PHOTO 101

Give your images a dramatic makeover

Make grey skies look spectacular with Lightleap.

Lightleap by Lightricks

Dream photo effects & filters

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Want to enhance that snap let down by a lifeless sky or make the rain go away? Lightleap has a magical feature for creating striking composite images, no matter the weather when you captured your image.

Known appropriately as the Sky tool, it automatically detects and augments everything above the horizon – or replaces it altogether with one of dozens of ultra-realistic images.

To start, select an image from your photo library, or capture a new image by tapping the camera icon, then follow these easy steps.

See the cloud icon on the bottom left? That’s your Sky tool.

1. Look to the sky

Tap the Sky tool (found in the adjustments toolbar) and behold dramatic skies of all types.

Replacing a dull sunset? Head over to the Sunset category and tap through the options until you find one with tones that match your scene.

If you fancy the abstract, Fantasy and Aurora will transform landscapes into something more surreal.

Ever wanted to know what the Manhattan skyline would look like if you could see all the stars? The sky is (literally) the limit.

Now reach for the stars!

2. Replace and refine

Tap your desired sky and it’ll appear in your image. A paintbrush and eraser tool will also pop up.

Pinch to zoom in on your photo, paint anywhere you see the old sky peeking through, and erase anywhere the new sunset shouldn’t be.

Err on the side of overpainting rather than leaving the old sky in the image. You’ll fix any small issues in the next step.

Make specific adjustments with these helpful numbers.

3. Fine-tune the details

Now tap the Sky tool again to see ways to perfect your photo:

- The Horizon tool lets you raise or lower the horizon that Lightleap detected.

- The Shift tool moves the clouds from left to right. (If only you could do this in real life!)

- The Ambient, Details and Opacity tools all help more naturally blend your new sky with your old sky and the foreground.

By the time you’re done, the detail should be super-vivid.

4. Apply the finishing touches

Now return to the main editing page to make image-wide adjustments.

You can apply tweaks with each tool individually, or use the Looks tool, which applies several adjustments at once with a single tap. Looks are similar to filters but also apply other modifications, like sharpness.

When you’re finished with your masterpiece, tap the share button in the top right corner to send it far and wide.