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How to invert colors in an image

Beginner3 minutesUpdated

Quick answer

Open your image in Lil Cactus and choose Layer then Duplicate Layer to keep an original copy. Hide the original layer with its eye button in Layers, leaving only the copy visible. Choose Image then Adjustments then Invert; the active image layer changes to a negative immediately, with no settings dialog. Save a new image through File then Export then PNG…

A yellow tram on a sunlit street before and after color inversion, with a blue tram and orange sky in the negative
Invert reverses every color and swaps light for dark. Drag the handle to compare.
Time
3 minutes
Level
Beginner
You need
A photo or graphic whose colors you want to reverse
Works with
RGB photos and PNG graphics, including transparency
Open the sample in Lil CactusUse your own photo

Free, no sign-up. Your photo stays on your computer.

Invert turns light areas dark and dark areas light, while exchanging colors for their opposites. The result is a digital negative effect. The Image command changes the active image layer; these steps keep a separate original layer for comparison.

Make a negative in four steps

  1. Open the photo and duplicate its layer

    Open the sample from this page, or choose File then Open… for your own image. Choose Layer then Duplicate Layer. In Layers, double-click the copy’s name, type Negative and press Enter.

    Click the ringed eye beside Background to hide it. Leave Negative selected and visible. Hiding the original matters for images with see-through edges: two visible copies stacked make partly transparent pixels more solid.

    Layers with Negative selected and visible, Background hidden and its visibility button ringed
    Background is hidden; Negative is visible.

  2. Choose Image › Adjustments › Invert

    Choose Image then Adjustments then Invert. The colors reverse immediately. This command has no settings dialog or Apply button.

    Tip If you already have a selection, clear it first with Select then Deselect to invert the whole layer.

    Image menu and its Adjustments submenu, with Invert ringed
    Choose Invert without an ellipsis: the command applies at once.
    An enlarged detail of the inverted tram front, with blue bodywork and the headlight in place
    The yellow front panel turns blue; detail enlarged 3×.

  3. Compare with the original

    Hide Negative with its ringed eye, then show Background with the other ringed visibility button. To return to the negative, hide Background and show Negative again.

    Negative visible above the hidden Background, with both visibility buttons ringed
    Only Negative is visible in this view.

  4. Export the negative

    Choose File then Export then PNG…, then click Export. PNG combines the visible layers in the saved image.

    To keep both layers, choose File then Save As then Lil Cactus Project… File then Save then updates the project. If you choose Save before saving a project, it uses the opened image’s format; the first save of this JPEG opens Save Image.

Keep the negative as an adjustment layer

An adjustment layer keeps the effect separate from the photo’s pixels. For this version, open the original sample from the page again, or reopen your own original with File then Open…

Choose Layer then New Adjustment Layer then Invert. This route opens an Invert preview dialog; click Apply. An Invert layer appears above Background. Click its ringed eye to hide or show the effect. Use the project format in step 4 to keep that layer.

Layer menu and New Adjustment Layer submenu with Invert ringed
The separate effect layer uses Layer › New Adjustment Layer › Invert.
Invert adjustment preview with no parameter fields and Apply ringed
Apply confirms the preview; there are no inversion settings to change.
Invert adjustment layer above Background, with the Invert eye button ringed
Hide Invert to see the unchanged photo below.

What to do next

Coming from another editor

Photoshop
The same command, Image › Adjustments › Invert.
GIMP
Colors › Invert.

Color inversion: questions and answers

Why does yellow turn blue when I invert colors?

In an 8-bit RGB image, Lil Cactus replaces each red, green and blue value with 255 minus its old value. Pure yellow, RGB 255, 255, 0, therefore becomes blue, RGB 0, 0, 255.

How do I restore the original colors after inverting?

In Lil Cactus, use Edit › Undo until you reach the state before Invert. Applying Image › Adjustments › Invert twice in a row to the same image layer also restores its starting colors.

Does Invert change a PNG’s transparency?

No. Lil Cactus reverses the color values while preserving transparency, including partly transparent pixels. Export as PNG to keep it.

Does inverting colors make a black-and-white photo?

No. In Lil Cactus, Invert reverses colors rather than removing them. A color photo remains colored, with a different palette.

Can Invert turn a scanned color negative into a normal photo?

No, not accurately with Invert alone. Lil Cactus reverses the values without correcting the orange base of color film. Use your scanner’s color-negative mode when scanning film.

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