If you use Lightroom to edit your interior photos, then you’re familiar with all the sliders at your disposal (and there are so many!). Are you taking advantage of the different brushes, though? Brushes in Lightroom are the perfect way to make corrections to parts of photos, rather than the entire image. While you don’t have the control that Photoshop offers with its selection tools, you do get to quickly and easily brush on effects with Lightroom’s Gradient Filter, Local Adjustment Brush, and Radial Brush. Not sure how they work? Let’s walk through each one!
Gradient Filter
This is my favorite brush! For interiors, the gradient filter can be a lifesaver. The gradient filter applies an effect in gradient, meaning it starts out strong where you click and then you drag to where you want the effect to fade to nothing. The nature of the filter means that it’s perfect for applying any effect onto the edges of a photo! Consider when you have different light temperature leaking from a neighboring room, when you have overly bright areas on one side due to a window, or when natural light causes a bit of haziness on the edge closer to the window. The video below show you more about how the gradient filter works and why I consider it the most under-utilized tool in Lightroom!
Local Adjustment Brush
The local adjustment brush is the most commonly used brush because it gives you the most freedom. Imagine that you have a paintbrush in your hand and it’ll apply the effect you choose, as softly or strongly as you want. You can cover areas freehand to make sure that you get exactly the areas you want! This tool does also offer the option to mask your selection, which (in my experience) isn’t the most accurate tool but can be quite handy in some situations. To get a better feel for the local adjustment brush, check out this video below that walks through how to use it and make adjustments.
Radial Filter
The radial filter will most likely be your least-used brush. Imagine a round brush, with the effect starting strong at the center and fading to nothing by the edges. You can, however, adjust this circle to be any type of oval you want so that it can cover slimmer areas if needed. You can also adjust the fade, brush strength, and the typical sliders like other brushes. One unique option for this one is that you can reverse the brush! This means that you can choose for the effect to be inside the circle/oval, or it can be on the outside. When the effect is on the outside, that means it’s applied to the entire photo EXCEPT inside the circle/oval. One other part of this tool worth mentioning is that you can create a radial filter and then add an adjustment brush to it, so you’re not restricted to having the effect be tied to just the round shape. This video below shows the radial filter in more detail.
Conclusion
Lightroom is powerful beyond its sliders, curves, and color correction. The brushes add another layer of custom editing that can give you the freedom to finesse those final photos even more. While you’ll still have some retouching to do in Photoshop, make the most of Lightroom’s tools to get you quickly closer to a stellar final photo!
xo,
Natalia