Correct exposure, highlight detail, shadow detail, and brightness

You use the Exposure adjustment controls to set the exposure, recovery (highlight detail), black point (shadow detail), and brightness values.

You can quickly adjust the exposure of a RAW image using the Auto Exposure button. You can also correct an image’s exposure manually by adjusting the Exposure parameter. The amount of latitude you have—the visually acceptable range of f-stops—depends on the file type, the bit depth, and the amount of compression applied to the image during capture. Typically, a RAW file is capable of a slightly wider latitude than a JPEG file.

Figure. Image before and after an Exposure adjustment.

You can adjust the Brightness parameter when you want to lighten or darken your image. When you adjust brightness, the brightness values of the midtone pixels in the image change the most. You can change the brightness of the image temporarily to see how the adjustment affects details in the shadows, midtones, and highlights. For more precise control over the range of tonality in the image, consider using the Levels adjustment controls. For more information, see Adjust the levels of an image.

Figure. Image before and after a Brightness adjustment.

You can also recover highlight and shadow details in an image by adjusting the Recovery and Black Point parameters.

Correct the exposure of a RAW image automatically

Select a photo.
In the Exposure area of the Adjustments inspector or the Adjustments pane of the Inspector HUD, click the Auto Exposure button.

Correct the exposure of an image manually

You can fine-tune the automatic adjustment using the Exposure adjustment controls.

Select a photo.
In the Exposure area of the Adjustments inspector or the Adjustments pane of the Inspector HUD, use the Exposure parameter controls to change the image’s exposure.
A negative value decreases the exposure (darkening the image), and a positive value increases the exposure (lightening the image).

Recover highlight details in the image

Many images, especially RAW image files, have additional highlight detail that isn’t displayed by default. Aperture provides the Recovery parameter controls to give you access to that additional headroom. Because digital image sensors differ from camera model to camera model, the highlight headroom varies. In some cases, you can recover significant detail that appears lost or blown out in the most extreme highlight areas of the image.

Note: The Recovery controls aren’t available for RAW decoding versions 1.0 and 1.1. To make the Recovery controls available, reprocess the image. For more information, see RAW Fine Tuning controls overview.

Select a photo.
In the Exposure area of the Adjustments inspector or the Adjustments pane of the Inspector HUD, use the Recovery parameter controls to recover highlight details.
The higher the value, the more highlight information is made available, and the more highlight detail is recovered.

Set the image’s blacks

Shadow detail and the importance of visual elements in shadow vary from image to image. In addition, some cameras are more capable of capturing shadow details than others. In some photos, such as an image of a person’s face in the shadow of an alley, the shadow is the most important visual element. In other photos, the details in the shadows have nothing to do with the main subject. For example, the shadow area of the image may obscure trash that would otherwise ruin a pristine image. In Aperture, you use the Black Point parameter controls to increase the threshold of shadow details in the image as well as crush the blacks when necessary.

Note: The Black Point controls aren’t available for RAW decoding versions 1.0 and 1.1. To make the Black Point controls available, reprocess the image. For more information, see RAW Fine Tuning controls overview.

Select a photo.
In the Exposure area of the Adjustments inspector or the Adjustments pane of the Inspector HUD, use the Black Point parameter controls to recover or supress shadow detail.
Decreasing the value increases the amount of detail in the shadow areas by moving pure black below the current black point. Increasing the value decreases the amount of detail in the shadow areas of the image, effectively crushing the blacks by moving pure black above the current black point.

Adjust brightness in an image

Select a photo.
In the Exposure area of the Adjustments inspector or the Adjustments pane of the Inspector HUD, use the Brightness parameter controls to lighten or darken the image.
A value below 0.0 decreases the brightness of the image. A value greater than 0.0 increases the brightness.