You don't need to always start a filter configuration from scratch, though. In the upper part of the panel (called Mask) you can choose whether you're adding a new filter ( New, the default choice when you open the panel) or if you want to modify an existing one ( Edit). Graduated filters are fully configurable using the adjustment sliders you can find on the main panel window. The graduated filter panel will open as shown in the following screenshot.

Select the graduated filter icon on the tool strip in the Develop module (described in the previous post).

Select the Tools/ Graduated Filter menu item.

To add a graduated filter to an image, or modify an existing one, you can use one of the following techniques:

Basic tone controls: Exposure, contrast, highlights and shadows.įurthermore, they allow you to apply both positive and negative adjustments, contrary to what can usually be done with physical graduated filters which can only darken the filtered image.

Lightroom's graduated filters are fully configurable and let you apply different kinds of adjustments: Physical graduated filters are devices commonly used by photographers, usually to darken the filtered parts of an image whose luminance level wouldn't otherwise fall into the dynamic range of the film or the sensor.Īdobe Lightroom brings the same concept into the post-production domain and further enhances it.

The second Lightroom tool I'd like to talk about is the graduated filter.

Lightroom 4 graduated filter tutorial