iOS 13

Edit Portrait mode photos on iPhone

In the Photos app , you can change and adjust the studio-quality lighting effects to the photos you take in Portrait mode.

Edit Portrait Lighting effects in Portrait mode photos

On models that support Portrait Lighting, you can apply, change, or remove the Portrait Lighting effects in Portrait mode photos.

Tap any photo taken in Portrait mode to view it in full screen.
Tap Edit, then touch and drag below the photo to choose a lighting effect.
- Natural Light: The face is in sharp focus against a blurred background.
- Studio Light: The face is brightly lit, and the photo has an overall clean look.
- Contour Light: The face has dramatic shadows with highlights and lowlights.
- Stage Light: The face is spotlit against a deep black background.
- Stage Light Mono: The effect is like Stage Light, but the photo is in classic black and white.
- High-Key Light Mono: Creates a grayscale subject on a white background (on supported models).
Tap Done to save your changes.
After you save a Portrait Lighting effect, you can tap Revert to go back to the original lighting.

To remove the Portrait effect from a photo, tap Portrait at the top of the screen.

Note: On iPhone XR, the front-facing camera only supports Natural Light, Studio Light, and Contour Light.

Adjust Depth Control and Portrait Lighting in Portrait mode photos

Use the Depth Control slider to adjust the level of background blur in your Portrait mode photos, and the Portrait Lighting slider to adjust the intensity of Portrait Lighting effects.

The Edit screen of a Portrait mode photo. At the top left of the screen is the Lighting Intensity button and the Depth Adjustment button. At the top center of the screen the Portrait button is on and at the top right is the Plug-ins button. The photo is in the center of the screen and below the photo is a slider to adjust the Depth Adjustment setting. Below the slider from left to right are the Cancel, Portrait, Adjust, Filters, Crop, and Done buttons.

Tap any photo taken in Portrait mode to view it in full screen.
Tap Edit, then tap the setting at the top of the screen to adjust Depth Control or to adjust Portrait Lighting.
A slider appears below the photo.
Drag the slider left or right to adjust the effect.
A gray dot above the slider marks the original value for the photo.
Tap Done to save your changes.