Effects — Art
Two-tone silhouette effect
Reduce your photo to a bold two-colour silhouette with threshold, smoothing and edge softness controls.
- Status
- Live
- Category
- Art
- Settings
- 6
What is the Two-tone silhouette effect?
A two-tone silhouette strips a subject down to a single flat shape against a flat background. Used in posters, album covers and stencil art, it relies on strong contrast between the subject and what is behind it.
Use the Subject is setting to tell the effect which tones count as your subject, set the Threshold, then use Smoothing and Edge softness to clean up the shape. Pick colours for the subject and background to finish.
Two-tone silhouette settings
- Subject is
- Threshold
- Smoothing
- Edge softness
- Subject colour
- Background colour
Best photos for it
- Backlit subjects and sunset silhouettes
- Animals and people against clean skies
- Stencil and poster designs
Tips for better results
- Tip 01
Start with a photo where the subject is clearly darker or lighter than the background.
- Tip 02
Smoothing removes small speckles; raise it if the edges look jagged.
- Tip 03
Pick contrasting colours for a graphic poster look.
Common questions
Does it cut out the subject automatically?
It separates tones by brightness rather than recognising the subject, so it works best when the subject contrasts clearly with the background.
Similar effects
- PosterizeReduce a photo to a few flat tone levels for a bold, screen-print-style look. One simple control: levels.Available
- Xerox / photocopyGive photos the high-contrast, gritty look of a photocopier. Set the threshold, add toner noise and choose your ink and paper colours.Available
- Gradient mapRecolour a photo by mapping its brightness onto a shadow, mid and highlight colour gradient, with a mix slider.Available
Also searched as: Silhouette filter, Stencil effect, Two-colour poster effect.