We have made it almost to the end of my Perfect Photoshop Elements Tutorial and this next-to-the-last installment is about Vignettes.  Before you add a vignette to your photograph, make sure you have applied these basic corrections in Photoshop or PSE first:

1. Reading a Histogram
2. Lighting
3. Defog and Noise Reduction
4. Blemish Removal
5. Levels
6. The Most Important Workflow Step
7. Actions in Photoshop Elements

The funny thing about vignettes is that people either want to know how remove the vignettes that occur sometimes when shooting a picture, or they want to learn how to create a vignette!  Vignettes that appear naturally when taking a picture appear as darkened corners and edges in an image.  We can easily duplicate that effect.  We can also easily remove camera vignettes, for that matter.

Why would anyone want to add a vignette?  Darkening background areas of your picture directs attention to the main focal point.  Darkening these background elements can also camouflage distracting elements that you just couldn’t clone away!

And, in my opinion, vignettes add a nice finishing touch to many pictures.  They create a professional and well-planned look for portraits, especially.

Back in December, I wrote about my favorite Vignettes in Photoshop Elements.  Since then, I’ve discovered two more easy methods to add a vignette to your image and have updated the tutorial accordingly.  So, if you read my December post, skip ahead to the last two Vignette ideas.  Otherwise, enjoy your reading!  And subscribe to Digital Photography For Moms so you don’t miss the last Photohop Elements Workflow Tutorial installment on Sharpening.