Tools / Fill Light

Fill Light

Add fill light to a photo with our free online tool. Upload your image, lift the shadows, and download the result in just a few clicks.

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Upload a Photo to Brighten

Or drag your image here

JPG, PNG, WebP, HEIC or AVIF · Max 20MB

★★★★★
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Free Online Fill Light

Brighten the dark areas of any photo without blowing out the highlights.

Why use our Fill Light tool?

Lift the shadows in your photo while keeping the highlights intact, right in the browser, free, with no software.

Built for the browser

Works right in your browser, free, with no software to install and no watermarks.

Shadow recovery

Brighten dark areas without washing out the rest of the photo.

Adjustable strength

Dial the fill light from a subtle lift to a full recovery.

Quality preserved

Cloudinary keeps your output crisp and true to the original.

Do it at scale

Process one file or thousands with our free API and add fill light to a photo automatically, with no manual steps.

Format versatility

Works with all major formats, so your result fits right into your workflow.

How to add fill light to a photo in 3 steps

Add fill light in 3 simple steps. Upload your photo, set the light, and download.

Upload your image

Drag and drop your image into the browser, or upload it from your device.

Set the fill light

Lift the shadows until the photo looks right.

Download

Save your result, with no watermarks.

Go beyond an underexposed shot

Keep correcting your photos with more free tools: Photo Lighting Editor, Image Color Tint, Retro Photo Effect.

A woman and a golden retriever in the mountains. They're sitting, facing away from the camera while the dog noses the woman. They're surrounded by natural splendor including majestic mountains, puffy clouds, and evergreen-studded hills.
An un-cropped image overlaid with a cropping window showing how it would be cropped by Cloudinary.
An arrow pointing from the original asset to the cropped asset
A woman and a golden retriever in the mountains. They're sitting, facing away from the camera while the dog noses the woman. They're surrounded by natural splendor including majestic mountains, puffy clouds, and evergreen-studded hills.
The same asset cropped using the following settings: Aspect Ratio: 1:2. Crop Mode: Content-Aware.
Images
Videos
Crop Mode
Aspect Ratio
Original
18 MB

We’re showing a resized version of the original asset to avoid slow loading speeds. View the original.

The original asset:
JPEG
135 KB
WebP
135 KB
AVIF
90 KB
JPEG XL
94 KB
The image after being optimized using the following settings: Quality: Auto. Width: 1000px.
Original
18 MB

We’re showing a resized version of the original asset to avoid slow loading speeds. View the original.

