Solarize an Image Online
Three reversal curves, including a continuous Sabattier curve that reverses highlights without the hard band a threshold inversion leaves across every gradient. The actual lookup table is drawn on screen while you drag.
Drop images here
or click to browse · or paste with Ctrl+V
JPG · PNG · WebP · GIF · BMP · AVIF
Curve
The curve above is the actual lookup table being applied to your image.
On drives the curve from brightness and keeps hues intact. Off reverses each channel separately, which is where the strange solarized colours come from.
Presets
Your photos are never uploaded. The curve and the export both run inside this browser tab.
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Everything this tool does
A curve that does not band
The Sabattier and full reversal curves meet at the crossover. At the default reversal point of 170 the hard curve jumps 86 levels between neighbouring lookup entries while Sabattier moves 2, and at a point of 240 the hard curve jumps 226.
The actual curve, drawn live
The graph under the slider is the real 256 entry lookup table being applied, not an illustration. Drag the reversal point and watch the shape change before you commit.
Colour-safe mode
Drives the curve from luminance and scales the three channels together, so the image reverses while hues stay recognisable instead of crossing over into false colour. Ratios hold exactly unless a channel is pushed past 255 and clips.
Three distinct curves
Sabattier keeps shadows and rolls highlights back, full reversal rises to a peak then falls, and hard digital is the straight inversion for when you want the band.
Strength blending
Blend the result back toward the original at any percentage, which turns an aggressive effect into a usable tonal treatment.
Drag to compare
Before and after share one frame with a slider between them, which matters for an effect that changes tone rather than shape.
Six purpose-built presets
Subtle Sabattier, classic darkroom, full reversal, hard banding, colour safe and half strength, covering the range from believable to graphic.
Batch with one ZIP
Apply an identical curve across a whole set 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 are remapped.
Nothing is uploaded
No server, no queue, nothing to delete afterwards. Close the tab and every trace of the image goes with it.
The three curves and what they do
All three reverse tones, but they differ in whether the reversal is abrupt and in what happens to the shadows. The curve preview under the slider is the actual lookup table, so you can see the shape before you apply it.
| Curve | Shape | Reversal point | Good for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sabattier | shadows kept, highlights fall away | 150-200 | Darkroom look, portraits |
| Full reversal | rises to the peak, then falls | 110-160 | Strong graphic effect |
| Hard digital | straight inversion, only smooth at 127 | 127 | Deliberate hard banding |
| Point 60-110 | reversal starts in the midtones | any curve | Heavy, surreal results |
| Point 180-240 | only the brightest tones reverse | sabattier | Subtle, believable |
| Colours kept | curve driven by brightness | any | Reversal without colour shifts |
| Colours off | each channel reversed separately | any | Classic solarized colours |
3
reversal curves
256
entry lookup table
0
files uploaded
Live
curve display
ZIP
batch download
Free
no account needed
FlipMyFormat vs other solarize tools
| Capability | FlipMyFormat | Typical free tool |
|---|---|---|
| Files stay in your browser | ||
| Continuous Sabattier curve, no hard band | ||
| Live display of the actual lookup table | ||
| Colour-safe mode driven by luminance | ||
| Adjustable reversal point and strength | ||
| Batch ZIP download without paying | ||
| No watermark on the output |
How to solarize without wrecking the picture
Most solarize buttons do one thing: invert everything above the midpoint. It is the fastest possible implementation and it has a specific, very visible flaw. At the crossover the curve jumps, so a tone just below the threshold stays where it is while a tone one level above it flips to the opposite end of the scale. Anywhere your photograph contains a smooth gradient, and skies and skin contain almost nothing else, that jump draws a hard line across the picture. It is not subtle and it is not a stylistic choice, it is an artefact, and it is why solarize has a reputation for looking cheap. The darkroom effect it is named after did not behave that way. Sabattier discovered it by accident when a partly developed print was exposed to light, and the reversal it produced was gradual, with shadows largely untouched and highlights rolling back down smoothly. That is the default curve here, and it is the one to reach for on anything with a face or a sky in it. Set the reversal point high, somewhere between 180 and 240, and only your brightest tones will turn, which reads as a strange light rather than as a filter. Bring it down into the 110 to 160 range with the full reversal curve when you want something obviously graphic. Save the hard digital curve for when you actually want the banding, which is a legitimate poster look. One more control worth knowing: reversing each colour channel separately is what produces the classic bizarre solarized colours, because red might reverse while blue does not. Turning colours on instead drives the curve from brightness and scales the channels together, so the picture reverses while the hues stay recognisable.
