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Make your photos stand out with some of the most underrated editing effects. In this guide, I’ll show you six things you may not have thought about doing to your pictures but definitely should. You’ll also learn where to achieve these effects.
1Background Blur
In the most ideal situations, you’ll get your aperture right if you use a proper camera. But if you take photos with your smartphone, doing this can be quite difficult. Fortunately, you can use photo editing apps to add blur to your pictures and make the main subject more prominent.
The easiest way, if you have an iPhone, is to take pictures in Portrait Mode and then make the aperture wider. Another way you may blur the background is in Adobe Lightroom by masking the areas around your subject and reducing the clarity. However, this is more of an advanced tip (and you also have to pay forLightroom). If you do buy Lightroom, you can also use the automatic Lens Blur feature.
Canvaalso has a tool that lets you brush over the area you want to blur, meaning that you can choose just the background. Keep in mind, though, that this is manual and is therefoe better done with a tablet and stylus. Before using the app, it’s also worth ensuringyou aren’t making these common mistakes in Canva.
2Colored Frames
I bought some new posters for my apartment after recently moving in, and I really like seeing art when it’s framed. But did you know that you don’t even have to use physical pictures for this effect? On many photo editing apps, you can add colored frames to your photos to make them stand out.
One app that makes it easy to add colored frames to your pictures isPhotoshop Express, and you’re able to do it for free. You can choose from several designs, including standard square and rectangular frames. If you want something more outlandish, you can also pick from numerous shapes and patterns.
Canva is another tool that you can use to add colored frames to your pictures, and in my opinion, it’s better than Photoshop Express if customization is what you’re looking for.
3Film Grain
Film grain is definitely more widely used than it was, but I still think that it’s underrated. Adding a film look to my pictures is something that I’ve really enjoyed doing in 2024; I love the nostalgia that this editing style invokes.
Of all the photo editing effects in this article, film grain is one of the most widely available. I useLightroom CC and VSCOto add film grain to pictures I take on my smartphone; if I’m editing photos taken on my Fujifilm camera, I use mostly Lightroom Classic but also Camera Raw and Photoshop occasionally.
There’s no universal rule for how much grain you should add to your pictures; for me, it varies significantly from image to image. Besides adding grain to your photos in post-production, you canuse vintage camera appsto get the same effect. If you take pictures with a DSLR or mirrorless camera, bumping up the ISO will also introduce grain.
4Image Colorization
It’s easy to think that life before the late 20th century had no color whatsoever because most images we see of the world are black and white. But that obviously isn’t true, and if you have some old pictures you’d like to bring to life, it’s well worth thinking about image colorization.
You’ll find several free online tools to help bring color to your images, such asPlayback. Some of these apps will also let you choose how much of the picture you’d like to colorize. In addition to using this effect with old physical pictures, you can also try it with digital images that you previously turned monochrome.
If you want more inspiration and ideas, you can check out theseAI tools that add color to old photos.
5High Contrast
If you look at most of my photos, you’ll see that I adda lotof contrast. And while that may go against what some photographers constitute a good photo, I have always liked this effect.
High contrast is a great photo editing effect in several situations, including:
You can change the contrast in almost any free or paid photo editing app. I would choose Lightroom as a paid version, but even your camera’s editing tools should have a feature that lets you do this. Canva,VSCO,Fotor, andGoogle Photosare some more free alternatives.
I’ve found that high contrast often doesn’t work for me in bright conditions, and I actually prefer to do the opposite in such instances. However, you should experiment and see what works best for you in different scenarios. Check out thisbeginner’s high-contrast photography guideas a starting point.
6Saturating Only One Color
One of my favorite photo editing effects is one I use nowhere near as much as I should: saturating just one color. This works especially well on overcast days or in other low-lighting situations, and I love how this effect looks with bright colors in particular.
Saturating only one color is a fantastic way to draw viewers’ eyes to one part of your picture. The effect works well in street and portrait photography, but I also suggest trying it out in other situations. You can also saturate a few more colors for items like flags.
To saturate only one color, you’ll need a photo editing app that lets you change the saturation for specific colors. I would recommend Photoshop Express as a tool that lets you do this for free.
Knowing different photo editing styles will make you much more versatile as a photographer, and you’ll also have more fun editing your pictures. you’re able to try several underrated effects, such as background blur and colorizing old images. Since these will work in different scenarios, I suggest trying all of them out.
