VFX Atlas
M 080 / 18303 Color & Quantizationalgorithm output

Levels Stretch

color & quantization

Typeface · Didact Gothic

Atlas demonstration: the free source photo and the computed Levels Stretch. A top-down view captures a coffee with latte art alongside a small pastry and personal items. The technical adjustment has pushed the white ceramic surfaces to a brilliant glow while rendering the background table as a flat, deep void.
Atlas demonstration: the free source photo and the computed Levels Stretch. A top-down view captures a coffee with latte art alongside a small pastry and personal items. The technical adjustment has pushed the white ceramic surfaces to a brilliant glow while rendering the background table as a flat, deep void.Image: Nathan Dumlao nate_dumlao · CC0 (via Wikimedia Commons), processed for the AtlasView source ↗

Prompt

Apply a Levels Stretch effect, expanding the tonal range so the darkest existing shadows reach pure black and the brightest highlights reach pure white. Scale intermediate tones smoothly, strengthening contrast without adding grain, halos, artificial textures, or new lighting. Keep the original subject and composition.

Paste it into LetzAI with your own image to apply the effect ↗

Identify

You see an image with enhanced contrast where the darkest shadows become pure black and the brightest areas become pure white.

Principle

The algorithm maps the original image's darkest pixel to black and its brightest pixel to white. It proportionally scales all intermediate pixel values1 to fill this newly expanded tonal range2.

Try it out

Observe how adjusting the black and white clipping points reveals hidden details in flat, low-contrast photos.

Classification

Calculated image processing result.

Further examples · 9 images

Levels Stretch, applied to “Black and white portrait (Unsplash)”
02 Levels Stretch, applied to “Black and white portrait (Unsplash)”A black and white portrait features a young man with patterned shadows cast across his face from nearby branches. This process has eliminated middle gray tones, resulting in harsh white skin highlights and jet-black silhouettes of leaves.A. Xromatik axromatik (photo); processed for the Atlas · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons
Levels Stretch, applied to “Arctic fox in snow (Unsplash)”
03 Levels Stretch, applied to “Arctic fox in snow (Unsplash)”A solitary arctic fox stands in a snowy landscape during a purple-tinted dusk. The tonal expansion is highly apparent as the fox's highlights reach pure white against deep, saturated black shadows in the distant background.Jonatan Pie r3dmax (photo); processed for the Atlas · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons
Levels Stretch, applied to “Man shoes (Unsplash)”
04 Levels Stretch, applied to “Man shoes (Unsplash)”A person bends down to tie the laces of their dark leather work boots in a high-contrast environment. The expansion of the dynamic range is obvious here, resulting in deep, crushed blacks in the clothing and a brilliant, blown-out white background.Alex Jones alexjones (photo); processed for the Atlas · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons
Levels Stretch, applied to “Imposing concrete bridge (Unsplash)”
05 Levels Stretch, applied to “Imposing concrete bridge (Unsplash)”A concrete arch bridge stretches across a lush green canyon toward a distant coastal hill. The transformation is apparent in the way the concrete structure hits a pure white luminance against the deep, obsidian shadows of the underpass.Mason Jones masonjonesphoto (photo); processed for the Atlas · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons
Levels Stretch, applied to “First Time in US (Unsplash)”
06 Levels Stretch, applied to “First Time in US (Unsplash)”An expansive aerial perspective looks down upon the dense skyscraper grid of a metropolitan city. The expanded tonal range creates sharp highlights on the building tops and intense, dark contrast within the narrow street canyons below.Thomas Habr thomashabr (photo); processed for the Atlas · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons
Levels Stretch, applied to “Forest fence (Unsplash)”
07 Levels Stretch, applied to “Forest fence (Unsplash)”A hiker stands by a wooden fence within a tall pine forest featuring a vibrant yellow undergrowth. The manipulation causes the forest floor to glow with intense brightness while the tree bark maintains very dark, heavy blacks.Sandis Helvigs sandishelvigs (photo); processed for the Atlas · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons
Levels Stretch, applied to “Ocean Landscape (Unsplash)”
08 Levels Stretch, applied to “Ocean Landscape (Unsplash)”A cloudy sky hangs over a rocky coastline with dark, wet stones in the foreground. The process has heightened the drama of the scene by pushing the darkest crevices of the rocks to a solid black and the crests of the waves to a bright white.Fré Sonneveld fresonneveld (photo); processed for the Atlas · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons
Levels Stretch, applied to “Crowdsurfing man (Unsplash)”
09 Levels Stretch, applied to “Crowdsurfing man (Unsplash)”A crowd lifts a performer during a concert, with bright stage lights beaming from behind. The adjustment is clear as the intense stage lights bloom into pure white while the silhouettes of the audience are rendered in deep, heavy blacks.lifesimply.rocks lifesimplyrocks (photo); processed for the Atlas · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons

Sources