperature (-100 to 100)

Shifts the white balance. Positive values warm the picture toward yellow and orange, negative values cool it toward blue, for example to neutralize the yellow cast of indoor lighting. Gray and white areas take on the new tone as well.

Tint (-100 to 100)

The second white-balance control. Positive values add magenta, negative values add green. Use it to correct the green cast of fluorescent light or the magenta cast some phone cameras produce.

Gamma (0.1 to 3.0, default 1.0)

Bends the mid-tones while pure black and pure white stay in place. Values above 1.0 brighten the mid-tones, values below 1.0 darken them. It is the gentlest way to open up a dark photo without clipping the highlights.

Reset

Sets the twelve sliders back to 0 and Gamma back to 1.0.