How to add and customise light sources

1 Choose a photo

When you open Apollo for the first time, it goes straight into showing the Portrait mode photos available on your device. If you don’t see your desired pic here, it isn’t stored with the necessary 3D depth data. Tap a pic to work on it.

2 Your first light

Now you’re in the editing screen, and the first light source is already there, as a white dot in the centre. Tap it, then drag it to move it around and see how the light changes. Tap anywhere else on the image to deselect this light source.

3 Add and duplicate

After deselecting the light (it has a black dot in the centre when unselected), tap the plus at the bottom to add a new light. Tap the two dots to switch between them. You can also copy a light: when selected, tap Duplicate at the bottom.

4 Change the distance

When you drag a light as we have so far, it moves on the X and Y axes, but you need depth as well for advanced lighting. Select a light, then tap Distance. A ‘dial’ bar appears: drag it left to move the light backwards, or right to move it forwards.

5 Tweak the colour

Lights don’t have to be white. Tap one, then Colour. There’s a spectrum at the bottom of the screen. You have to drag your finger to move the crosshair, but you’ll see the colour of the selected light change in real time.

6 Fine-tune brightness

Each light can be made brighter or dimmer. Select one, tap Brightness, then move the dial left to dim it, or right to go brighter. This gives more control over the effect: a bright, far away light has a different look to a dim, close one.

7 Scatter the light

Select a light, then tap Spread. Here, you change how wide the light falls by swiping along the dial, moving between a spotlight effect as you swipe left, to a very broad light across and wide field as you swipe right.

8 Background removal

Tap the image to deselect all lights. Want an effect like Apple’s Studio Light where the background is removed? Tap Background Remove at the bottom and swipe the dial right. It darkens from back to front, so the effect is quite granular.

9 Get rid of your halo

Some lighting near to the camera may create a halo effect around fine detail. If you get this with no lights selected, swipe left on the menu at the bottom, choose Halo Adjust, then swipe on the dial to cut back the effect.