Vignetting in photography is a relationship Love Hate. Either you hate it or you love it. But… what happens with these things without a middle ground? Well, we lose a lot of options along the way. This effect is neither good nor bad in itself, but it hinders or contributes depending on the situation. So today we are going to see how to remove and how to create vignetting in Photoshop (and in Lightroom). We will also see when it bothers you and when it helps you improve the image.
What is vignetting in photography?
Vignetting in photography is a gradual darkening (or lightening) of the corners. It can be of two types (defect or effect):
- Vignetting as lens aberration: this is a lens aberration that can occur for a variety of reasons and is considered a defect in the optics.
- Post Crop Vignette: it’s a effect that is intentionally created in the editing program to focus interest on the protagonist or create a retro or dreamlike air, as it recalls the photographs of old cameras that had this flaw.
As you can see, vignetting can both ruin a photograph and improve it. The question is knowing it and deciding for yourself when you want it in your photography and when not, knowing how to eliminate it and create it so that you have absolute control over your image.
When to remove vignetting?
If you notice vignetting in your photos and it bothers you, that’s enough reason to remove it. No need for anyone to tell you. Now, there are certain types of photography that vignetting does not generally sit well with. We know that exceptions always exist.
These cases in which it is better to eliminate it are, for example, product, architecture, star or night photography or even daytime landscapes. The macro is, for example, another type of photography in which a vignetting does not have much room.
How to remove vignetting from photos
Before knowing how to remove it, let’s see what are the main reasons why it appears as a lens aberration or as another unwanted effect. If you can avoid it at source, better than better.
Vignetting is related to light entering the sensor, so here are the main reasons for lens vignetting:
- Low quality optics
- extreme openings
- wide angle lenses
- Not using a parasol or placing it incorrectly
- Use of filters
- Short focal lengths in telephoto lenses
How to remove vignetting in Photoshop
To remove vignetting in Photoshop follow the path: Filter > Lens Correction
A window will open offering you two options:
- automatic correction
- tailored
- Automatic correction: click on Bullet point and press okay. You also have the option in Search criteria to select the camera and the objective with which the photograph was taken to fine-tune the result. And you would already have it.
Let’s see a comparison of the same image before correcting vignetting with automatic correction and after.
Left before correcting vignetting and right with automatic vignetting correction in Photoshop
- tailored. allows to control tailored or manually the vignette you want to remove. It is also used to add vignetting. With the cursor of Quantity, on the left you darken, close to -100 you add a lot of vignette. Close to +100 you lighten the edges a lot. with the cursor Middle point you determine the vignetting or lightening area, further to the left (lower value) the area is smaller. And vice versa, to the right, the value is higher and the vignetting or correction area is larger.
Let’s now see different degrees of removing the vignette with this option:
Quantity +25 Quantity +50 Quantity +75 Quantity +100
Note that it makes a cleared up, with which other defects such as noise or chromatic aberration can become very evident, try not to exaggerate or abuse. Always look for natural results.
How to remove vignetting in Lightroom
Now I’m going to show you how to remove vignetting in Lightroom very easily, with just one click. in the module Revealgo to the panel lens corrections and, inside the option Profilepress Activate profile corrections.
Before vignette correction With vignette correction
It has improved, but are you satisfied with the result? If the answer is no, you have the possibility to do it manually in Manual (yeah, it’s obvious). This allows you more creative options.
When moving the cursor Quantity on the left (negative values) you will see the corners darken. Conversely, moving it to the right lightens them, removing vignetting. Once you move this cursor, it is also activated Middle point. With it you decide the amount of area in which you want to add or remove the vignette. With a value of 0 you get the maximum area and with a value of 100 the minimum.
Let’s look at an example where we want to remove the vignette to get a very white background.
In this case, I wanted to remove the bullet as much as possible, so I’ve put Quantity +100; and have all the possible white area, for what I have put Middle point 0. You can see these values on the screenshot to the right. And this is the result:
Remove vignetting to get a white background
This last action, rather than removing the lens’s own vignetting, adds a light vignetting to achieve a specific effect, a very white background, which brings us to the next point.
When to add vignetting in photography?
The artistically added vignetting is used, as I have mentioned, to focus attention on the protagonist, to add depth or to give it a magical or vintage effect, for example. This is very characteristic, for example, of Lomographic cameras.
Its uses are mainly in portrait photography and black and white images. Although it is also used in artistic photography or to achieve very black or very white backgrounds, as we have just seen. So no, vignetting is not always your worst enemy, but it can become a great ally.
Next, the same image without vignetting and with vignetting. As you can see, on the right the gaze is more focused on the subject.
Without vignetting With vignetting
Before continuing, I would like to add that the vignetting that is added is usually black (except in cases like the one where we were looking for a completely white background). Light vignetting usually doesn’t look very good. Let’s see, about tastes… but no, I don’t recommend it beyond white, white backgrounds 😅 . Look at the difference.
Black vignette White vignette
Beyond the subjective part of tastes, there is a more objective explanation of why it does not work. When you add light vignetting, it acts as if it were a brighter area and since the eye is drawn to the brighter areas, the only thing that we achieve with this effect is to distract.
How to Add Vignetting in Photoshop
The fastest option for adding vignetting in Photoshop is the same way as for vignetting correction. Remember that the path was: Filter > Lens Correction. In this case we will go to the option tailored of the dialog box (right image). To darken you move the cursor Quantity on the left and if you want more vignette area, the one on Middle point also to the left. Press OK and that’s it.
Route: Filter > Lens Correction
dialog box
This is the result, left without, right with Photoshop vignetting.
Without vignetting With vignetting
There are other ways to add vignetting with more creative options and very easy. Like, for example, in Lightroom.
Add vignetting in Lightroom
Before adding creative vignetting, it’s a good idea to remove any existing vignetting from the lens. Remember: Lens Corrections > Enable Profile Corrections.
Well, you’re ready. Now we go to the panel effects. I recommend the Style: Lighting priority. These are the cursors you have.
- Quantity: shift left (negative values) to darken corners; to the right (negative values) to lighten them.
- Middle point: set a low value if you want it to stay close to the corners. Higher if you want it to be closer to the center.
- Roundness: with the cursor to the left the shape is more oval; to the right, more circular.
- Dispel: on the right, the transition is smoother; on the left, the edges are more marked.
So that you can see the effect of each one, I put this gallery with extreme values.
Feather 0 Feather 100 Roundness -50 Roundness +50 Midpoint 0 Midpoint 100 Amount 0 Amount 100 Controls for vignetting in Lightroom
Now let’s see some real vignetting, as I would put it, the before and after. I have set the following values. It is not that you copy them, but that you test what your ideal result is. It will depend on each photo and the message you want to convey. And of your tastes, of course.
The objective is that although it is noticeable when making the comparison, when you see the image it is not something obvious, unless you have a specific idea. A good vignetting is like a good makeup, it should not be noticed 😉
Without vignetting With vignetting
Any questions about vignetting in Photoshop or another editor? Don’t keep it! Leave it in the comments ⬇️⬇️⬇️ and we’ll solve it together.
And if you don’t have Photoshop or Lightroom, there are other free alternatives like Photopea or these other photo editing programs.
I hope it has been useful to you. If you like our tutorials, share them, so we know that you like this content and we will continue creating more material for you. Until next time!