# Rim light

Light and look / Light / Portrait. Checked 2026-10-13.

A bright edge around the subject separates them from the background.

- Use when: Dark backgrounds, night portraits, product silhouettes.
- Phrase: a light behind him outlines his hair and shoulders with a thin bright edge against the dark wall
- Page: https://directorchair.ai/light/rim-light
- JSON: https://directorchair.ai/api/light/rim-light.json

## Watch out

- A rim that was never in the scene cannot be added in the grade; it has to be in the prompt or on set. (measured; The Director Chair colour grading guide)

## Prompts

### Nano Banana Pro

```
[your subject] in [your setting]. A light behind the subject outlines the subject's hair and shoulders with a thin bright edge against the dark wall.
```

### Nano Banana 2

```
[your subject] in [your setting]. A light behind the subject outlines the subject's hair and shoulders with a thin bright edge against the dark wall.
```

### GPT Image 2.5

```
A photograph of [your subject] in [your setting].
Details: a light behind the subject outlines the subject's hair and shoulders with a thin bright edge against the dark wall
Exclusions: no extra text, no watermark, no logo.
```

### Seedream 5

```
[your subject] in [your setting]. A light behind the subject outlines the subject's hair and shoulders with a thin bright edge against the dark wall.
```

### Seedance 2.5

```
Scene: [your subject] in [your setting].
Shot 1 (0:00 to 0:05): one continuous shot
Light: a light behind the subject outlines the subject's hair and shoulders with a thin bright edge against the dark wall
```

### Seedance 2.0

```
Scene: [your subject] in [your setting].
Shot 1: one continuous shot
Light: a light behind the subject outlines the subject's hair and shoulders with a thin bright edge against the dark wall
```

### Kling 3.0

```
[your subject]. The scene is [your setting]. A light behind the subject outlines the subject's hair and shoulders with a thin bright edge against the dark wall.
```

### Veo 3.1

```
[your subject] in [your setting]. Framing and subject stay as in the start image. A light behind the subject outlines the subject's hair and shoulders with a thin bright edge against the dark wall.
```

## Look further

- https://shotdeck.com/ : real film frames tagged by colour, lighting, time of day and composition (paid, link only)
- https://flim.ai/ : film, ad and music-video stills to search by text or image (free tier, link only)

## Goes well with

- Silhouette: https://directorchair.ai/light/silhouette
- Golden hour: https://directorchair.ai/time/golden-hour

## Source

The first Director Chair spec, own words

Text CC BY 4.0, Director Chair (directorchair.ai). Reference clips and their card texts belong to their makers.