Softonic

Image Noise Adder

Step 1 / 4 Noise amount

Digital photos often look too clean. Adding grain recaptures the feel of 35 mm film, hides the banding in smooth gradients, and gives flat illustrations a tactile quality. This adder overlays uniform, Gaussian or Perlin noise at any intensity, with a choice of monochrome or per-channel coloured grain, so the result reads as film rather than JPEG compression.

How to add noise to an image

  1. 1

    Upload an image

    JPG, PNG, WebP.

  2. 2

    Pick noise type

    Uniform (digital sensor), Gaussian (more natural), Perlin (organic clumps).

  3. 3

    Set intensity and colour

    0-100 intensity; monochrome for classic B&W film feel, coloured for digital sensor noise.

  4. 4

    Export

    Save as PNG for cleaner grain; JPG re-encodes and may blend the grain with compression artefacts.

Noise types and their looks

Different noise distributions produce visually distinct looks even at the same intensity.

Distribution comparison

Type Characteristic Mimics
Uniform Flat distribution, every value equally likely Digital sensor at low ISO
Gaussian Bell curve centred on zero Film grain, high-ISO sensor
Poisson Shot noise, intensity-dependent Low-light photography
Perlin Spatially correlated, organic clumps Paper texture, canvas
Monochrome Same noise value on R, G, B Classic black-and-white film
Colour Independent noise per channel Digital sensor in dim light

Intensity guide

  • 5-10: barely visible, subtly removes banding in gradients.
  • 15-25: classic ISO 800 film look.
  • 30-50: strong analog feel, good for retro aesthetics.
  • 60+: exaggerated, moves into stylistic territory.

When noise helps

  • Removing visible banding in gradient skies or solid-colour backgrounds.
  • Giving a flat vector illustration a more tactile, print-feeling texture.
  • Disguising up-scaled images, noise masks the smoothness of AI upscaling.
  • Matching a noisy photo to a cleaner one in a photo essay.

Export format matters

  • PNG preserves the noise exactly.
  • JPG compresses noise badly, the output file is significantly larger than the smooth original because the compressor cannot predict grain patterns. For noisy JPGs, drop quality to 80 to keep file size reasonable.
  • WebP lossless behaves similarly to PNG.

Frequently Asked Questions

JPG compresses smooth areas efficiently and random noise inefficiently. A 200 KB clean photo can balloon to 800 KB with heavy grain. Use PNG for small grain that must stay crisp, or accept a 30-50% size increase in JPG.

Yes, a small amount of noise can mask banding in low-bitrate JPGs. This is the classic “add film grain to hide MPEG banding” trick from video encoding, applied to stills.

For a filmic look, yes, real film grain varies in density, not colour. Coloured noise feels more digital. Choose based on the look you want.

Yes. Use the selection rectangle to define a region; the noise is applied inside only. Useful for adding grain to skies without touching the subject.

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