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.
