Photoshop Tips – Quick and Easy Photo Vignette

Adding a vignette (darkening or lightening around the edges of the photo) is easy these days with the introduction of Adobe Lightroom and Camera Raw. However, the tools in these utilities are limited in flexibility and customization.

The following is a quick and easy way to create either a dark or light vignette for your photo and give you the ability to have virtually limitless control over the effect.

1. Duplicate the Image
Open the image in Photoshop and duplicate it (Cmd/Ctrl + J) to a new layer.

2. Set the Blending Mode
If you’re wanting to darken the edges of your photo, set the duplicate layer’s blend mode to Multiply. If you’re wanting to lighten the edges, set the blend mode to Screen.

3. Make the Selection
For a vignette that is more even around the edges, grab the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M) and make your selection and leave an equal amount of padding between the selection and each edge of the photo.

For a more custom and unique shape, grab the Lasso Tool (L) and draw more of a blob shape, or do a rough outline of the subject in your image.

4. Feather it!
Now we will feather the selection by going to Select > Modifiy > Feather and setting the amount to 250 for higher-res photos or around 150 for lower-res photos..

5. Put On Your Mask
Go to Layer > Layer Mask > Hide Selection (or click the Add Layer Mask icon at the bottom of the Layers panel) to mask your selection. This gives you the greatest flexibility of your vignette.

6. Set Visibility
If you are using the Multiply blend mode to darken the edges, you can vary the intensity of the effect by dropping the opacity of the vignette layer.

If you are using the Screen blend mode to lighten the edges of your photo, you may find it necessary to duplicate the vignetter layer (Cmd/Ctrl + J) once or twice to change the intensity of the effect. You can then change the opacity of the duplicated layers for further control.