Lighting Issue

[Yabusa]

Hi,
I'm trying to render this steel component and am having some issues making it look clear.
The issue I see is the farthest face is blended into the plane below it.
Does anyone have an idea of how to sharpen the edge to define the cut out more?
Thanks in advance

[Anindo Ghosh]

Two steps:
1. Add rounded edges to the object, in the properties tab after selecting the object in the scene tree. The rounded edges need not be big, I've used 0.0003 m here. That creates the fine line between the faces.
2. Add a plane parallel to the face nearest the camera, just barely out of frame but as close as possible. Plane material: Diffuse, color: neutral grey. Adjust the color of the plane material to get just the amount of color difference you need.

This is like using a reflector board or a "cutter" in product photography. The closer the plane is to the subject, the greater the difference of reflected light intensity (or reflected darkness) between the projected and embossed surfaces (inverse-square law).

[INNEO_MWo]

Nice solution!