Day to Dusk: how to get the best result

Day to Dusk is our most popular preset and the fastest way to make a listing photo stop a scroll. It works by relighting an exterior shot to look like the magic hour — warm interior lights, deep blue sky, soft shadows. Done well it is the difference between a $50,000 photographer reshoot and a 15-second edit.

Photos that work great

• Daytime exteriors taken between 9am and 4pm, with the property well-lit.
• Front-on or three-quarter angles of the house. The model needs to see windows clearly to relight them.
• Photos with a visible sky — even a partly cloudy one. The model uses the sky region heavily.
• Wide framing that includes some yard, driveway, or landscaping in front of the house.

Photos that struggle

• Already-twilight photos. Use the Bright & Airy or Color Correct presets instead.
• Heavily shaded properties where the front of the house is in deep shadow at the time of capture.
• Tightly cropped shots that show only a portion of the house — the model needs context.
• Photos taken in the rain or with a flat grey sky. Results are inconsistent. Try a different shot.

A few small things that help a lot

• If the photo has a car in the driveway, the result is usually better with the car removed first (use the Declutter tool).
• If the lawn is patchy or brown, the Lawn Refresh tool pairs well with Day to Dusk.
• For best results, run Day to Dusk on the highest-resolution version of your photo.

If you do not love the result, report the edit so we can review it. Use a thumbs-down on the version, not a refund request — see how credits work.