Lightroom Radial Gradient: How to Use It

The Radial Gradient filter in Adobe Lightroom lets you apply local adjustments—exposure, color, sharpness, and more—inside or outside an oval or circle you draw on the photo. You select the tool, drag an ellipse over the area you want to affect, then adjust the sliders to taste. It’s one of the most versatile tools in Lightroom for drawing attention to a subject, darkening edges, or creating a vignette that follows your composition.

What the Radial Gradient Filter Does

The Radial Gradient is a local adjustment tool, meaning it only affects the area you define rather than the whole image. Unlike the Linear Gradient, which transitions from a straight line outward, the Radial Gradient creates a soft-edged oval. You can control the size, shape, and rotation of that oval, and you can choose whether the effect applies to the inside or the outside of it. This makes it ideal for highlighting a face, brightening a product, or darkening the corners of a photo without affecting the center.

How to Use the Radial Gradient Filter in Lightroom

Here are the steps to create and use a Radial Gradient in Lightroom Classic and Lightroom (the cloud-based version). The interface is nearly identical in both.

1. Open your image in the Develop module (Classic) or Edit panel (cloud).
2. Select the Radial Gradient tool. In Classic, it’s the oval icon just below the histogram. In the cloud version, it’s in the toolbar on the right, also an oval icon.
3. Click and drag on the image to draw an ellipse. Hold Shift to make a perfect circle. The filter is applied immediately with default settings (usually a slight exposure increase).
4. Use the handles on the edge of the ellipse to resize, rotate, or reposition it. You can also drag the center pin to move the whole gradient.
5. Adjust the sliders in the panel that appears. Common adjustments include Exposure, Contrast, Highlights, Shadows, Clarity, and Saturation.
6. To apply the effect to the outside of the ellipse instead of the inside, check the box labeled Invert (or press the apostrophe key ‘ as a shortcut).
7. To feather the edge, use the Feather slider. A higher value creates a softer transition; a lower value makes the edge more defined.

When to Use a Radial Gradient

The Radial Gradient is a go-to tool for several common photo editing tasks:

• Portrait enhancement: Brighten the subject’s face and eyes slightly while darkening the background to make them pop.
• Product photography: Draw attention to a product by adding a subtle exposure boost to the center and a slight darkening to the edges.
• Landscape emphasis: Highlight a mountain peak, a tree, or a building by placing a radial gradient over it and increasing clarity or exposure.
• Creating a custom vignette: Instead of using the Vignette panel, draw a radial gradient over the entire image, invert it, and reduce exposure. This gives you more control over the shape and center of the vignette.
• Fixing exposure inconsistencies: If one corner of the image is too bright, you can darken it with a radial gradient that covers just that corner.

Feathering and Inverting: The Two Most Important Settings

Two settings on the Radial Gradient panel control how natural the effect looks. Feather determines the softness of the transition between the adjusted and unadjusted areas. A feather of 0 creates a hard edge, which is rarely desirable. A feather of 50-100 gives a smooth, gradual falloff. The default is usually 50, but you’ll often want to increase it for a more subtle look.

Invert flips the mask. When unchecked, the adjustments apply to the inside of the ellipse. When checked, they apply to the outside. This is useful for darkening the edges of a photo while keeping the center untouched. Many photographers use an inverted radial gradient with a negative exposure to create a natural vignette.

Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Here are a few pitfalls that trip up new users:

• Forgetting to invert: You draw a circle over the subject, but the effect is applied to the background instead. Always check the Invert box if your adjustments seem to be affecting the wrong area.
• Feather too low: A low feather value creates a visible circle that looks unnatural. Increase the feather to 70 or higher for most uses.
• Over-adjusting: It’s easy to go too far with exposure or clarity. Start with a subtle change and build up gradually.
• Not using the mask overlay: Press the O key (or click the mask overlay icon) to see the red overlay that shows exactly where the gradient is applied. This helps you position it precisely.
• Applying to the wrong layer: If you have multiple adjustment layers, make sure the Radial Gradient is selected before you start dragging. Otherwise, you might accidentally modify a previous mask.

Radial Gradient vs. Linear Gradient vs. Adjustment Brush

Lightroom offers three main local adjustment tools, and each has a distinct purpose. The Radial Gradient is best for oval or circular areas with a soft transition. The Linear Gradient is for straight-line transitions, like darkening a sky from the top down or adding a warm tint to a foreground from the bottom. The Adjustment Brush is for freehand painting, giving you the most control over irregular shapes, like a person’s face or a specific object. In practice, you’ll often combine them: use a radial gradient for the main subject, a linear gradient for the sky, and a brush for fine details.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I move a radial gradient after I’ve created it?

Click on the center pin (the small dot in the middle of the ellipse) and drag it to reposition. You can also use the arrow keys for fine adjustments. To resize, drag any of the four corner handles. To rotate, move your cursor just outside a corner handle until you see the rotate icon, then drag.

Can I apply multiple radial gradients to one photo?

Yes, you can create as many as you need. Each one appears as a separate pin in the image. To edit an existing gradient, click its pin. To delete it, select the pin and press Delete or Backspace. You can also duplicate a gradient by right-clicking its pin and choosing Duplicate.

Why does my radial gradient look like a hard circle instead of a soft fade?

Your Feather setting is likely too low. Increase the Feather slider to soften the edge. Also, check that you haven’t accidentally set the feather to 0. A feather value between 50 and 100 is typical for most edits.

Does the Radial Gradient work on raw files only?

No, it works on any image file Lightroom supports, including JPEG, TIFF, and PNG. However, raw files retain more data, so you have more latitude with exposure and highlight adjustments before you see banding or noise.

Is there a keyboard shortcut for the Radial Gradient?

Yes. In Lightroom Classic, press Shift+M to select the Radial Gradient. In the cloud version, the shortcut is also Shift+M. Pressing M cycles between the linear and radial gradients.

Can I use the Radial Gradient to color grade a specific area?

Absolutely. You can adjust the White Balance, Tint, and even the Saturation of specific colors using the Color Mixer panel while a radial gradient is active. This is great for warming up a sunset or cooling down shadows.

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