Introduction
Darkening the edges is one of the most important things to do in Photoshop and I think that it is really important for all editors to learn if they want to become a professional in this field. In this tutorial, we are going to talk about how to darken the edges of a photo in photoshop. By doing this effect, we can easily give more attention to the main subject that is in front of the photo and it also gives them the warmth that is necessary to make the image have more personality.
You can easily get to do this by using any version of Photoshop and in fact, any version using CS2 or later versions will be able to handle the effect. The steps that we are going to use can be followed throughout all the versions from CS2 and above. So, you can rest assured and follow along as we take you to the journey of how to darken the edges of a photo.
You can find this as a filter setting in Adobe Photoshop that is called the Lens Correction filter. The main purpose of this filter is to help us remove problems that are common in nature and mainly caused by the manual lenses of the camera. These problems are really normal and can be caused by any lens. That’s just how lenses work in certain conditions.
A few such problems are distortions of the barrel, abbreviation of the chromatic and vignetting. We are really great that Adobe Photoshop has the required tool to fix problems like this and also, they update them regularly. As a result, we will always be able to get the most out of the software and also will be able to get the latest tools to do our editing. Please do go through the steps that answers how to darken the edges of a photo in photoshop and do let us know if you have any problem.
How to Darken the Edges of a Photo
In this tutorial, we are going to use a photo that has already been gone through the distortion and coloring of the lenses, which is really normal.
Step Number 1: Duplicating the Background Layer
At first, before we darken any edges, we need to first make or create a copy of the original image. This is done mainly because we don’t want to damage the original picture by any mean. This duplicate layer will make sure that we will be able to see the before and the after effect of the image, so that we can see what mistakes there are and what needs to be done to correct them.
Also, as there won’t be any damage to the original picture, we will be able to work on the image with ease and without any worries. To make a duplicate of the original layer, we need to make a copy of it and hence, we have to first go to the Layer menu, which is at the top of the screen and after that, we have to click New, and then choose the option Layer via Copy.
If you don’t want to do it manually and want to work on it through shortcut, we will need to press Ctrl + J (for Windows), or Command + J (for Mac). Both of these things create a copy of the layer that you can do in Adobe Photoshop. After that, if we take a look at this in the Layers palette, then we will be able to see that we now have two different copies of the layer. Photoshop will automatically name the Layers according to the name and you will see that the name of the new copied layer is called “Layer 1”, which you can directly see sitting above the original layer, which is called “Background.”
Step Number 2: Opening the Lens Correction Filter
After this, we need to select “Layer 1” from the Layer palette (you can easily get that because the selected layer will be highlighted in blue color), then go and find the Filter menu from the top of the screen, then select the Distort sub menu, and finally choose Lens Correction.
Clicking this will bring up a huge dialogue box that shows the Lens Correction dialogue box and this might look confusing for a lot of people who didn’t use it before. However, you don’t have to worry about this because we won’t use most of the options here and rather, we will use only a couple of them.
Step Number 3: Turning off the Grid Scales from the Display
One of the best features in Lens Correction dialogue box is the large preview area that we can see in front of us. Among them, one of the most prominent one is the grid display that can help you get the scale that is required for the photo to measure in the right way. For this tutorial, we won’t be needing the grid menu to darken the edges of our photo.
As a result, we need to turn it off. If we look at the bottom of the dialogue box, we will be able to see an option where Show Grid is written and beside that, you will see a checkbox where you can tick the box to toggle the thing on or off. We need to uncheck the box and this will ultimately turn off the grid.
Step Number 4: Dragging the Vignette Amount Slider
After the third step, we need to use the vignette amount slider to the left so that we can darken the edges of the image. If we turn the slider to the right side, this will brighten up the edges of the image. In the Lens Correction filter, you will find most options of the filters in a column that is along the right side of the dialogue box.
If you look at them closely, you’ll be able to see that the options are divided equally into various different groups. It is safe if you ignore most of the options because we only need to work with two of them for darkening the edges of the image.
You will be able to find both of them in the Vignette group. In a normal scenario, these two options are mainly used to remove vignetting that are unwanted and mostly caused by the lens of the camera. However, we are going to use them to darken the edges of our photo.
The first thing we will looking forward to is the Amount slider, that will determine how dark the edges of the image become. The further we take the slide to the left side, the darker the edges will become. On the other hand, the further we take them to the right, the brighter you become.
If you want to see the real-time changes, you will be able to look at them from the preview area. So, you will be able to slide your cursor and look at the preview area to determine the amount of darkness that you need. If you find the image too dark, you don’t have to worry as you will be able to take it back by sliding it to the right side to brighten up the image.
Step Number 5: Adjusting the Slider of Midpoint
If you look directly below the Amount slider, you will get to see the Midpoint slider. This is the slider that is going to determine how far the darkening effect will go on or extend towards the center of the image. If you drag this slider all the way to the right, it will darken the image only to the corners of the image.
On the other hand, if you drag it all the way to the left, this will darken the entirety of the image. You will notice that even though everything will become dark, the center of the image will not be equally dark as the sides of the image.
After you have seen both sides of the spectrum, you can now work your way out and then place the slider in a way by which you will be able to make the photo turn out great. After you have got your desired result, you can click OK and apply the image filter and close the dialogue box.
Step Number 6: Fine Tuning the Filter by Using the Opacity
By this time, you will be able to see that the effect you get is mostly complete. However, if you still find that the edges of your image are still a little dark you can then easily reduce the darkening amount by simply lowering the opacity of the layer.
You will be able to find the Opacity layer at the top of the Layers palette. Normally, the opacity layer is set to 100%, which you can easily change and turn it down. Mostly 75-85% are the sweet spots. This will make sure that you get your answer to the question of how to darken the edges of a photo in photoshop.
FAQ
How do You Darken Edges?
You can easily darken the edges by first duplicating the background layer, and after that, by opening the Lens Correction Filter where you will see the Grid Scales and uncheck the box. After you have done that, you can drag the Vignette Amount slider and the Midpoint slider to check your desired effect of darkening your edges of your image. If you want to further the effect of your image, you can go to the opacity setting and set the effect.
How do I Darken a JPEG Image?
You can darken a JPEG image by simply importing it into Adobe Photoshop. After you have imported the image, first, we should duplicate the background layer, and after that, by opening the Lens Correction Filter where you will see the Grid Scales and uncheck the box. After you have done that, you can drag the Vignette Amount slider and the Midpoint slider to check your desired effect of darkening your edges of your image. If you want to further the effect of your image, you can go to the opacity setting and set the effect.
How to Darken Photo Online?
There are a lot of free online websites where you will be able to darken the edges of your photos. Through them, you don’t even have to install Adobe Photoshop and instead, use the website to work online. If you do that, then we don’t have to have to go through the hassle of learning and using Adobe Photoshop in your PC.
Conclusion
If you have come this far, then congratulations! You have completed our short tutorial on how to darken the edges of a photo in photoshop. By this time, I am sure that you will be able to do this effect easily from now on and also get to work on photos to edit and darken the edges of different photos in photoshop. If you liked our work, the we would suggest sticking around our website to read more about other effects and tutorials that you will be able to work on easily. Thank you so much for staying with us. We hope to see you again soon in the future.
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