Are AskEditor's AI tools really free?

Yes. Upload a file, run a tool, download the output. No card up front. You only need a free account when you want to save the result to your library, or when you start generating at volume the casual-use free tier doesn't cover. Heavy users on paid plans get more credits and longer video allowances; that's where the actual revenue comes from.

Do I need to sign up to use these tools?

Subtitle Generator and Background Remover let you go pretty far before they ask. The five tools that lean on AI credits behind the scenes (upscale, face swap, motion control, image to video, relight) gate at the moment you click the final Generate button. Sign-up is the standard 10-second Google flow. Honestly, if you're going to use a tool more than once you'll want the account anyway.

Which tool should I use for what?

Quick map. Got a photo and want it to move? Image to Video. Got a video and need captions? Subtitle Generator. Want a character in your photo to dance the same way as a reference clip? Motion Control. The four image tools are easier to disambiguate by output: Upscaler gives you a bigger, sharper version of the same image; Background Remover gives you a transparent PNG cutout; Face Swap drops one face onto a different photo; Relight keeps the photo but changes the lighting setup.

Can I use the output commercially?

Whatever rights you held on the inputs, you keep on the output. AskEditor doesn't claim ownership of either side. There are content guidelines (no CSAM, no non-consensual deepfakes, no copyrighted audio or footage you don't have a license for), but those are the obvious ones. Print it for clients, sell it, license it, post it. We've worked with users who use this stuff in actual paid campaigns and the licensing has never been the friction point.

What's the difference between Image Upscaler and Background Remover?

Different problems. Upscaler makes the image bigger and sharper without distorting it; the AI reconstructs detail that wasn't readable at the original size, which is what makes a 1080×720 phone photo printable at A2. Background Remover keeps the image at its original dimensions and just deletes the backdrop behind the subject, leaving you with a transparent PNG you can drop onto a different background. The tools combine well when you have a small product photo for an Etsy listing: upscale first, then remove the background.

How fast and accurate are these tools?

Most finish in under 30 seconds. Background Remover is the fastest at 4 to 6 seconds. Upscaler and Relight land in the 18 to 30 second range. Face Swap takes 40 to 60 seconds because it returns three candidates, not one. Image to Video and Motion Control are the slow ones, 60 to 180 seconds, because generating fresh video from scratch is genuinely expensive compute. Accuracy is mostly a function of input quality. Clean source, clear subject, decent lighting and the output usually surprises people. Bad lighting or a blurry source and you'll spend a few retries getting something usable.

Is the AI relight tool really free?

Free to upload, free to use the live preview, free to compare results. Saving the final high-resolution render to your AskEditor library requires a free account, and the free tier covers casual use comfortably. No card up front.

What's the difference between the live preview and the final render?

The live preview runs locally in your browser using WebGL on a fast normal-map estimate. It's there so you can see roughly what each light setup will look like without paying for a render every time you adjust a slider. When you hit Generate, the model runs a higher-quality pass on the server with better depth estimation and proper shadow handling. Use the preview to find the look. Use the final render for output.

Will the output have a watermark?

No watermark. The PNG you download is exactly what the model produced. Use it commercially, license it, print it.

What types of images work best?

Anything with a clear subject and a recoverable sense of depth. Portraits work well. Product shots work well. Room interiors work well as long as the camera angle gives the model something to estimate geometry from. The hardest cases are flat 2D illustrations and very busy scenes where the model can't tell what's in front of what.

Can I use it on AI generated images?

Yes. Midjourney, Stable Diffusion, DALL-E, and Flux portraits work especially well because they tend to have clear lighting cues already and predictable subject framing. A common workflow: generate a character with one lighting setup, then use this tool to retune the lighting to match the scene you're putting them in.

What's the difference between hard and soft light?

Hard light has a small effective source (think a bare bulb or direct sun), so it casts crisp shadows with sharp edges. Soft light has a large effective source (a window with a curtain, an overcast sky, a softbox), so the shadows are gradual and the contours are gentler. Hard tends to read as drama or harsh studio. Soft tends to read as natural or flattering.

What does the day/night toggle actually change?

It re-tunes the ambient color and overall mix for the scene. Day mode adds a warmer ambient bounce to keep faces and surfaces from going pure black on the shadow side. Night mode goes cooler on ambient, with deeper shadows and slightly higher specular contrast. It's a starting point you then fine-tune with the other controls, not a finished look on its own.

How long does the final render take?

15 to 30 seconds for most images. Larger files near the 10MB ceiling can stretch to 45 seconds. The live preview is instant; the wait is just for the high-resolution server pass.

Is my image private and secure?

All uploads travel over HTTPS, run on cloud workers scoped to your account, and auto-delete after 30 days. We don't feed them into training data and we don't share them with third parties.

