Solarize effect

Recreate the film solarization effect by inverting tones beyond a brightness threshold.

Example:
Drag and drop your images here, or click to browse. 40 MB max per file.

How it works

Solarization is a historic effect from film photography (popularized by Man Ray), obtained by partially overexposing the film during development, which inverts the lightest tones. Here, the tool simply inverts each color channel (red, green, blue) of a pixel as soon as its value exceeds the chosen threshold.

How does the threshold affect the result?

A low threshold (close to 0) inverts almost the entire image, producing a result close to a full negative. A high threshold (close to 255) only inverts the lightest areas, for a more subtle effect that preserves the midtones and shadows.

Does the threshold apply the same way to the three color channels?

Yes, each channel (red, green, blue) is compared independently to the same threshold and inverted if it exceeds it, which can create unexpected hues in areas where only some channels exceed the threshold.

100% local processing: the effect is applied in your browser via our WebAssembly module — your images are never sent to a server.