How to Create a Photo Vignette in Pixelmator

Creating a photo vignette in Pixelmator is quite straight forward and can be an effective photo editing trick for a couple of reasons.

Firstly a photo vignette can be an effective aesthetic device for helping to focus the eye on the main subject of a photo and reduce its tendency to wander out of the side of a photo. It is also a popular technique for making an image look as if it is an antique photo, perhaps combined with a sepia tone effect, or to make a photo look as if it has been taken with a toy camera.

Whatever your reason for wanting to create a photo vignette in Pixelmator, the following pages will walk you though the necessary steps. If you're new to using Pixelmator, you'll be introduced to using layers, changing blending modes and layer opacity, as well as creating and feathering selections.

If you don't own a copy of Pixelmator, the photo editor for Apple Mac OS X, you can read more about the attractive and well featured application in this introduction to Pixelmator. It is a competitively priced app and if you already own a copy, please read on to learn how to create your own photo vignette.

• How to Create a Photo Vignette in Pixelmator
• Open a Photo
• Create an Elliptical Selection
• Soften the Outline of the Selection
• Add the Vignette Layer
• Adjust the Blending Mode and Opacity