What are levels?

Levels is the classic photo editing tool for the black point, the white point and the midtones of an image. Move the input black point up to where the darkest tones start and the input white point down to where the brightest end, and everything in between stretches over the full range: a dull, hazy photo gets deep blacks and clean whites. The midtones setting brightens or darkens the tones in between, and the output levels limit how dark and how bright the result gets.

Tool description

Open a photo and the tool shows its histogram, a chart of how many pixels have each brightness, from black on the left to white on the right. Press Auto to set the input black and white points from the histogram, or set them yourself. The dimmed ends of the histogram are the tones that clip to black or white. Then adjust the midtones, and the output levels if you want softer blacks or whites. Download the result at full size as PNG, JPG, or WebP.

Features

  • Histogram with the black point, midtones and white point marked
  • Auto levels that ignore a few stray pixels at each end
  • Output levels for a faded look, or to invert the image

How it works

Every red, green and blue value goes through the same curve. Values at or below the input black point become the output black, values at or above the input white point become the output white, and the ones in between stretch across, bend by the midtones gamma and land on the output range. Auto lets about 0.1% of the values clip at each end, so a single hot pixel or a speck of dust doesn't hold the stretch back.

Tips

  • Empty space at either end of the histogram means the photo doesn't use the full range. Auto fixes that in one click.
  • Midtones above 1 brighten the image and below 1 darken it, without moving black and white.
  • Raise the output black to about 20 or 30 for a faded, matte look.
  • Set the output black to 255 and the output white to 0 to get the negative of the image.