Reverse Vignettes, An Album Page

Album images of reverse vignette JPEG images, sourced from the HMD Nokia 3.1, done with a simple one-step edit on the desktop image editor.

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One advantage I had with the HMD Global Nokia 3.1, the entry-level Android smartphone I've been using since its launch in 2018, is the ease of using JPEG images from both the front and rear built-in cameras for conversion to 'Reverse Vignettes.' The process, which I also tried but was unsuccessful with images from other digital image devices I own—including other mobile phones, digital compacts, bridge cameras, and the ubiquitous DSLR—is a simple one-step process on the old desktop image editor I still have access to.

(For those who need to know, I am an Olympus vintage enthusiast, have been so for many, many years, and have moved from the analog to the digital genres of the brand and related software tools, including the archaic desktop image editor, which I still use.)

The technique, which often seems complex when discussed or shown online, involves post-processing steps that lighten the outer edges and corners of an image. This is the opposite of traditional vignetting, which darkens those areas instead. The effect is used to focus the viewer's attention on the center of the frame, lighten dark sections, or eliminate unwanted peripheral vignetting caused by lenses.

When used with paid or subscription photo or video editing software, the process (including the use of RAW images) typically involves several steps, starting with the use of a radial gradient tool, or vignette slider, to add brightness to the edges of the picture frame. The rather tedious process involved could be the reason (correct me if I am wrong!) that the technique is not as popular or preferred for editing images in a desktop editor.

Album Images

On the archaic desktop photo editor that I use, however, again with the emphasis that the method only seems to work with images from that specific camera mentioned, the process is a simple variation of the 'Shading Compensation' parameter, which is also referred to as the 'vignette correction' filter. Changes in the parameter, from 0 to 100, will adjust the radial tool accordingly, with incremental increases in brightness to the external edges of the image.

HMD Nokia 3.1

The Nokia 3.1, a part of Google's Android One program, was released by HMD Global in May 2018. The phone succeeds the original Nokia 3 and comes with a taller 18:9 display, modest performance upgrades, with a premium-feeling aluminum frame. It uses a MediaTek MT6750N system-on-chip, is powered by a 2990 mAh Li-ion battery, and comes with a 13MP rear camera with LED flash and an 8MP front camera. The model is seen in two iterations: a 2 GB RAM variant with 16 GB storage, and a 3 GB RAM variant with 32 GB storage.

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