- 1
Add a photo
Drag it in, click to browse, or paste with Ctrl+V. Pictures with bright highlights and clear shadows respond best, since the effect works on the tonal range.
- 2
Pick a curve and set the point
Start with Sabattier and a high reversal point around 180. Watch the curve preview under the slider, which shows the actual lookup table being applied.
- 3
Export as PNG
Press Solarize, then download individually or take the batch as one ZIP. PNG holds the tonal steps without banding.
Where the effect came from, and where the band comes from
An accident in the darkroom
The Sabattier effect was discovered when a print part way through development was accidentally exposed to light. The areas that had already developed shielded the emulsion underneath, while the areas still bright reacted to the new exposure and began to reverse. The result was a print where shadows stayed roughly as they were and highlights rolled back toward dark, with a characteristic bright line appearing along strong boundaries. It became a deliberate technique, most famously in Man Ray's portraits. The important detail is that the reversal was gradual, because chemistry does not have an if statement. The Sabattier curve here reproduces that shape: below the reversal point tones pass through untouched, and above it they descend smoothly to black.
Why a hard threshold bands your gradients
The quick way to write a solarize filter is to invert every value above a threshold, and it hides its flaw in an unlucky place. At a reversal point of 127 the two branches of that curve happen to meet, so the result looks perfectly smooth and the implementation seems fine. Move the slider and the gap opens immediately: we measured the largest step between neighbouring lookup entries at each setting, and the hard curve jumps 86 levels at a reversal point of 170, 146 at 200 and 226 at 240. Any smooth gradient crossing that point gets a hard line drawn through it, which is why so many solarize tools look acceptable at their default and fall apart the moment you touch the control. The Sabattier and full reversal curves are built to meet at the crossover instead, and across the whole usable range of reversal points their largest step is 10 and 13 levels, against 254 for a hard inversion at its worst.
What people use it for
Darkroom-style portraits
The Sabattier curve at a high reversal point reproduces the effect Man Ray made famous, without any chemistry.
Album and poster artwork
Full reversal on a high contrast photo produces something instantly graphic that still carries the original subject.
Surreal landscapes
Reversing only the brightest tones turns a sky into something that reads as an unfamiliar light rather than an edit.
Fine art printing
Solarized prints have a long tradition, and the colour-safe mode keeps the result printable without wild hue shifts.
Album sleeves and gig posters
The hard digital curve gives deliberate banding, which is a poster convention rather than a mistake when it is intentional.
Scientific and thermal styling
Reversal curves make ordinary photographs look like readouts from another kind of instrument.
Music video and title stills
Solarized frames cut against normal ones create a flicker that has been a music video staple for decades.
Experimenting with tone curves
Because the actual lookup table is drawn on screen, this is a quick way to see what a reversal curve does to a real photograph.
Six tips worth knowing
Start with Sabattier and a high reversal point. Only the brightest tones turn, which reads as strange light rather than as a filter.
Watch the curve preview, not just the image. It is the real lookup table, and the shape tells you what will happen before you apply it.
The hard curve is deceptively smooth at a reversal point of 127 and jumps badly everywhere else. If you want to move the point at all, use one of the other two.
Turn colours on to reverse tone without hue shifts. Turn it off when you specifically want the classic bizarre solarized colours.
