DOCS/Effects

Noise / Grain

Stylize

Film grain over the layer, static or evolving.

Adds per-pixel noise. A small amount is the single most effective way to stop digital artwork looking sterile — it breaks up flat fills and hides gradient banding.

What it looks like

Before

Colour noise

Fine mono grain

Same artwork either side, so the difference you see is the effect. Built with the same SVG-filter primitives the product uses, but tuned for legibility at this size — treat it as a faithful illustration of the behaviour rather than a pixel-exact capture of the editor.

When to reach for it#

Taking the plastic sheen off flat vector work.
Hiding banding in large smooth gradients.
Film and analogue looks.

Parameters#

Amountamount#

Noise strength. Between 3 and 8 percent is usually invisible as grain but very visible in its absence.

Sizesize#

Grain particle size. 1 is per-pixel and can shimmer badly in video compression; 2 to 3 survives encoding better.

Monochromemono#

On, all channels get the same noise, which reads as film grain. Off, channels get independent noise, which reads as digital sensor noise.

Evolutionevolve#

Animates the noise pattern over time. Off, the grain is frozen and looks like a texture stuck to the screen — which is a giveaway in motion.

Things that catch people out#

Grain fights video compression

Fine animated noise is expensive to encode and can make the whole export look mushy. Larger, slower grain compresses far better.

Noise / Grain

When to reach for it#

Parameters#

Things that catch people out#

See also#