Adding grain?

[Jamie123]

What do you guys use to add grain to a digital image in photoshop? The ''Add grain'' filter is just horrible and utterly unusable. For b&w I use SilverFX to add grain which is great but I want something that works with color files.
Any help's appreciated!

 

[Roger Hicks]

Noise > desaturate. Vastly better than 'grain'.

But you should use real film.

Go and say three Hail Marys.

Cheers,

R.

 

[kbg32]

Try using under "Filter" at the top menu bar in Photoshop - "Noise" - "Add Noise". Choose "Gaussian" and check the box labeled "Monochromatic". I use anywhere from 1 - 3%. Experiment and see what you like.

Have fun!

 

[kbg32]

Roger, there is nothing under "noise" for desaturation. That is under another menu - "Image" - "Adjustments". And it does not affect "noise".

 

[Jamie123]

Unfortunately, none of the two suggested methods seem to be available to me. Under ''Noise'' there are the following filters: ''Add Noise'', ''Despeckle'', ''Dust&Scratches'', ''Median...'', ''Reduce Noise...''. I'm running CS4.

 

[Jamie123]

But you should use real film.

Go and say three Hail Marys.

Cheers,

R.

I know I have sinned 🙂

 

[Roger Hicks]

Sorry, Jamie. I used > wrongly. I meant 'add noise' and then, afterwards, because noise is coloured, 'desaturate'. Separate menu, as you say.

Absolvo te. Absolvisne (absolvasne?) me?

R.

 

[martin s]

Lightroom 3 Beta 2 has a Noise adjustment slider, looks god awful (forgot to mention that in the Lightroom thread the other day..)

martin

 

[kbg32]

Jamie, I have CS4 as well. Go to the top menu bar. There you will see a heading called "Filter". Under that, further down is a heading called "Noise". When you hit it, it will bring up a dialogue box named "Add Noise". Follow my previous post.

The "Filter" heading will become active when you have an image opened in CS4.

 

[Jamie123]

Ah, ok! Actually, I tried kgb's method and it looks decent. I'd still like the noise to be a bit softer but if I keep it to a minimum it's ok

Actually, I would've used film in this situation but today it was raining outside and the Canon can be wrapped in a plastic bag more easily than the Bessa III.

Also, I'm just starting to get the 'look' I want out of digital. Takes a bit getting used to, though.

 

[kbg32]

Yes, it takes time. Experiment and you will get the results you desire!

Cheers,

Keith

 

[Jamie123]

Yes, it takes time. Experiment and you will get the results you desire!

Cheers,

Keith

I had a bit of an absent minded moment. I had just opened the ''Add Noise'' dialogue before starting this thread and when I read your post I was sure that there was neither a ''gaussian'' nor ''monochrome'' option. Clearly I was wrong 🙂

 

[tomkai]

There is a nice filter in PS that I use for adding grain. I have only a German version of Photoshop so I'm guessing the translation, but maybe it's a hint.

Filter >> Structuring >> Grain

I use this filter on a seperate layer that's filled with plain grey (ca. 50%). There are a 3 settings to play within the filter dialogue box (intensity, contrast & style (?)). I start with intensity 35, contrast 45 and style "soft" [I'm still guessing the translation] and play until I'm happy with the result.

To get monochromatic noise I desaturate the layer as desribed in other posts, and blend the grain-layer with the picture using one of Photoshop's blend modes; mostly "soft light" (?).

Good luck + good light

 

[David R Munson]

I use a similar method to tomkai. Also, the filter he refers to can be found under Filters>Texture>Grain

My basic procedure is as follows:

1. Create a new blank layer above the image layer
2. Edit>Fill
3. Select 50% gray and hit return
4. Set the blending mode of the new layer to "Overlay"
5. Making sure the new layer is selected, go to Filter>Noise>Add Noise
6. Set to Gaussian, check the box next to "Monochromatic," and play with the amount until you like what you see. Hit return.
7. At this point you have an image with simulated film grain, and doing it in this manner with a separate layer preserves the original image data in case you want to go back and change it.

An example of an image edited using this method:

Another is here: portrait in color.

 

[Ted Witcher]

The best grain engine is TrueGrain.

http://www.grubbasoftware.com/

 

[dantes]

Are there any presets in LR to get realistic grain? Or is TrueGrain still the best thing available?

Thanks

 

[SlackerZombie]

another idea...: photograph a grey area with a very grainy film. scan it in and lay it over your picture.

 

[luuca]

I simply use grain slides in lightroom3 and like the results:

 

[dantes]

Yeah, I did too, until I compared my results to the TrueGrain library: http://grubbasoftware.com/filmlibrary_tmax400.html

Any idea what presets might give you something that mimics the TMax400?

 

[Ronald M]

You don`t just add grain. Pick color or mono, small, or large, soft or sharp, then use "blend if" to keep grain out of shadows and highlights . Split the sliders with the alt key or command key to make smooth transitions. Then adjust the opacity of that layer to suit.

I defy you to tell it from real film.