Vignette is one of the new editing tools in Aperture 2.0 that made me (and I suppose a whole lot of other photographers as well) really happy.

This tool has been in my "wish list" for the longest time (and I have a feeling I'm not alone in this one), and I'm just glad Apple decided to finally put it in. A simple vignette tool would have sufficed, and in reality, that's all I was really hoping for.

The idea why I want this feature right inside Aperture is so that I don't have to keep round-tripping to an external editing software just to add in the drama and flair that only a "vignette" can give a photograph.

But somehow, the inclusion of a simple vignette in Aperture 2.0 just won't do. Apple decided that they can do more, and they want to do more. Hence, I (and all the other photographers now using Aperture 2.0) ended up getting more than what have been originally bargained for.

For starters, there are 2 new bricks in Apple's Adjustment: Vignette and Devignette.

Devignette basically serves to remove the darkness, or add more light to the light fall-off area which is typically in the surrounding or corner edges of an image.

Vignette, on the other hand, doing the opposite, aims to add to (make darker) and emphasize the darkness of the corner edges.

You can try using both at the same time, but of course, that would just cancel out each other's intended effect. You might, therefore, want to exclusively either use Vignette or Devignette. I'm guessing that a lot will be using Vignette more than Devignette (but at the same time photographers will be just as happy and thankful that Devignette is available when needed).

The Vignette control brick has 2 basic and simple sliders. The first slider is labelled Amount, and the second slider is Size. You can go up to as high as 2.0 in both sliders. When applying Vignette, I find it easier and faster if I first move the Size slider and then slide in the Amount afterwards. I get better results when I mix and refine the intensity from there on.

What makes Vignette in Aperture 2.0 really interesting is that now I actually have a choice between 2 types of vignettes: Exposure and Gamma. What's the difference between the two? Which one should you use? Why?

Here's a most straight-forward explanation. Exposure literally just lowers or increases the exposure in the corners. This effect seems best for monochrome images or on images with light, white corners. If all you want to apply a really subtle, almost unnoticeable vignette, Exposure is the primary choice. Gamma, on the other hand, shifts the entire gamma which results to rich, deep, gorgeous colors. Gamma vignette is most effective in images with inherently intense and dramatic colors.

We understand what "exposure" means and we can easily grasp the concept of darker or lighter exposure on the edges of the image. But gamma is a totally different matter. Gamma is the process of pre-compensating for the non-linear voltage-to-light intensity in order to obtain the desired reproduction of "intensity." I just picked that bit from the internet (and yes, it still doesn't make sense to me). But the effect it creates certainly does!

When applying Vignette, whether Exposure or Gamma vignette, but particularly Gamma vignette, I often go back to refine my other previous adjustments. In particular, I re-work the Brightness, Contrast, and Exposure sliders. I spend a little more time playing around with these sliders, and somehow, I find that I get a more refined or sophisticated results.

Just for fun, I now tend to go Ctrl-V on just about every picture before I finish it. And I haven't seen a single picture it hasn't improved, even subtly. Try Vignette, if you have not yet done so, and see for yourself what it can do to your pictures.