Glow Effect: Add Dreamy Light to a Photo
Real bloom, not haze. Only pixels above a brightness threshold contribute to the glow, so highlights spread and shadows stay black instead of the whole picture being washed out by a blurred copy of itself.
Drop images here
or click to browse · or paste with Ctrl+V
JPG · PNG · WebP · GIF · BMP · AVIF
Tight spread reads as a lens bloom. Wide spread reads as mist in the air.
This is the control that decides whether you get light or haze. Keep it high and your shadows stay black.
Presets
Your photos are never uploaded. The highlight extraction, the blur and the export all run inside this browser tab.
People also use
Everything this tool does
Only bright pixels glow
A brightness threshold decides what contributes. Measured on a test image with a bright square and a black corner, the blacks came back at 0 with the threshold at 165 and at 34 with it at 0.
Screen blending
The glow can only ever brighten a pixel, never darken it, and adding light to something already white leaves it white rather than clipping into a flat patch.
Spread and amount are separate
How far the light travels and how strong it is are different questions, so they are different sliders rather than one combined intensity control.
Glow warmth
Real bloom takes the colour of whatever is glowing. A warm tint on a sunset and a cool one on a night scene both read as more believable than neutral white.
Three-pass edge-clamped blur
Three box passes approximate a gaussian closely enough that the falloff looks like light spilling, and clamping at the borders stops a false dark frame.
Drag to compare
Before and after share one frame with a slider, which is the fastest way to check your shadows have not lifted.
Six purpose-built presets
Lens bloom, dreamy portrait, Orton, golden hour, neon night and just a lift, each with a matched threshold and spread.
Batch with one ZIP
Apply an identical glow across a whole shoot and take everything as a single archive built in your browser.
Transparency preserved
The alpha channel is untouched for PNG and WebP output, so only visible pixels glow.
Nothing is uploaded
No server, no queue, nothing to delete afterwards. Close the tab and every trace of the image goes with it.
What each control changes
The threshold decides what glows, the spread decides how far, and the amount decides how strongly. Getting the threshold right is what separates a bloom from a haze, and it is the control most tools do not give you at all.
| Setting | What it does | Try | Good for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Threshold 200-250 | Only the brightest highlights | spread 10-25 | Lens bloom, sun through trees |
| Threshold 140-180 | Highlights and bright midtones | spread 20-40 | Dreamy portraits |
| Threshold 0-60 | Almost everything glows | amount 20-30 | Soft haze, use sparingly |
| Spread 4-12 | Tight halo around highlights | amount 50-80 | Sharp lens bloom |
| Spread 30-80 | Wide atmospheric glow | amount 40-60 | Mist and dream looks |
| Warmth +20 to +50 | Golden glow | any | Sunsets and skin |
| Warmth -20 to -50 | Cool blue glow | any | Night, neon, winter |
Screen
blend, brightens only
3
blur passes
0
files uploaded
2-80
spread range
ZIP
batch download
Free
no account needed
FlipMyFormat vs other glow tools
| Capability | FlipMyFormat | Typical free tool |
|---|---|---|
| Files stay in your browser | ||
| Threshold so only highlights glow | ||
| Shadows stay black instead of lifting | ||
| Screen blend that can only brighten | ||
| Separate glow warmth control | ||
| Batch ZIP download without paying | ||
| No watermark on the output |
How to add glow without washing the photo out
The classic recipe for this effect, going back to Michael Orton's slide sandwiches in the 1980s, is to combine a sharp exposure with a blurred one. Almost every digital version simplifies that into blur a copy and blend it back, and in doing so it loses the thing that made the original work. When you blend a blurred copy of the entire image, every dark area receives light from its brighter neighbours, so your blacks lift, your contrast collapses, and the result looks like the lens was dirty rather than like the scene was luminous. Real bloom does not behave that way. Light spills from bright things, and a shadow next to a bright window stays a shadow. That is what the threshold on this page is for: only pixels above it contribute anything to the glow, so a backlit rim of hair spreads into the air around it while the dark side of the face stays exactly as it was. Start there, before touching anything else. Raise the threshold until the preview shows only the things you would expect to be emitting light, then decide how far that light travels with the spread, and how strong it is with the amount. The last control is warmth, and it earns more than you might expect: real bloom picks up the colour of whatever is glowing, so a warm tint on a sunset and a cool one on a night scene both read as more believable than a neutral white glow.
- 1
Add a photo with real highlights
Drag it in, click to browse, or paste with Ctrl+V. Backlit subjects, water, windows and light sources give the effect something to bloom from.
- 2
Set the threshold first
Raise it until only the things that should be glowing are glowing. Then set the spread and the amount, and finally the warmth.
- 3
Export
Press Add glow, then download individually or take the batch as one ZIP. Keep quality above 85 if you export JPEG.
Why threshold is the whole difference
Bloom comes from bright things only
The test that separates the two approaches is simple: take a photo with a bright patch and a genuinely dark region far away from it, apply the effect, and look at the dark region. With a threshold, nothing about it changes, because it contributed nothing to the glow and received nothing from anywhere near it. Blur and blend the whole image and it lifts, because the blur pulled brightness across the frame. We measured exactly that on a test image with a bright square in one corner and black in the other: with the threshold at 165 the black pixels came back at 0, completely untouched, while the same settings with the threshold at 0 lifted them to 34. That gap is the difference between a photograph with light in it and a photograph behind a foggy window.
