Shadow detail
Highlights and shadows comparison
Image Highlights and Shadows Comparison
Adjust highlights and shadows to compare bright-area recovery and dark-area detail against the original.
- Browser-local processing
- PNG · JPG · WebP
- No account needed
Original vs current edit
Compare the original image with the current adjustment state.
Upload an image to compare shadow recovery, highlight recovery, and clipping changes.
Highlight detail
Shadow clipping
Highlight clipping
Advanced metrics
Upload an image to calculate luma, clipping, contrast, and chroma metrics.
Luma histogram
Histogram appears after an image is uploaded.
Original Current edit
Image session actions
Upload an image to compare shadow recovery, highlight recovery, and clipping changes.
How to read this page
Highlights and shadows recover tonal detail
Highlights and shadows comparison focuses on bright and dark regions without exposing advanced levels controls. Lift shadows to reveal dark detail or reduce highlights to protect bright areas, then compare whether clipping and tonal balance improved.
Scope
This page is a tonal recovery workflow, not a levels, curve, black point, white point, or output-level editor.
Highlights and shadows comparison guide
What Highlights and Shadows Comparison Shows
Compare shadow recovery
Check whether dark detail becomes visible without making the image flat or turning shadows gray.
Compare highlight recovery
Check whether skies, paper, faces, and reflections retain detail when you reduce highlights in a photo.
Highlights and shadows vs levels
Highlights and shadows are visual recovery controls; levels directly remap black point, white point, midtones, and output range.
Highlights and shadows terms
How to Read an Image Highlights and Shadows Comparison
Highlights and shadows comparison is for targeted tonal recovery. It answers whether dark regions gained usable detail and bright regions became easier to read without turning the whole image into a broad exposure move.
A good review looks at P10 and P90 luma movement, shadow clipping, highlight clipping, and the visual balance between subject detail and endpoint damage. The page should stay separate from levels controls, curves, and histogram marker editing.
Shadow mask
A shadow mask is a soft selection of darker luma regions.
- Role in the image
- It lets shadow recovery affect dark areas more than midtones or highlights.
- Concept or calculation
- Pixels below a luma threshold receive stronger weighting, with a gradual transition to avoid hard edges.
- Watch for
- Too much shadow lift can flatten the image and reveal low-light noise.
Highlight mask
A highlight mask is a soft selection of brighter luma regions.
- Role in the image
- It lets highlight recovery protect skies, paper, reflections, and pale surfaces.
- Concept or calculation
- Pixels above a luma threshold receive stronger weighting, with a soft falloff into midtones.
- Watch for
- Strong highlight reduction can make bright areas look gray or dull.
Shadow clipping
Shadow clipping means pixels are pushed too close to black.
- Role in the image
- It shows whether a darker edit lost separation in deep shadows.
- Concept or calculation
- A threshold near zero estimates the share of pixels with little remaining dark detail.
- Watch for
- Hair, black fabric, night scenes, and dark product edges often show this first.
Highlight clipping
Highlight clipping means pixels are pushed too close to white.
- Role in the image
- It shows whether bright detail is being lost in the current edit.
- Concept or calculation
- A threshold near the top of the display range estimates clipped bright pixels.
- Watch for
- Clouds, white shirts, screens, and reflections are common clipping areas.
Tonal recovery
Tonal recovery is visible detail gain in shadow or highlight regions.
- Role in the image
- It helps judge whether recovery improved the image rather than only moving numbers.
- Concept or calculation
- Compare local detail and percentile luma movement in the targeted tonal range.
- Watch for
- Fully clipped data cannot be restored if detail is not present in the image.
Highlights and shadows vs exposure
Use exposure when the whole image light level is wrong. Use highlights and shadows when the overall exposure is close but endpoints need targeted recovery.
Highlights and shadows vs levels
Use this page for recovery-style bright and dark adjustments. Use levels when you need black point, white point, midtones, output range, or curve response.
FAQ
About this page
Is this the same as Exposure?
No. Exposure moves the whole image light level. Highlights and shadows target bright and dark regions separately.
Is this the same as Levels?
No. Levels directly controls black point, white point, midtones, output range, and curve response.
Can this recover fully clipped detail?
No. It can compare visible tonal changes but cannot recover detail that is not present in the image data.