The original asset:
JPEG
135 KB
WebP
135 KB
AVIF
90 KB
JPEG XL
94 KB
The image after being optimized using the following settings: Quality: Auto. Width: 1000px.
Images
Videos
Quality
Width
An un-cropped image overlaid with a croppingai window showing how it would be cropped by Cloudinary.
An arrow pointing from the original asset to the cropped asset
The same asset cropped using the following settings: Aspect Ratio: 1:1. Crop Mode: Content-Aware.
Images
Videos
Crop Mode
Aspect Ratio
The original image:
An arrow pointing from the original asset to the transformed asset.
The personalized image:
The original image:
The personalized image:
Product Photos
Backgrounds
Overlays
Duration
Full length video: Surfing Trip
An arrow pointing from the original video to the AI-generated preview.
Duration
A shorter video preview generated by Cloudinary's AI using the following settings: Duration: 15 seconds. Max Clips: 9. Min Clip Length: 1 second.
Videos
Duration
Max Clips
Min Clip Length
URL:
/ar_0.5,c_fill,g_auto,w_433/q_auto/f_auto/hiking_dog_mountain.jpg
cloudinary.image("hiking_dog_mountain.jpg", {transformation: [
  {aspect_ratio: "0.5", gravity: "auto", width: 433, crop: "fill"},
  {quality: "auto"},
  {fetch_format: "auto"}
  ]})
new CloudinaryImage("hiking_dog_mountain.jpg")
  .resize(
    fill()
      .width(433)
      .aspectRatio(0.5)
      .gravity(autoGravity())
  )
  .delivery(quality(auto()))
  .delivery(format(auto()));
new CloudinaryImage("hiking_dog_mountain.jpg")
  .resize(
    fill()
      .width(433)
      .aspectRatio(0.5)
      .gravity(autoGravity())
  )
  .delivery(quality(auto()))
  .delivery(format(auto()));
new CloudinaryImage("hiking_dog_mountain.jpg")
  .resize(
    fill()
      .width(433)
      .aspectRatio(0.5)
      .gravity(autoGravity())
  )
  .delivery(quality(auto()))
  .delivery(format(auto()));
new CloudinaryImage("hiking_dog_mountain.jpg")
  .resize(
    fill()
      .width(433)
      .aspectRatio(0.5)
      .gravity(autoGravity())
  )
  .delivery(quality(auto()))
  .delivery(format(auto()));
CloudinaryImage("hiking_dog_mountain.jpg").image(transformation=[
  {'aspect_ratio': "0.5", 'gravity': "auto", 'width': 433, 'crop': "fill"},
  {'quality': "auto"},
  {'fetch_format': "auto"}
  ])
(new ImageTag('hiking_dog_mountain.jpg'))
	->resize(Resize::fill()->width(433)
->aspectRatio(0.5)
	->gravity(
	Gravity::autoGravity())
	)
	->delivery(Delivery::quality(
	Quality::auto()))
	->delivery(Delivery::format(
	Format::auto()));
cloudinary.url().transformation(new Transformation()
  .aspectRatio("0.5").gravity("auto").width(433).crop("fill").chain()
  .quality("auto").chain()
  .fetchFormat("auto")).imageTag("hiking_dog_mountain.jpg");
cl_image_tag("hiking_dog_mountain.jpg", transformation: [
  {aspect_ratio: "0.5", gravity: "auto", width: 433, crop: "fill"},
  {quality: "auto"},
  {fetch_format: "auto"}
  ])
cloudinary.Api.UrlImgUp.Transform(new Transformation()
  .AspectRatio("0.5").Gravity("auto").Width(433).Crop("fill").Chain()
  .Quality("auto").Chain()
  .FetchFormat("auto")).BuildImageTag("hiking_dog_mountain.jpg")
cloudinary.image('hiking_dog_mountain.jpg').transformation(Transformation()
	.resize(Resize.fill().width(433)
.aspectRatio(0.5)
	.gravity(
	Gravity.autoGravity())
	)
	.delivery(Delivery.quality(
	Quality.auto()))
	.delivery(Delivery.format(
	Format.auto())));
imageView.cldSetImage(cloudinary.createUrl().setTransformation(CLDTransformation()
  .setAspectRatio("0.5").setGravity("auto").setWidth(433).setCrop("fill").chain()
  .setQuality("auto").chain()
  .setFetchFormat("auto")).generate("hiking_dog_mountain.jpg")!, cloudinary: cloudinary)
MediaManager.get().url().transformation(new Transformation()
  .aspectRatio("0.5").gravity("auto").width(433).crop("fill").chain()
  .quality("auto").chain()
  .fetchFormat("auto")).generate("hiking_dog_mountain.jpg");
cloudinary.image('hiking_dog_mountain.jpg').transformation(Transformation()
	.resize(Resize.fill().width(433)
.aspectRatio(0.5)
	.gravity(
	Gravity.autoGravity())
	)
	.delivery(Delivery.quality(
	Quality.auto()))
	.delivery(Delivery.format(
	Format.auto())));
cloudinary.image {
	publicId("hiking_dog_mountain.jpg")
	 resize(Resize.fill() { width(433)
 aspectRatio(0.5F)
	 gravity(
	Gravity.autoGravity())
	 })
	 delivery(Delivery.quality(
	Quality.auto()))
	 delivery(Delivery.format(
	Format.auto())) 
}.generate()
new CloudinaryImage("hiking_dog_mountain.jpg")
  .resize(
    fill()
      .width(433)
      .aspectRatio(0.5)
      .gravity(autoGravity())
  )
  .delivery(quality(auto()))
  .delivery(format(auto()));

Frequently Asked Questions

It lifts the shadows in a photo so dark areas show more detail, right in your browser.

Upload a photo and the tool brightens the darker areas while protecting the highlights.

Yes, it’s free to use online. Just upload your photo and download the result.

Yes. Developers can use Cloudinary’s API to apply fill light automatically.

Backlit shots, harsh shadows, and photos where the subject is too dark.

Related tools: Minimum Fit Resize · Progressive Jpeg

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