Vignette
Darken the edges so the eye goes to the centre โ classic photo mood.
About this tool
Two sliders โ strength and clear-area size โ plus a light-vignette toggle for the high-key look. The falloff is smooth and quadratic from an adjustable clear centre, so subjects stay clean while edges fade. Full resolution, on-device, free.
A lens flaw that became a language
Vignetting began as failure: early lenses genuinely delivered less light to the corners, so every old photograph darkens at the edges. Decades of seeing that pattern taught everyone to read it as โphotograph, probably meaningfulโ โ and when lenses improved, photographers started adding the flaw back on purpose, because it WORKS: brightness draws the eye, so darkening the periphery herds attention to the centre. The craft is restraint. At 30โ50 strength a vignette is felt, not seen โ viewers' eyes obey without noticing the instruction. At full strength it's a statement (fine, if the statement is intentional). The white variant reverses the physics for the airy, overexposed-edges look of wedding and product photography. Composition still matters more than any effect โ a vignette centres attention, so it flatters centred subjects. Duotone and sketch are the neighbouring moods; photo filters sets exposure before the vignette seals it.
Frequently asked questions
What strength looks professional?
30โ50 โ enough to steer the eye, subtle enough that nobody consciously notices. If a viewer can name the effect, it's probably too strong.
What does the clear-area slider do?
Sets how much of the centre stays untouched before the fade begins โ larger for portraits (faces stay clean), smaller for a moodier, tighter pool of light.
When would I use a white vignette?
High-key looks: weddings, products on white, anything airy. It fades edges toward light instead of shadow โ same eye-steering, opposite mood.
Does it work on any image size?
Yes โ the vignette is computed from the image's own geometry, so the falloff scales with resolution. Processing is on-device at full size.