Six Ways to Create the Perfect Vignette in Photoshop

A CLASSIC AND TRENDY EFFECT

Back in September we published a quick tip on how to create a vignette in Photoshop using a single Curve adjustment layer with a layer mask, but that's not the only way to create a vignette in Photoshop. There are many different methods to achieve the same end result, some more simple, some more complex, with more or less control of the vignette. Here's an overview of six great ways!

Today, I would like to show you another 6 different ways to create a vignette in Photoshop in addition to the one we already saw.

Method 1

Step 1

Open you image in Photoshop and select the Ellipse Tool (U). Be sure to have the tool mode set to Shape in the toolbar.

Step 2

Draw a black oval shape that is a bit smaller than your image size and position it in the center of your canvas.

Step 3

Select the Path Selection tool (A) and click on your ellipse.

Step 4

While the ellipse is selected, click the Path Operations icon in the toolbar and set the operation mode to Subtract Front Shape.

Step 5

While the oval shape is still selected, go to Window > Properties. In the Properties panel, set the feather to your liking. In this case, I will be using a 150 px feather due my image size.

Step 6

In the Layers Panel, bring down the opacity of the oval layer to 25%.

Method 2

Step 1

Open you image in Photoshop.

Step 2

Go to Layer > New Fill Layer > Solid Color. Name this new layer as Vignette and click OK.

Step 3

In the Color Picker window, set the color to #000000 and click OK.

Step 4

In the Vignette layer we just created, select the layer mask by clicking on the layer mask thumbnail. Pick a soft black brush and start painting over the layer mask to reveal the image.

Step 5

In the Layers Panel, bring down the opacity of the Vignette layer to your liking. In this case, I’ve set the opacity to 35%.

Method 3

Step 1

Open you image in Photoshop.

Step 2

Go to Layer > New Layer. Name this new layer as Vignette and click OK.

Step 3

Go to Edit > Fill and under the Contents dropdown menu select Black. Set the Blending Mode to Normal and the Opacity to 50%.

Step 4

Select the Eraser tool (E) and with a soft round brush erase the center of the black layer to reveal your image.

Method 4

Step 1

Open you image in Photoshop.

Step 2

Go to Layer > Duplicate Layer. Name this new layer as Vignette and click OK.

Step 3

In the Layers panel, set the Vignette layer blend mode to Multiply and bring down the opacity to 60%.

Step 4

Select the Elliptical Marquee Tool (M) and draw an oval selection that is a bit smaller than your canvas size.

Step 5

Go to Select > Modify > Feather. Set the Feather Radius to 150 px and click OK. Note: you may need to adjust this value a bit based on your image size.

Step 6

Hit the Delete key in your keyboard 3 times and then go to Select > Deselect.

Method 5

Step 1

Open you image in Photoshop.

Step 2

Go to Layer > Duplicate Layer. Name this new layer as Vignette and click OK.

Step 3

In the Layers panel, set the Vignette layer blend mode to Multiply and bring down the opacity to 60%.

Step 4

Go to Select > All

Step 5

With the selection still active go to Select > Modify > Border. Set the border selection to 200 px and click OK. Note: you may need to adjust this value a bit based on your image size.

Step 6

Go to Select > Inverse.

Step 7

Now go to Select > Modify > Contract. Set the contract value to 100 px and click OK. Note: you may need to adjust this value a bit based on your image size.

Step 8

Go to Select > Modify > Smooth, set a sample radius of 50 px and click OK. Note: you may need to adjust this value a bit based on your image size.

Step 9

Go to Select > Modify > Feather, set a radius of 150 px and click OK. Note: you may need to adjust this value a bit based on your image size.

Step 10

Hit the Delete key in your keyboard 3 or 4 times and then go to Select > Deselect.

Method 6

Step 1

Open you image in Photoshop.

Step 2

Go to Layer > Duplicate Layer. Name this new layer as Vignette and click OK.

Step 3

Press “D” in your keyboard to reset the Foreground and Background colors and Go to Layer > Layer Style > Gradient Overlay.

Step 4

Click over the Gradient thumbnail to edit the gradient.

Step 5

In the gradient editor, select the Foreground to Background gradient and set the location of the White Color Stop at 20% and click OK.

Step 6

In the Layer Style window apply the following settings and click OK.

Some Final Words

As you may see, there is not only one way to achieve a certain effect in Photoshop, which in this case is a vignette, but the method you choose will give you more or less options to go back and change it (if needed) and will take you more or less time to make it, so it is a good thing to know in advance some different techniques to achieve different effects to speed up your workflow.