The Ring Light effect draws a bright ring on your screen so the screen itself becomes a soft, even light source pointed at your face. It removes under-eye shadows, evens out skin tone, and puts a catchlight in your eyes on camera.
Before you start
- A screen you can point at yourself. A second monitor, a laptop, a tablet, or a phone all work. It needs to face you, not your camera.
- A camera and a call or recording app running somewhere else — a second device, or a separate window on the same computer.
- Room lights you can control, if possible. The effect is a light source; competing lights are what make results look uneven.
Set it up
- Open the Ring Light effect on the screen you want to use as your light.
- Position that screen behind or just beside your camera, angled at your face. Sit roughly 18–24 inches (45–60 cm) away to start.
- Set Color Temperature to match your room. Daylight near a window, Warm White or Tungsten under household bulbs.
- Set Brightness to about 70–80. Push it higher only if your face is still dark.
- Select Go Fullscreen. The controls fade out after five seconds so they never end up on camera — move your mouse to bring them back.
- Check your camera preview and adjust. You are looking for even light with no hot spot on your forehead or nose.
You'll know it worked when the shadows under your eyes and chin soften, and you can see a small ring reflected in your eyes.
To leave fullscreen, press Escape or move your mouse and select Exit Fullscreen.
What each control does
| Control | Range | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Brightness | 10–100 | Overall output of the screen. The main dial for "too dark" or "too blown out." |
| Color Temperature | Daylight → Tungsten | The color of the light, from 6500K neutral white down to 2700K warm. Match this to your room. |
| Ring Size | 20–80 | Diameter of the ring. Larger spreads light wider and softer; smaller concentrates it. |
| Ring Thickness | 5–30 | How thick the lit band is. Thicker means more total light and a softer look. |
| Edge Blur | 0–50 | Softness of the ring's edges. Higher values remove the visible outline and give a more diffuse result. |
| Horizontal Position | 0–100 | Moves the ring left or right. Use it to aim the light when your screen is off to one side. |
| Vertical Position | 0–100 | Moves the ring up or down. Lower it slightly if the top of your head is brighter than your face. |
| Light Intensity | 10–200 | Boosts the ring's output independently of Brightness. Use this when the screen is far away or small. |
You can also drop a logo onto the effect from the Logo tab on the effect page — useful for branded recordings. Logo position, size, and opacity are saved in your browser on that device.
Common setups
- Video call on a laptop, light on a monitor. Ring Size 50–60, Edge Blur 30+, Brightness 70. Wide and soft covers you even if you shift in your seat.
- Close-up recording or photos. Ring Size 35–45, Ring Thickness 20+, Light Intensity 130–150. Tighter and punchier, with a defined catchlight.
- Long meetings. Brightness 60, Warm White. Less eye strain over a two-hour call, and it still reads as well-lit on camera.
- Dark room, no other lights. Raise Light Intensity before Brightness. Intensity adds output without flattening the ring into a white rectangle.
Troubleshooting
My face is lit but the background is black. Expected — the ring only lights what it faces. Add a small lamp behind you or run a second WebLight screen on a plain effect like Full Screen Light aimed at the wall.
There's a bright hot spot on my forehead or glasses. The ring is too close, too small, or too intense. Increase Ring Size, raise Edge Blur to 30 or more, then move back a few inches. For glasses, drop Vertical Position slightly and angle the screen down so the reflection falls below your lenses.
The light flickers on camera. This is a shutter/refresh mismatch, not the effect. Set your camera or recording app to a frame rate that divides evenly into your display's refresh rate (30fps on a 60Hz screen), or lower the display's refresh rate.
My camera keeps re-adjusting and my face pulses light and dark. Auto-exposure is chasing the new light source. Set brightness first, wait a few seconds for the camera to settle, then lock exposure and white balance in your video app if it allows it.
The effect won't go fullscreen. Some browsers block fullscreen until you interact with the page. Click anywhere on the page and select Go Fullscreen again. You can also open the effect URL with #fullscreen on the end to start in fullscreen.
The screen is blank and no ring light appears. Graphics acceleration is most likely switched off in your browser. Turn it on in your browser settings and reload. If that isn't an option, Full Screen Light and Color Gradient are simpler effects that don't need it.
Next steps
Try Key Light if you want directional, more sculpted light instead of flat and even, or Beauty Light for a softer look with less contrast.