Photoshop Tips & Tricks: Adding Noise
Noise.
What is Noise? And why is Noise important to you?
Well it’s not as abstract a question as it may seem, for a start to clarify; I’m referring to Noise in the Adobe Photoshop sense. While I’m sure there is an Adobe approved definition of noise out there on the internets somewhere, for our target audience of beginners and novices, it may be useful to think of noise as the digital equivalent of film grain.
In a world in which pixel counts are getting bigger and bigger, producing smoother images and wider tonal ranges you may think that something like film grain is redundant, and that the ability to shoot at 400IS0 on your shiny new DSLR without getting much in the way of noise is actually a blessing.
But what about when you want that grainy feel, when everything is just a bit too smooth? That’s when you’ll be grateful for a bit of Noise.
But, before you go reaching for that handy noise filter the Adobe have so kindly provided for you (or even the film grain filter) give this handy, non-destructive way of adding noise a go first:
Step 1:
Make yourself a new layer.
Step 2:
Go to EDIT > FILL (Shift+ F5 by default)
Step 3:
Select 50% Grey from the drop down menu in the ‘CONTENTS’ section. Click OK
Step 4:
Go to FILTERS > NOISE > ADD NOISE
Step 5:
When the filter dialogue pops up, make sure you’ve selected GAUSSIAN and you’ve ticked the box marked MONOCHROMATIC.
Where it says AMOUNT drag the slider somewhere between 1 and 6. You can go higher if you want, but we’re trying to subtle here, but this is subjective and as it is NON-DESTRUCTIVE we can always make changes at a later point, even after you’ve saved your file.
Click OK.
Step 6:
Almost done, from the drop down menu on your Layers Palette making sure your new layer is highlighted, select SOFTLIGHT from the BLENDING MODES drop down menu. Your Layer will now be ‘see-through’ and you’ll be able to see the image underneath.
Step 7:
Again, checking that you’re still working on the ‘Noise Layer’ go to
FILTER > BLUR > GAUSSIAN BLUR.
When the dialogue box pops up, drag the slider anywhere from 0.2 to 0.6, again this is subjective and dependant on how subtle you’d like your ‘grain’ to be.
Click OK.
You’re Done!
Feel free to experiment with different BLENDING MODES and OPACITIES to achieve different results, but you’ve got the basics down! Want to maximize your grain? Try TRANSFORMING your noise layer and stretching the layer out to give bigger grain.
Remember Adobe Photoshop isn’t an overnight learn, you pick up techniques and refine your workflow all the time like anything else worth doing. So experiment and when you think you’ve hit the jackpot remember your friends… ;)
Added Monday 26th April 2010…
Alan Bremner tweeted us with the following tip to add to the post.
“If you convert the 50% grey layer to a smart object first you can keep tweaking the noise, blur and transform until its perfect.”
Alan is a portrait photographer based in the West Midlands. Follow him on twitter - @alanbremner or you can see his website on this link - Alan’s website.
Nathen S. Atia.
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