Image Solarize
Create the surreal solarization effect known from darkroom experiments by Man Ray. Every channel value above a threshold is inverted while darker values stay as they are, so highlights flip into dark, metallic tones and outlines appear where bright and dark areas meet. Set the threshold from 0 to 255 to control how much of the picture is reversed, for posters, album art and experimental photography.
Frequently asked questions
How does solarization work?
For each red, green and blue value, the tool checks whether it is above the threshold. Values above it are replaced by 255 minus the value, and values at or below it are kept. Bright areas become dark while dark areas stay dark, which creates the characteristic glowing outlines.
What does the threshold do?
It sets the value from which tones are inverted, from 0 to 255. The default of 128 inverts the upper half of the tonal range. Lower thresholds invert more of the image, and 255 leaves it unchanged.
What happens with a threshold of 0?
Every value above 0 is inverted, so the result is almost a full negative while pure black stays black. It is close to the result of the Image Negate tool.
Why do colors change in unexpected ways?
Each channel is tested separately, so in one pixel the red value may be inverted while green and blue are not. That creates unusual color shifts, especially in bright, saturated areas. Convert to grayscale first for a classic monochrome solarization.
What is the history of the effect?
In the darkroom, briefly exposing a print or negative to light during development reversed some tones, an effect named after Armand Sabattier and made famous by Man Ray and Lee Miller. This tool reproduces the look digitally with full control.
Is transparency preserved?
Yes, the alpha channel is not inverted and transparent areas stay transparent. Only color values above the threshold change.
Which photos look good solarized?
Portraits with strong lighting, nudes and figure studies, flowers and high contrast black and white images are classic subjects. Busy colorful photos can look chaotic, which may suit psychedelic artwork.
Which formats can I upload?
Upload JPEG, PNG, GIF, WebP, TIFF or AVIF images up to 5 MB. Animated files use their first frame and images larger than 4000 pixels on a side are scaled down to fit. The result is PNG.
How is solarize different from negate?
Negate inverts every value of the image. Solarize only inverts values above the threshold, mixing positive and negative tones in one picture.
How is the result calculated?
A lookup table of all 256 values is built from the threshold and applied to every channel of every pixel. The output is exact and repeatable.