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Visual effects · Graphic design

22 terms

  • bevel and emboss

    An effect that adds fake highlights and shadows along an element's edges so it looks raised or carved, giving a 3D chiselled feel.

  • bloom

    A soft overspill of light around the brightest parts of an image, making highlights glow and bleed into nearby areas.

  • chromatic aberration

    A colour-fringing effect where edges split into red/cyan or blue/red offsets, imitating a camera lens that fails to focus all colours on the same spot.

  • double exposure

    A blend of two images layered into one, so a silhouette such as a face is filled with a second image such as a forest.

  • drop shadow

    A soft or hard shadow placed behind an element so it looks like it is floating slightly above the surface.

  • film grain

    A layer of fine speckled texture added to an image to mimic the look of old photographic film.

  • gaussian blur

    A smooth, even softening of an image that blends detail into a haze, named after the mathematical curve used to spread the blur.

  • glassmorphism

    A UI style where panels look like frosted glass — a blurred, semi-transparent surface that lets the colours behind it show through faintly.

  • glitch

    A stylised effect that mimics digital errors — torn scan lines, shifted colour channels, and blocky displacement — to look broken or futuristic on purpose.

  • gradient

    A smooth blend from one colour (or shade) to another across a shape or background.

  • gradient map

    An effect that recolours an image by replacing its shadows-to-highlights range with the colours of a chosen gradient.

  • inner shadow

    A shadow drawn inside the edges of a shape so it looks carved into or pressed below the surface.

  • lens flare

    Bright streaks, rings, or star-shaped glints that mimic light bouncing inside a camera lens when it points near a strong light source.

  • long shadow

    A flat, hard-edged shadow that stretches far off an icon or letter at a 45-degree angle, popular in flat design.

  • motion blur

    A directional smear applied to an element so it looks like it is moving fast.

  • neon glow

    A bright, saturated glow around text or shapes that mimics the light of a neon or LED sign, usually on a dark background.

  • neumorphism

    A soft, minimal UI style where buttons and cards appear to gently push out of or sink into a single-coloured background, using paired light and dark shadows.

  • outer glow

    A soft halo of light or colour that spreads outward evenly from the edges of an element.

  • posterize

    An effect that reduces an image to a small number of flat colour or tone steps, removing smooth blends for a bold, banded poster look.

  • reflection

    A mirrored, fading copy of an element placed below it, as if it were sitting on a glossy surface.

  • scanlines

    Thin, evenly spaced horizontal lines laid over an image to mimic the look of an old CRT television or monitor screen.

  • tilt-shift

    A selective-blur effect that keeps a narrow strip in focus and blurs the rest, making a full-size scene look like a tiny toy model.

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