August 6, 2008
Post-crop vignettes in Lightroom 2
Just as you can use the Lens Correction sliders to remove a vignette, you can use them to apply a vignette too. I often like to deliberately darken or lighten the edges of a photograph and use the Lens Correction sliders as basic dodge or burn tools for the corners of a photograph. Here are some suggestions as to how you can extend the vignetting options when working with Lightroom 2
Figure 1 At zero Roundness, the vignette shape matches the proportions of the cropped image. At +100, the Roundness slider makes the post-crop vignette more circular.
In Lightroom 2, we now have Post-Crop vignette controls that can do the same thing as the Lens Corrections sliders, except they are applied relative to the proportions of the cropped photograph and feature a Feather slider that allows you to soften or harden the vignette edge (see Figure 1).
Figure 2 This shows the original photograph used to create the examples shown in Figure 3, as the image was in the process of being cropped.
This is very much a tool for making creative effects. To give you some inspiration I have taken a single photograph and applied four different Post-Crop vignette settings (Figure 3). The main thing to point out here is that the Post-Crop sliders work just as well on uncropped images and the ability to apply both a global and a local vignette means that you can even experiment with combinations of the two settings when editing a cropped photograph. For example, in the bottom image in Figure 3, I combined a negative global vignette with a positive Post-Crop vignette.
Figure 3 Examples of different post-crop settings applied to the image in Figure 2.
NOTE
When you use the crop overlay mode to edit the crop setting, the vignette effect is temporarily disabled.
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Hi Martin
great tutorial. is it possible to change the color of the vignetting, that is, can I tell LR 2 to use more red instead of more black in the corners?
BTW: I just started reading your PS CS3 book. A wonderful book, the best on CS3 in my opinion. Can’t wait for your LR 2 book.
It’s an interesting idea, but not possible in Lightroom 2 the way you describe. I would say that on the whole, Lightroom customers are after a way to darken or lighten the edges rather than add colour. However, you should check out the graduated filter adjustment. you could always apply gradients from each corner and use the ‘Color’ effect, although this wouldn’t be quite the same as a colored vignette adjustment.
Martin
Hi Martin, I just purchased your new LR2 book last night.
Now, since I’m a simple man I’d like to make sure I understand your procedure between steps 2 and 4.
So you first edit a copy in PS, i.e., edit with LR adjustments and then afterwards when you save back in LR you then make a Grayscale copy? Correct? Thank you very much.
P.S. After you save back into LR you then make the vitural copy and make that copy the grayscale or anything else you wish. Correct?
I think you meant to respond to the other tutorial where I demonstrate why it is often better to apply a grayscale conversion to an image after it has been retouched in Photoshop. There are several approaches.
You can optimise the image in Lightroom for colour and choose Edit a copy in Photoshop, retouch and then save. Once the image is back in Lightroom you can then apply a grayscale conversion to the Photoshop-edited image.
The thing is, this can cause confusion, because how will you remember at some later date that the original image was edited in colour? For this reason, it is better to create a virtual copy of the Photoshop edited copy image and convert the VC to black and white. That way, you end up with a master raw image, a Photoshop-edited colour image and a Photoshop -edited black and white derivative version (all in the Lightroom catalog).
Martin