How does this compare to relighting in Photoshop?

Photoshop gives you full pixel-level control if you have the time and skill. This tool gives you 80 percent of the result in 30 seconds with two sliders and a draggable light. Use AskEditor for fast iteration when you have many images to relight to a similar look. Use Photoshop when one specific image needs hand-finished retouching that the AI won't get right on its own.

Can I use the relit images commercially?

Whatever rights you held on the original, you keep on the relit output. AskEditor doesn't claim rights to input or output. Sell the resulting image, license it, print it for clients. The one ask is you stay inside our content guidelines (no CSAM, no non-consensual deepfakes, no copyrighted material without a license).

Free AI Image Relight. Change Photo Lighting Online

How to relight a photo in 3 steps

Step 1. Drop your image

JPG, PNG, or WebP up to 10MB. Portraits, product shots, AI renders, room interiors. Anything where the lighting is the thing you want to change.

Step 2. Drag the light around the scene

A light sphere appears next to your image. Drag it to set the direction. Adjust intensity, color, and softness with the sliders. The preview updates live in WebGL so you can land exactly the look you're after before committing.

Step 3. Render and download

When the preview looks right, hit Generate. The AI runs a final high-resolution relight that respects the geometry of the scene (the model estimates a normal map of the surface). Download the result as a clean PNG.

1

Drop your image

JPG, PNG, or WebP up to 10MB. Portraits, product shots, AI renders, room interiors. Anything where the lighting is the thing you want to change.

2

Drag the light around the scene

A light sphere appears next to your image. Drag it to set the direction. Adjust intensity, color, and softness with the sliders. The preview updates live in WebGL so you can land exactly the look you're after before committing.

3

Render and download

When the preview looks right, hit Generate. The AI runs a final high-resolution relight that respects the geometry of the scene (the model estimates a normal map of the surface). Download the result as a clean PNG.

Built for control, not guesswork

Most relight tools give you a handful of preset moods and call it done. We give you the same controls a professional photographer would reach for, with a live preview so you don't waste a render guessing what hard-vs-soft means in this scene.

Direction, intensity, color, softness

Six core controls cover everything you'd reach for on a real lighting kit. Azimuth and elevation set where the light comes from. Intensity sets how strong it is. Color sets the temperature (warm window light vs cold tungsten vs anything in between). Hardness sets the edge softness (point source vs area).

Live WebGL preview

Drag the light and the preview updates in real time using a normal-map estimate of your image. You see exactly what the relight will look like before paying for a final render. No more 30-second wait per attempt.

Day or night mood toggle

One switch retunes the whole color and ambient setup for a daytime feel (warm bounce, soft fill) or a nighttime feel (cooler ambient, harder shadows). Useful as a starting point you then dial in with the other controls.

Geometry-aware

Before the final render, the model estimates a depth and normal map of your image. The relight then respects which way each surface is facing, so a light from the upper left actually casts the correct shadow on the right side of a face or product.

Private by default

Uploads travel over HTTPS, run on isolated cloud workers, and auto-delete after 30 days. We don't use your images to train models. We don't share them with third parties.

Final render in seconds

Live preview is instant. The high-res final render takes 15 to 30 seconds depending on input size. There's no queue.

Who uses our AI relight tool

From product photographers fixing supplier-shot images to AI artists matching their renders to a brand's lighting standard.

Product and ecommerce

Supplier photographed your product under harsh fluorescent overhead light? Relight it to match the soft warm setup the rest of your catalog uses. The output is good enough for a listing and saves the cost of a reshoot.

Photographers and AI artists

Match the lighting of a Midjourney portrait to your brand's house style. Salvage a phone photo where the subject is backlit. Try out three different mood directions on the same headshot before committing to a final edit in Photoshop.

Marketing and brand teams

Reusing the same subject across regional or seasonal ad variants by changing the lighting setup. A summer campaign and a winter campaign can share a model and product shoot with two different relight passes.

Frequently Asked Questions

The tool first estimates a depth and normal map of your image (the AI's best guess at the 3D geometry of what's in the photo). Then it applies a light source you control, calculating how each surface should look under that light direction, color, and intensity. The result respects the actual shape of what's in the image rather than just darkening or brightening pixels.

Related tools

Background Remover

Cut the backdrop out of any image. Sharp on hair, fur, and glass. Transparent PNG or alpha mask.

Image Upscaler

Enlarge any photo up to 4x with detail-preserving AI. Print-ready output, no watermark.

Face Swap

Put a face onto any target image. Three candidate results per swap with skin-tone matching.

Try the AI relight tool, free

Drop a photo, drag a light around the scene, and watch the look change in real time. Sign in to save the high-resolution render.

Free AI Image Relight