It would be great to be able to scale the Add Noise filter in Photoshop! Grain and Texturizer don't quite do the same thing, and the roundabout way of adding noise to a grey layer, scaling duplicating using multiply / screen settings - is obviously a real pain. It seems like such a simple but critical function for high-end retouchers.
I think I had posted a FR to get an add noise Layer style.
@PECourtejoie – That is what the Apodaca adjustment layer sort of achieves, however, I agree that a live, scaleable layer style or adjustment layer with the ability to "randomize" and control the fade into shadows and highlights would be great.
Juse found a solution. Download an image of white noise (probably multiple variations of white noise). Then you can bring it into photoshop as a .jpeg and scale it, play around with blending modes.
that's not really a solution and has also been possible to do within Ps for decades now... you don't need to find/download a noise file, since you can just make the same in Ps, save, place, scale.
I didn't say it was a new solution, just a solution to simulate noise at different scales. We're effectively saying the exact same thing. You're saying to create a noise profile in Ps, save, then re-import it and scale it. I'm saying take one step out. Just download an image file of white noise, place, and scale.
Speaking as a high-end retoucher, the solution for me since 15 years ago is to simply create (via an Action) a 50% grey layer, convert to a smart object, set blend mode to soft light or overlay, then apply ACR grain.
and yes, it's absolutely ridiculous that Adobe hasn't updated the Filter/Noise/Add Noise tool since the 90s. By this time we should have several different grain types with multiple options for each. I think long ago, Adobe forgot that Photoshop was created for adjusting photos. The core tools of sharpening and noise have been totally neglected for decades now. What was good enough in the 90s isn't good enough today.
Great to meet a fellow retoucher! I should clarify. My problem pertains to retouching a photo that already has natural noise from the camera that took it due to ISO. In Lightroom, the grain (noise) slider will generate noise at one scale. If you crop the photo in (so it's smaller) the noise scale doesn't change. So, for photos that are smaller in resolution, the noise appears bigger and for photos that are larger in resolution, the noise is finer. Let's say that photo gets exported, and then imported into Ps. If you use Generative fill on that photo (using Photoshop Beta) it will erase the noise in the area that you used the Generative Fill in. So, we're left with the problem of the original noise in the photo and "noiseless" areas. Now, using Ps's noise filter is only going to create noise at one scale which may not match the scale of the original noise, which again, may be at a larger scale. Your method of creating a solid 50% grey layer > convert to smart object > adding noise > scaling --doesn't actually scale the noise. It just applies the same scale of noise to the now-larger smart object. However, if you rasterize the layer before you scale it, you'll be able to get larger scale noise which is exactly the same as downloading an image of noise, importing, and scaling.
When you apply ACR grain on a SO, you can always go back and change the size of the noise after scaling the canvas... since one of the options in ACR noise is "Size"
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