Easy Vignette in Photoshop

[JohnQ]

The easiest way to add a little pizzazz to your portraits is to add a bit of vignetting.

By using a simple filter in Photoshop you can quickly add vignetting to any photograph. I like to use this technique when shooting portraits with solid color backgrounds. For me it takes away the blah of the solid background and moves the focus onto the face/subject. Here is how it is done in 1 simple step.

First open you image and do any editting you want (color, exposure, etc..). Next we are going to use the Lens Correction filter. This filter is actually great for removing vignetting and wide angle distortion of photos also, but that is well beyond the scope of this little tutorial. (fig. 1)

Now we open the Lens Correction filter, by selecting Filters>Distort>Lens Correction.

Now under the heading VIGNETTE you will see two sliders, amount and midpoint. Sliding the AMOUNT slider to the left or down will make the vignetting darker and larger. Sliding the AMOUNT slider to the right will make the corners brighter and can be used on dark images to make a light vignetting so to speak. You can use the MIDPOINT slider to adjust the midpoint/depth of the fade to your desire.

Now here is the finished product next to the original. I know I did not use the best of photos (maybe I am partial since I love this kid!) but you get the gist of it and can use it as you see fit.

[QuaziPhoto]

Much easier than the way I was doing it. Is there any drawbacks to using this technique?

[slammer]

This works just as good as my method and a lot faster. Although it doesn't leave you with much control if you want the vignetting off to one side, top or bottom.

[coup_detat]

I am extremely new to photoshop so this was a totally awesome, time saving tutorial, which is going to add amazing value to having photoshop at my disposal.

Thank you for taking the time to put this up!!!

[wideopen]

WOW, is there a similar feature to this in gimp?