PRIVATE BY DESIGN
Adjust Every Detail of a Black and White Photo Yourself
Presets get you close; sliders get you exact. This editor gives you direct control over exposure, contrast, highlights and shadows, grain, vignette, and sharpening — each one a separate adjustment, not a single one-size-fits-all knob. It runs entirely in your browser, free, with nothing uploaded while you work.
Exposure and contrast set the foundation
Exposure shifts the overall brightness of the photo before anything else is applied; contrast then controls how far apart the darkest and lightest tones sit from each other. Together they decide whether a black and white photo reads as flat and grey or as a photo with real depth — and they're the two adjustments worth getting right first.
Highlights and shadows, adjusted separately
Highlights and shadows are separate controls, so you can pull shadows up to recover detail in a dark corner of the frame, or bring highlights down to hold detail in a bright sky, without the other end of the tonal range moving along with it.
Film grain: strength and size, independently
Grain strength controls how visible the texture is; grain size controls how coarse or fine each grain particle looks, and the two work independently of each other. A barely-there texture and a heavy 35mm-style grain are both reachable, regardless of how strong the effect is set.
Vignette and sharpening to finish
A vignette darkens the edges of the frame to pull the eye toward the center — useful in a portrait or a street photo where the subject needs to hold attention. Sharpening adds definition back into fine detail, which matters more once contrast and grain have already reshaped the image.
Compare as you adjust
A before/after slider sits over the image the whole time you're editing, so you can check any adjustment against the original photo instead of relying on memory. For high-resolution images, zoom and pan let you check fine detail — skin texture in a portrait, or grain in a shadow — up close.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to use a preset before adjusting sliders?
No. You can start from the original photo and build the look entirely from the sliders, or start from a preset and adjust it further — both work the same way.
What's the difference between the highlights/shadows sliders and contrast?
Contrast moves the whole tonal range apart at once; highlights and shadows adjust just the bright or dark end independently, without affecting the other.
Can I see the original photo while I edit?
Yes. A before/after slider lets you compare your adjustments against the original at any point.
Is the photo uploaded while I edit it?
No. Every adjustment happens in your browser, and a proof panel shows zero bytes sent while you work.