Free tool

Laid Paper Texture

The fine weave of good stock, barely there, so a flat image stops looking like a screen.

Looked after by Sponge, a sponge.

Laid paper carries the mark of the screen it was made on: a fine grid of lines you feel more than see. Print anything on it and the ink follows that surface, which is why a printed page never looks as flat as the file it came from.

This is the quietest look here on purpose. At a fifth opacity on soft-light it does not read as a texture at all — it reads as the image having been printed on something.

What this look is made of: Linen at 3px spacing with a 0.5px thread, in white, soft-light blended at 22%. 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 subtle should a paper texture be?
Subtle enough that removing it is more noticeable than adding it. If a viewer can describe the pattern, it is turned up too far. Fifteen to twenty-five per cent is usually the whole range worth using.
Will this work on a dark image?
Yes, and it changes character: on a light image the weave reads as paper, on a dark one it reads as cloth or as screen texture. Switching the texture colour from white to black inverts which way the tooth catches.
Can I use it behind text?
It is one of the few textures that can sit under type without hurting legibility, because soft-light at low opacity barely moves the contrast. Anything multiplied at 40 per cent or more will start to eat small text.

Other looks in this tool

Newsprint EffectRisograph FilterFilm Grain OverlayEtching EffectCRT 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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