Why Does My RawTherapee Artistic Vignette Move When I Change the Crop?

Identify which kind of vignette is being edited

RawPedia explicitly describes the Vignetting Filter as an artistic effect positioned relative to the crop. It distinguishes that filter from tools intended to correct optical vignetting caused by the camera and lens.

An artistic vignette belongs to the final composition. Its center and edge behavior are evaluated against the cropped image. Optical falloff belongs to the captured source and should be corrected using an appropriate lens or calibration method.

If a merchant changes the crop and the decorative darkening appears to move, first check which tool created it. Do not assume that the camera recorded a different illumination pattern.

Keep the original exposure and crop-independent corrections fixed while investigating. A crop change can alter the relationship between the product and the vignette without changing any physical light.

Compare two crops of one source

Use the same RAW photograph and processing profile. Prepare a square crop and a vertical crop without changing the Vignetting Filter settings.

Inspect the location of the vignette relative to each crop's edges and center. Also record where the product lies within each composition.

If the darkening follows the new crop, that is consistent with the documented artistic-filter behavior. If the darkening remains tied to the original sensor corners, investigate optical correction or another image-space adjustment instead.

Check whether the vignette makes a product edge, small label or intended negative space difficult to read. A pleasing dark border is not automatically suitable for a factual catalog image.

If the crop is changed after creative approval, review the vignette again. The previously approved amount and center may no longer produce the intended visual hierarchy.

Hypothetical lifestyle-candle advertisement

Hypothetical illustration—not an executed RawTherapee test: a merchant photographs a candle on a wooden table. The square advertisement places the candle near the center, with a gentle artistic vignette.

The same photograph is reframed into a tall story format. The candle is now in the lower half, leaving room for a headline above it.

Because the artistic vignette is crop-relative, the reviewer expects to reassess its placement rather than assume the original square treatment remains visually equivalent.

If the upper text area becomes too dark or the candle's lower edge disappears, adjust the creative filter for the vertical composition. If the source itself has uneven optical illumination, investigate that separately.

No actual filter output or product image was tested.

Approve each composition as a separate derivative

Keep the RAW master and optical correction separate from destination-specific creative treatment. Save the square and vertical outputs as distinct reviewed derivatives.

For each, inspect the product's full silhouette, label readability, background hierarchy and final placement size.

If the goal is to correct camera-lens falloff, do not use an artistic vignette as an inverse substitute without calibration evidence. If the goal is decorative attention control, accept that different crops may need different settings.

Record the crop ratio, product position and vignette settings for each approved output. A shared RAW source does not require identical creative parameters across every layout.

The pass condition is a deliberate crop-specific presentation that preserves real product details.

Record your own observations

The filled rows are illustrative examples. Use the blank row for your own files and observations.

Download the editable CSV worksheet

What the references establish

• RawPedia — Vignetting Filter: Explicitly documents crop-relative artistic vignette positioning and distinguishes it from optical-vignetting correction.