Introduction: How to Add Cool Lighting Effects to Photos on Mac

Making photos shining and dreamy fantasy is easier than ever. If you want, here are some simple options.

Step 1: Choose and Download Photo-editing Software.

Photoshop is specialized for professional photographers. As casual photographers, you’d better to choose some photo effected programs with ease of use. PicLight is one of them, which helps you make your photos with unique lighting effects and stack effects for unlimited possibilities. Just download it on Mac App Store.

Step 2: Open the Program and Upload Photo.

After opening the program, you will see a screen for Load/Import Photo. You are free to drag and drop.

If you need, change a photo using the Load Photo button when you edit the former one.

Step 3: Apply Lighting Effects to Photo.

Go to the bottom lighting effect tabs.There are four categories displayed: Montage, Light, Glow, Texture. Check each lighting effect and choose the favorite one you like. PicLight enables you to layer up effects from the four categories on your photos.

Blending Modes includes Screen, Overlay, Color Dodge and Lighter. You can get the perfect blending result by trial and error.

Beside the blending modes, two icons give you options to flip the chosen lighting effect to the perfect position. The effect opacity can be easily controlled using the Alpha slider.

Step 4: Fine-tune Photo With Quick Fixes Inspector.

The Quick Fixes menu empowers you the ability to crop the photo to fit the aspect ratio. It allows you to rotate and flip your photo (horizontally and vertically). You opt to freely change its Saturation, Hue, Exposure, Contrast and other properties by adjusting the corresponding slider.

Step 5: Add Image Filter to Photo.

Look at the top right side. Click Effect inspector, you will see more than 20 preset photo effects with photo thumbnails for previewing. Add image effects such as Black & White, Sepia, Vintage, etc.

Step 6: Save and Share Photo.

PicLight features with Save and Share options. At the top left side, click Save button to save the photo on computer. Besides, click Share button to share the photo through Facebook, Flickr and Email. You also have the option to send the photo directly to iPhoto or just set it as desktop wallpaper.

Step 7: Tips

  1. Skip step 4 and step 5 if you don’t need them.
  2. Re-click the chosen effect to remove the effect result.
  3. Export formats include JPG, TIFF, BMP, PNG and GIF.
  4. The Compare feature allows you to compare the enhanced photo with the original one by just one click or you can get a quick comparing view using Quick Compare.