Free tool

Film Grain Overlay

Grain that lives in the midtones and leaves the blacks alone, the way it does on film.

Looked after by Sponge, a sponge.

Grain is silver, and silver clumps where there is something to develop. That is why film grain is strongest in the midtones, quieter in the highlights and nearly absent in true black — and why noise laid flat across a digital image never convinces anyone.

The blend does the work. Soft-light barely touches the extremes and concentrates in the middle of the range, which is exactly where grain belongs. Turn it up and you get pushed 400 speed; keep it under a quarter and it is the thing you notice only when it is gone.

What this look is made of: Noise in white, soft-light blended at 30%. Every one of those is a control below, so this is a starting point rather than a filter.

Choose an image

Drop an image or click to upload

JPG, PNG, WebP, GIF, SVG, BMP

or try one of ours:

Looks

Base Color
#0a0a0a

Add Layer

How it works

  1. 1Add an imageJPG, PNG, WebP, GIF, SVG or BMP.
  2. 2Press a lookNine of them. Each sets the pattern, the colour, the blend and the opacity at once.
  3. 3Layer a backgroundStack patterns with their own colour and opacity.
  4. 4ExportPNG or JPEG, at 1x, 2x or 3x.

Questions

How much grain is too much?
If you can see it before you can see the picture, it is too much. Real grain is a texture you feel at full size and barely register on a phone. Around 20 to 35 per cent on soft-light is the range where an image reads as photographed rather than as filtered.
Why does grain make my image look better at all?
It breaks up the perfectly smooth gradients a sensor produces, which the eye reads as synthetic. It also hides banding in skies and gradients, which is why colourists add it back deliberately at the end of a grade.
Is this the same as adding noise in Photoshop?
The pattern is similar; the blend is not. Add Noise applies the grain evenly to every tone, including the black, which is the part film leaves clean. Soft-light puts it where silver actually lands.

Other looks in this tool

Newsprint EffectRisograph FilterEtching EffectLaid Paper TextureCRT ScanlinesScreen Print EffectBlueprint EffectPhotocopy EffectAll nine, one editor →
Add texture and depth to any image

Nine named looks — newsprint, risograph, etching, film grain, CRT — each one press. Underneath them are thirteen hand-made patterns, five blend modes, and every parameter the look set, still yours to move. Everything runs in your browser, so your images never leave your device.

13 texture presets

Crosshatch, Woven, Linen, Halftone, Diagonal, Dot Grid, Scanlines, Noise, Fabric, Herringbone, Checker and Grid.

Background layers

Stack pattern layers with their own colour, opacity and visibility.

High-quality export

2x resolution as PNG or JPEG, for social, print and client work.

This tool is looked after by Sponge.Soaks up every texture it meets. Squishy, and delighted about it.

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