Photo Mode Lands in Borderlands 4 – What’s Inside the Jan 29 Update

Table of Content

The latest Major Update on January 29 adds Photo Mode to Borderlands 4, giving players tools to frame both chaotic firefights and the calmer corners of Kairos. The mode is available to all players and launches directly from the pause menu during gameplay. In single-player, the world pauses by default so you can fine-tune composition without missing a moment. In online multiplayer, the game continues to run while you shoot. The feature ships with a multi-tab UI and a wide set of visual controls.

How to Access – and How It Behaves in Solo Vs Online

Photo Mode can be opened at any time during active gameplay via a new button in the pause menu. While it is active, you move the virtual camera using standard movement controls. In single-player, entering Photo Mode stops all action by default – you can then unpause and pause the world as needed. In online sessions, the world does not pause, so framing must be done on the fly.

Availability Limits and Saving Your Shots

Photo Mode is not available during cutscenes and is disabled in console splitscreen. The game does not store captures internally – screenshots are saved through each platform’s native tools and folders.

Platform Buttons for Saving Screenshots

The shortcut you use depends on your system. The table below summarizes the default captures.

On Steam, images are written to your account’s default screenshot folder. From the Borderlands 4 library page, you can browse the “Recordings and Screenshots” section and use “Show on disk” to open the file location.

Photo Mode Settings – Full List of Tools

The UI groups controls across multiple tabs. Below is the complete rundown provided with the update.

Lens Settings

• Field of View: How much of the scene fits in frame.
• Camera Roll: Rotates the camera around its axis.

Depth of Field Settings

Use these to blur foreground, background or a selected focus area.

• Override Focus: On / Off
• Focus Distance
• Focus Region
• Focus Intensity

Screen Settings

Adjust overall image clarity and tonality.

• Brightness: Overall lightness or darkness
• Contrast: Difference between light and dark
• Saturation: Color intensity
• Gain: Alternative control affecting brightness and noise

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Gameplay Settings

Control scene context and visual clutter. You can shift the time of day and toggle visual elements – including other players.

• Time of Day
• Players: On / Off
• Damage Numbers: On / Off
• Show Summons: On / Off
• Show NPCs: On / Off

If party members keep stepping into frame in multiplayer, you can render all Vault Hunters invisible in the capture.

Overlay Settings

Add official branding or letterbox bars for a stylized frame.

• Logo: Borderlands 4 logo, Vault Symbol, Off
• Logo Position: Bottom Right, Bottom Center, Bottom Left, Top Left, Top Center, Top Right
• Letterboxing: On / Off
• Letterboxing Color: Black, white, red, yellow, dark blue, blue, orange

Film Settings

Apply looks ranging from subtle to stylized.

• Filter Intensity
• Film Grain
• Filter: None, Art House, Lowlight, Cinematic, Toxin, Sexwash, Moody, Negaton, Blue Shift, Dark Start, Pinky Dink, Shades of Atlas, Jakobs Authentic, Shades of Gray, Sketch, No Rest, Cyanoscope, Acid Funk, Predatory, Ultrasonic, Drowned, Meaty

Vignette and Lens Effects

Accentuate subjects with edge darkening and optical effects.

• Vignette Intensity
• Bloom Intensity
• Chromatic Aberration Intensity
• Lens Flare Intensity

Why This Update Matters

Photo Mode centralizes creative control – from time-of-day shifts to player visibility – making it easier to document Borderlands 4’s firefights and landscapes without external tools. For players who value screenshots, the platform-native saving and broad filter set provide a straightforward pipeline from capture to sharing.