photoshop creative
Dec
4

Spice up images with photographic grain – 3 steps in Elements!

Posted in:
Tips & Tutorials, by Mark White
December 4, 2014

Create an authentic texture effect using the Grain filter

1. Prepare layers

Duplicate the Background layer in Elements by pressing Cmd/Ctrl+J or by going to Layer> Duplicate Layer. The latter enables you to enter a name for the new layer to help you identify it, such as ‘Photo Grain’.

2. Add grain

Head to the Filter menu at the top of the interface and then to filter>Grain. Change Grain type to Stippled and set the Intensity to 44 and Contrast to 52. Use the preview in this menu to assess the grain but the image should now be monochrome. Hit OK to apply these settings to your image.

3. Control effect

Head to the Layers palette and lower the Opacity of the duplicate to 50%. The strength of the grain effect should look less imposing. The lower the Opacity slider is, the more the colour will show through.

  • Another addition or small change to this same technique is instead of duplicating the image layer just add a 50% gray layer above all of your layers.
    • Add new layer at the top of the layer stack, edit>fill, 50% gray.

    • Then add the grain, filter>noise>add noise (monochromatic)

    • Then change the layer blending to overlay.

    This way you can still hide/show the layer and make changes below your grain.