Effects — Film
Bloom / halation effect
Add a glowing bloom and warm film-style halation around bright areas, with threshold, radius, amount and tint controls.
- Status
- Live
- Category
- Film
- Settings
- 4
What is the Bloom / halation effect?
Bloom is the soft glow that spreads from bright areas, as light scatters in a lens or the eye. Halation is a related film phenomenon: bright light passes through the film layers, reflects off the base and re-exposes the emulsion, leaving a reddish-orange halo around highlights.
Use Threshold to pick which brightness levels glow, Radius for how far the glow spreads, Amount for strength, and Tint to colour it. A warm red-orange tint gives the classic film-halation look.
Bloom / halation settings
- Threshold
- Radius
- Amount
- Tint
Best photos for it
- Night scenes with street lights and neon
- Backlit portraits
- Dreamy, cinematic edits
Tips for better results
- Tip 01
Raise the threshold so only the brightest lights glow.
- Tip 02
Use a warm tint for halation and a neutral tint for soft bloom.
- Tip 03
Combine with the Cinestill 800T film stock for the signature red-glow look.
Common questions
What is the difference between bloom and halation?
Bloom is a general glow from bright areas. Halation is the specific reddish halo caused by light reflecting inside the film.
Similar effects
- Film stockEmulate six classic film looks: Portra 400, Tri-X, Cinestill 800T, Velvia, Polaroid and Kodachrome, with a grain control.Available
- Light leakAdd warm streaks of light that look like light leaking into a film camera, with colour, position, size and amount.Available
- Edges / neonDetect edges and turn them into glowing neon outlines. Pick a style, strength, line colour and background.Available
Also searched as: Glow effect, Halation filter, Dreamy glow, Cinematic glow.