Lightroom Tutorial: Custom Photo Vignette with a Radial Gradient

A vignette is a gradual transition from light to dark around the edges of a photo. This can be used to draw attention to the subject of the photo, or to create a more dramatic look. There are many ways to create a vignette in Lightroom, but one of the most versatile is to use the Radial Gradient tool.

What you’ll need:

• Adobe Lightroom
• A photo

Steps:

1. Open your photo in Lightroom.
2. Go to the Develop module.
3. Click on the Radial Gradient tool.
4. Drag over the focal point of your photo. This is the area that you want to remain bright.
5. Make sure the Invert checkbox is checked. This will apply the vignette to the outside of the gradient outline.
6. Drag the Exposure slider to darken the edges of the photo. You can also adjust the Feather slider to control the transition from light to dark.
7. You can also adjust other sliders in the Radial Gradient panel, such as Saturation, Sharpness, and Color, to further customize the vignette.
8. Click on the Add Point button to add another point to the gradient. This can be used to create a more complex vignette, such as one that fades out in multiple directions.
9. Click on the Show Overlay button to see the gradient overlay on your photo. This can help you to adjust the position and size of the gradient.
10. When you are happy with the vignette, click on the Done button.

Tips:

• You can use the Eyedropper tool to select the color of the highlight area.
• You can use the Pin tool to pin the gradient in place so that it doesn’t move when you zoom in or out.
• You can use the Opacity slider to control the strength of the vignette.

Here are some examples of how you can use radial gradients to create different types of vignettes:

• Center-focused vignette: This is the most common type of vignette, and it is created by dragging the radial gradient tool from the center of the photo outwards.
• Off-center vignette: This type of vignette is used to draw attention to an off-center subject. To create an off-center vignette, drag the radial gradient tool from the subject outwards.
• Multiple vignettes: You can use multiple radial gradients to create a more complex vignette. For example, you could use one gradient to darken the top and bottom of the photo, and another gradient to darken the left and right sides.
• Reverse vignette: This type of vignette is created by inverting the radial gradient tool. This will darken the center of the photo and brighten the edges.

I hope this tutorial has helped you to learn how to create custom photo vignettes with radial gradients in Lightroom.