Strength around fifty percent turns solarize from an effect into a tonal treatment that still looks like a photograph.
Export PNG. Large areas of similar tone either side of the reversal are exactly what JPEG bands.
Troubleshooting
There is a hard line across the sky
You are on the hard digital curve away from its one smooth setting of 127. At a reversal point of 200 it jumps 146 levels in a single step. Switch to Sabattier or full reversal.
The colours have gone strange
Each channel is being reversed separately, which is the classic solarize behaviour. Switch on the colour-safe mode to drive the curve from brightness instead.
Almost nothing changed
Your reversal point is above the brightest tone in the photo, so nothing crosses it. Bring the point down until it sits inside your actual tonal range.
The result is far too dark
The full reversal curve sends both ends of the range to black. Try Sabattier instead, which leaves shadows alone, or lower the strength.
Frequently asked questions
What is the solarize effect?
It reverses part of the tonal range, so bright areas turn dark while shadows stay as they were. It is named after the Sabattier effect, a darkroom accident where a partly developed print was exposed to light.
Why do most solarize filters leave a hard line?
Because they simply invert everything above a threshold, which makes the curve jump at the crossover. Any smooth gradient crossing that point gets a hard line drawn through it.
How big is that jump?
It depends where you put the reversal point, which is the interesting part. At 127 the hard curve happens to meet itself and jumps only 1 level, so it looks fine at a default. At 170 it jumps 86, at 200 it jumps 146 and at 240 it jumps 226. The Sabattier and full reversal curves stay within 10 and 13 levels across the whole usable range.
Which curve should I use?
Sabattier for anything with a face or a sky, since it keeps shadows and rolls highlights back smoothly. Full reversal when you want something obviously graphic. Hard digital only when you actually want the banding.
What does the reversal point do?
It sets where the curve turns. High values around 180 to 240 reverse only the brightest tones, which looks like strange light. Lower values in the 110 to 160 range reverse much more and look deliberately stylised.
What is the curve shown under the slider?
It is the actual 256 entry lookup table being applied to your image, redrawn as you drag. It is not an illustration, so the shape you see is exactly what happens to your tones.
Why have my colours gone strange?
By default each channel is reversed separately, so red might turn while blue does not. That channel crossing is where the classic solarized colours come from. Switch on colour-safe mode to avoid it.
What does colour-safe mode actually do?
It calculates brightness with Rec.709 luminance, runs that single value through the curve, and scales the three channels together by the same factor. The tone reverses while the hue stays where it was. The one exception is when the curve brightens a pixel far enough that its strongest channel would pass 255; that channel clips and the ratio shifts, which is unavoidable in eight bit output.
Is this the same as inverting an image?
No. Inverting flips every tone. Solarizing reverses only part of the range, which is why it keeps looking like a photograph rather than a negative.
Why is my result almost black?
The full reversal curve sends both ends of the range toward black by design. Use Sabattier instead, which leaves shadows untouched, or reduce the strength.
Nothing changed when I applied it
Your reversal point is probably set above the brightest tone in the photo, so nothing crosses it. Bring it down until it sits inside the tonal range your image actually occupies.
Can I use it subtly?
Yes, and it is often the better choice. A high reversal point with strength around fifty percent gives a tonal treatment that still reads as a photograph rather than as an effect.
Are my photos uploaded to a server?
No. The curve and the export both run in your browser using the canvas API. Nothing is sent anywhere and the tool keeps working if your connection drops after the page has loaded.
Which format should I export?
PNG. Solarized images often have large areas of similar tone on either side of the reversal, which is exactly what JPEG bands.
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.
Can I process a batch?
Yes. Add as many photos as you like and the same curve, point and strength are applied to each. Download individually or take the set as a single ZIP built in your browser.
Can the effect be undone?
Not reliably. The curves fold two different input tones onto the same output value, so the original cannot be recovered. Your uploaded file is never modified, so keep it.
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.