Screen blending, so glow only adds
Once the glow layer exists it has to be combined with the picture, and the operation matters. A straight average would darken the highlights as much as it brightens the shadows, which is the opposite of light. Screen blending inverts both layers, multiplies them and inverts the result, which has the useful property that it can only ever make a pixel brighter, never darker, and that adding glow to something already white leaves it white rather than pushing it out of range. That is how light behaves when it arrives at a surface, and it is why the highlights bloom smoothly into white instead of clipping into hard flat patches. The blur underneath is three box passes, which approximates a gaussian closely enough that the falloff looks like light spilling rather than like a stack of rectangles.
What people use it for
Dreamy portraits
A moderate threshold with warm glow softens skin and lifts backlit hair without flattening the whole face.
Golden hour landscapes
Warm bloom around a low sun reproduces the atmospheric spill that a lens actually produces in that light.
Neon and night photography
A high threshold with a cool tint makes signs and street lights bloom while the night around them stays dark.
Wedding photography
The Orton preset is a long-standing wedding look, and doing it with a threshold keeps the blacks in the suits.
Product shots with backlight
A tight bloom around a rim light suggests studio lighting rather than a flat cut-out.
Fantasy and concept art
Wide glow from bright areas is the standard way to make rendered or illustrated light feel physical.
Album and poster artwork
Strong bloom reads as luminous, which is why it keeps appearing on music and film artwork.
Rescuing flat light
A small amount of bloom from the few bright areas in an overcast photo adds interest without inventing detail.
Six tips worth knowing
Set the threshold first, before the amount or the spread. It is the control that decides whether you get light or haze.
If your blacks have lifted, your threshold is too low. Raise it until only the things that should emit light are contributing.
Tight spread reads as a lens bloom, wide spread reads as mist in the air. They are genuinely different looks, not more or less of one.
Match the warmth to the light in the scene. Warm for sunsets and skin, cool for night, neon and winter.
The effect needs something bright to work with. A flat, evenly lit photo will barely change at any setting.
Keep JPEG quality above 85, since the smooth falloff around a bloom is exactly what low quality settings band.
Troubleshooting
The whole photo looks hazy
Your threshold is too low, so dark areas are contributing to the glow and receiving it. Raise it until only genuine highlights are involved.
Nothing seems to happen
Either the threshold is above the brightest pixel in your photo, or the image has no strong highlights. Lower the threshold and check the preview.
The glow looks banded
That is usually JPEG compression on a smooth gradient. Raise the quality above 85 or export PNG.
Highlights turned into flat white blobs
The amount is too high for the spread you chose. Lower the amount, or widen the spread so the same light is distributed further.
Frequently asked questions
What is a glow or Orton effect?
It combines a sharp image with a blurred, brighter version of itself so that light appears to spill from bright areas. It comes from Michael Orton's technique of sandwiching two slides together in the 1980s.
Why do most glow filters wash the photo out?
Because they blur and blend the entire image. Every dark area then receives brightness from its neighbours, so blacks lift and contrast collapses, which looks like a dirty lens rather than luminous light.
How does the threshold fix that?
Only pixels brighter than the threshold contribute to the glow layer. On a test image with a bright square and a black corner, the blacks stayed at 0 with the threshold at 165 and lifted to 34 with it at 0.
What threshold should I use?
Start high, around 200, and lower it until the things you expect to be glowing are glowing. Around 160 to 180 suits dreamy portraits; above 200 gives a tight lens bloom.
What is the difference between spread and amount?
Spread is how far the light travels from its source, and amount is how strong it is when it gets there. A tight spread with a high amount is a lens bloom; a wide spread with a moderate amount is atmospheric mist.
Why is the glow blended rather than added?
It uses screen blending, which can only ever brighten a pixel. That means adding glow to something already white leaves it white instead of clipping into a flat patch, which is how light actually behaves.
What does glow warmth do?
It tints the glow layer without tinting the photograph. Real bloom takes the colour of whatever is emitting it, so warm on a sunset and cool on a night scene both look more believable than neutral white.
Nothing happens to my photo
Either your threshold is set above the brightest pixel in the image, or the photo has no strong highlights to bloom from. Lower the threshold and watch the preview.
Which photos suit this effect?
Anything with real highlights: backlit subjects, water, windows, low sun, neon signs, candles. Flat evenly lit photos give the effect nothing to work with.
Can I use it on portraits?
Yes, and it is one of the main uses. Keep the threshold moderate so skin softens and backlit hair blooms, while the shadow side of the face stays intact.
Does it blur my photo?
No. The blur only exists inside the glow layer. The original sharp image is still there underneath, which is what makes the result look luminous rather than soft.
Are my photos uploaded to a server?
No. Highlight extraction, blurring and export all run in your browser using the canvas API. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Which format should I export?
PNG for the cleanest gradient, since the smooth falloff around a bloom is exactly what low quality JPEG bands. JPEG at quality 85 or above is fine for most photos.
Is transparency preserved?
Yes for PNG and WebP output. The alpha channel is untouched. JPG has no alpha, so transparent areas are filled with the background colour first.
Does the blur leave a dark frame at the edges?
No. The blur clamps to the nearest real pixel at the borders, so no false darkening appears around the picture.
Can I process a batch?
Yes. Add as many photos as you like and the same threshold, spread, amount and warmth are applied to each. Take the set as a single ZIP.
Can the effect be undone?
No. The glow is composited into the pixels. Your uploaded file is never modified, so keep the original.
Does it add a watermark or need an account?
No to both. No sign-up, no email wall, no daily limit and no watermark on the output.