One effect that can be fun to apply to images when looking for a vintage look is a light leak. We posted a tutorial on how to do this in Lightroom awhile back, How to create a light leak in Lightroom and now Pixelmator has joined the analog movement by adding a filter in the latest update of Pixelmator.

This filter is really fun to use and they have included 8 different types of light leaks in the filter to choose from. To get started open up the effects browser and then go to the Stylize section. Next choose the type of effect you would like to apply.

pizelmator light leak

Once you choose the type of light leak filter you would like to apply there are a few different things you can adjust. First you can move the center point of the light leak by clicking and dragging the circle in the middle. Then on the black dot on the edge of the circle you can click and drag that to make the effect larger/smaller and also rotate it to move the angle of the effect.

pizelmator light leak4

You will also see a slider at the bottom of the menu to change the amount of the effect and the Sunniness. The Sunniness slider will effect the tone of the rest of the image. This can be pretty helpful to blend the light leak effect with the rest of the image.

Here is an example with the Sunniness set to 0

pizelmator light leak2

And now with the Sunniness set to 100

pizelmator light leak3

That’s it! Pixelmator now gives us some nice ways to add that vintage touch to your photography. Have fun with is and let me know any comments at the bottom of the page.

Also if you are new to Pixelmator pick up my book on Amazon to learn the fundamentals of the application. You can get it on Amazon for your kindle below for just $9.99 or the paperback version as well.

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