Film effects guide
How to add halation and bloom to RAW photos
Halation and bloom work best as finishing steps after exposure, contrast, and palette are already in place. Halation adds warm edge glow near bright transitions, while bloom spreads a softer luminous veil around highlights.
1. Finish the base grade first
Set exposure, contrast, curves, and color before touching halation or bloom. Otherwise you end up grading around an effect instead of adding it to a stable image.
2. Add halation first
Use halation to introduce controlled warm edging around strong highlight transitions. Keep it restrained so the effect reads as optical character instead of a red fringe.
3. Add bloom second
Bloom should support luminous highlights without flattening the image. Watch local contrast and skin carefully as you increase it.
4. Judge at the intended output size
Both effects can feel subtle or excessive depending on zoom level and output size, so always validate them at realistic viewing dimensions before export.