Quick and Easy Vignettes in Cat Photography

Have you ever taken a cat photo you are really pleased with but feel it’s missing a little ‘something?’. You can’t put your finger on what might give your photo a lift? For a little beginner photo editing I have the perfect solution.

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Let me suggest a simple but powerful editing tool that is beginner friendly and is one I know you will really enjoy using. It’s called a Vignette. So, how do you start using a vignette in a cat photo?

Here’s a definition of a vignette from major photo editing company Adobe, but every software editing company from smartphone Snapseed and VSCO to computer software like Luminar Neo or Photoshop can create a vignette with ease.

“A photographic vignette is a darkening/lightning or reduction in saturation of the edges or corners of an image compared to the center. It can be a natural result of lens design or intentionally added during editing for artistic effect.” 

Adobe Vignette

How to Create a Vignette

Let me share three vignette creating options you can get busy with really quickly.

One is a smartphone idea (iOS and Android) and two are computer/tablet based: Luminar Neo and Affinity Photo. Both of these work on Mac and PC but you may have PaintShop Pro, Adobe Photoshop Elements. Most smartphone apps will also have an easy access option for a vignette, check your manual or online help.

Luminar Neo

1. Open your image
2. Review and see if you need to crop
3. Open Essentials > Vignette (yellow arrow)
4. Adjust your dark edging so that it frames your cat’s face using your software’s tools. Luminar Neo has sliders for strength, feathering (softening) the edge of your vignette, nd also a slider to adjust Inner Light to add a touch more light as you can see in Toulouse’s closeup here.

With Snapseed

This is an easy way to create a vignette with your smartphone and a free app – Snapseed.

• Tools > Vignette > Adjust
• Swipe horizontally to adjust the brightness.
• Tap and drag the blue dot to position the centre of the vignette.
• Pinch screen to change the size of the vignette.   
• Swipe vertically to select either Outer Brightness or Inner Brightness.   
• Swipe horizontally to adjust the brightness.

With Affinity Photo

This is Affinity Photo’s method of creating a vignette and you may find your own software is different. If you are not sure where to find your own vignette tool check online. This gives you an idea of how the tools work.

• Open your cat photo
• Open the Layer menu
• Scroll down to the New Live Filter Layer
• Select Colours > Vignette
• Vignette menu adjustments: Exposure (darkness) Hardness (edge of vignette) Scale (adjusts size) Shape (narrow/wide)

Now you have an idea of how vignettes work and how effective they can be, here are some tips to create better vignettes faster.

Mistakes to Avoid

Let me share some common mistakes so you can avoid them and how terrible an image can look with all of the sliders pushed the wrong way!

Look at the mess I have made of this photograph of Taz in Luminar Neo, and let me explain why it’s terrible so you don’t make the same mistakes.

Under the Vignette tool I have pushed the ‘Amount‘ slider all the way to the dark end. Then I pushed the ‘Roundness‘ (which affects the shape) all the way to the other end of the slider before moving the ‘Feather‘ slider below it to the right (which affects the edges).

Everything that could be wrong IS wrong, so I hope this helps you avoid the same mistakes.

Helpful Cropping Tips

Before you start adding a vignette, take a moment to assess your photograph.

You are looking for a clear, sharp image (if possible) with your cat against a simple, plain or tidy background with few distractions. If you cat seems a bit lost in a bigger space, don’t be afraid to crop out some of the background as I have done here with pretty Maeve.

The first image is rather heavy handed with the vignette and Maeve is lost in the middle of the shot. In the second photograph there is a much lighter touch of shading around the image and a lot of empty space has been cropped out. A light touch really is all you usually need.

TIP: If you have an annoying blur or mark, an erase tool can help remove the distraction.

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A List of Do’s and Don’ts

1. Pushing a vignette too far will make your photograph look dark and gloomy. Is your cat in a cave (!) or the focus of subtle direction by your editing skills.
2. Keep your vignette light and even. Uneven vignettes do not show your cat to its best advantage. Not sure? Walk away and clear your mind then reassess your work.
3. A poorly composed image can be improved by careful cropping. Remember to save your cropped copy as a separate image and then compare. Which do you prefer? Remember the Rule of Thirds, or bravely crop closer than you might usually.
4. If your photograph is slightly out of focus try a gentle touch of a sharpening tool. Older digital images may not be perfectly in focus so you will need to take a good look to see if you think a vignette is really necessary.
5. [TIP If you are framing a photograph you can always use a separate matt card on top of the image before adding thin spacers to raise the glass above the photograph.]

Vignettes and You

This tool is one that a beginner can use to transform a photo into something just a little bit more polished and appealing, while still being authentically your own work. You gently guide the viewers eye towards the most important part of the photo, your cat with subtlest of tools, a vignette.