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Learn how to edit a photo day to night and wow your buyers with a stunning sunset and warm, inviting interior lighting. Dusk or nighttime photos of properties create an alluring, romantic atmosphere that will draw attention to your listing. 

In this post, we’ll show you how to turn a daytime photo into night in Photoshop to help you showcase the beauty of exterior property photos and add magic to them.

Let’s get started!

Why Turn a Daytime Image Into a Night Photo? 

Real estate agents and home sellers know that selling real estate requires a lot of hard work and excellent marketing. 

Enticing potential buyers to purchase a home or business space is all about making sure you can present it in its best possible light – literally! 

Nighttime photos, also called dusk or Twilight photos, often have a unique quality that can be difficult to capture in a standard photo.

They have a romantic feel to them that’s very appealing, and investing in the editing process can help bring out that quality even more. 

Furthermore, elegant nighttime photos can also give sellers and agents the chance to highlight aspects of a house that are hidden during daylight. Or that might not look all that great on their own but really pop against a pink and purple sky.

However, booking a photographer to capture the exact moment the setting or rising sun looks stunning can be difficult, especially if that day’s sunset is unremarkable. 

That’s where professional real estate photo editing comes into play for any listing agent worth their salt. But before we show you how to edit a photo day to night, let’s take a look at what this type of editing process is all about.

What Is Day to Night Conversion in Real Estate Photo Editing?

Day to night conversion takes real estate marketing one step further. 

This editing process enables real estate photographers and Realtors alike to transform photos from daytime images into romantic and mysterious twilight scenes while preserving image clarity. 

It’s basically the process of taking an exterior photo of a home taken during a sunset or sunrise — the golden hour and editing it to enhance or alter its colors and/or light.

It’s all about softening the harsh white light of the day and instead enhancing the colors and recreating the golden glow of light that makes everything look “picture perfect” in an image (pun intended). 

Investing time to turn day images into dusk photos will give prospective buyers the confidence they need when considering buying your next big listed property on the market!

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Real Estate Photo Editing

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How to Turn a Day Photo Into Night in Photoshop

With that being said, let’s show you how to edit a day to night image using Photoshop next. You can either watch the video or continue reading the text below:

Start With the Windows

Step 1. Import your image into Lightroom and do basic adjustments. Make it a little darker as it’s a dusk image.

Step 2. Next, create a Virtual Copy.

Step 3. On that copy, adjust the glow of the windows to make it look like the light is on. Boost the Exposure and Temperature to create a glowing effect. 

Step 4. Now, move your images into Photoshop.

Step 5. In Photoshop, make the Window Layer on top and add an Inverted Mask (press and hold the ALT key while clicking the Masking button).

Step 6. Select the windows using the Pen Tool (P), then press the Delete button.

Step 7. Next, add an Outer Glow using the Layer style.

Step 8. Within the Layer Style, use the Sliders to adjust to an appropriate level.

Next, Edit the Sky 

Once you’re happy with the windows of the house, it’s time to work on the sky:

Step 1. Duplicate the base photo and go to the Channel panel and duplicate the Blue channel.

Step 2. Adjust the Levels in the Sky by pressing CTRL – L on your keyboard.

Step 3. Select the Non-Sky area, make it black, and use the Dodge Brush (O) to lighten the sky.

Step 4. Now, you want to Load the Channel as a Selection, and then click the Masking button.

Step 5. Next, Import the dusk sky photo that you want to use behind the building.

Step 6. Adjust its position and make sure to Blend it properly with the house. E.g you may want to use the Burn Tool to darken the house overall. Then, Save the new image. 

Step 7. Back in Lightroom, you can make one or two adjustments to the white balance until you’re happy with the final product. 

Use the Dusk Scene to Showcase the Property

Day to Dusk Photo Editing by PhotoUp - edit photo day to night
Day to Dusk Photo Editing by PhotoUp

Keep in mind that you’re showcasing a home for a potential buyer and not trying to create an award-winning nature photograph.

The dusk scene is there to show off the best features of the property and put the viewers in a calm, welcoming state of mind, so they look favorably on the listing.

The goal is to make home buyers think of themselves as living in this incredible home and taking in the beautiful evening sunset.  

And that’s it! You’ve now learned how to edit a photo day to night.

Twilight Editing FAQ

What elements does Twilight editing include?

Professional Twilight real estate photo editing includes elements such as:

What images are best suited for the day to night conversion?

Any exterior real estate photo is suited for day to night conversion. Additionally, this method is also popular for landscape and street photos too.

Why is night photography good?

Night photography can capture spectacular nighttime scenes with city lights and night skies full of stars and romantic sunsets. This makes the photo more appealing to the viewer and can make them take an extra look.  

What are the characteristics of night photography?

Night photography relies on a color palette of darker shades of pink and purple, blue, and black. Plus, when it comes to real estate photography, it’s combined with well-lit, warm interior lighting to create an inviting atmosphere.

Is it worth it investing in Twilight photo editing?

Yes! Traditional daytime photography doesn’t always result in an interesting photo that will capture a buyer’s attention. Especially when listing after listing shows pretty much the same scenes.

But Twilight photos often have a unique quality and a romantic, mysterious glow that can be difficult to capture in a standard photo.

High-Quality & Consistent

Real Estate Photo Editing

Hire a dedicated editor with performance metrics from $7/hour.

Stop Struggling on Your Own and Let PhotoUp Help!

Professional real estate photo editors can quickly transform daytime photos into dusk by using the perfect filter in conjunction with the ideal mixes of color, brightness, texture, and contrast. 

Why not let PhotoUp do it for you? Getting started with our real estate photo editing service is a quick and easy process!

All you need to do is sign up for a free PhotoUp account, place your first order and your photographs will be delivered back to you in less than 24 hours.

With over a decade in the industry and hundreds of editors in the Philippines, we have all the expertise and tools needed to edit your images to perfection.

For example, our skilled photo editors can help with the following issues:

  • Improper exposure levels
  • Harsh shadows, lack of light, etc.
  • Blurred images that were taken without a tripod
  • Images that need cropping or vertical alignment
  • Lawn greening and sky replacements
  • Twilight and day-to-dusk editing
  • Manual blending and pano stitching
  • Clutter and advanced object removal
  • Line and angle corrections
  • And much more!

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Real Estate Photo Editors

Ready-to-hire editors for real estate photo editing, video editing, and more.

Additionally, PhotoUp offers a complete ecosystem of real estate marketing services such as:

Best of all, our real estate photo editing service is affordable, starting at the low cost of $1.15 per image

PhotoUp Real Estate Photo Editing Uploader Demo

To see how easy it is to get started using our editing service, check out our real estate photo editing uploader demo:

It’s as easy as 1-2-3!

Sign up for a free account today, and let PhotoUp create captivating twilight scenes for you. For a limited time, you even get 10 free edits when signing up!

We hope this blog post helped you learn how to edit a photo day to night in Photoshop. If you found this post useful, you may also want to check out the following resources:

Stina Pettersson

Professional Blogger

Stina is an entrepreneur, digital marketer, and professional blogger who's passionate about real estate photo editing, being outdoors with her pup, and sweaty gym sessions. She loves the written word and has been writing for publications like Forbes and Thrive Global. Originally from Sweden, she's called South Florida her home since 2013.

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