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Color filters for black and white, simulated the way film cameras used them.
Before digital cameras, black-and-white film photographers screwed colored glass filters onto the lens to control how colors would translate into shades of gray. noir.photos simulates five of them — red, orange, yellow, green, and blue — by mixing color channels before the grayscale conversion, adjustable live as you work.
Open the editor, try a filter against your photo, and compare it before you export.
How a color filter changes a black and white photo
A colored filter lightens shades close to its own color and darkens shades close to its opposite. A red filter, for instance, lightens red tones and pulls blue ones darker; a blue filter does the reverse. Because this happens before the image is flattened to grayscale, the effect changes the tonal relationships in the photo, not just its overall brightness or contrast.
Red and orange: for skies and drama
Landscape and architecture photographers reached for a red filter to darken a blue sky dramatically against pale clouds or stone. Orange gives a gentler version of the same shift — sky and clouds still separate clearly, but the effect sits closer to how the scene actually looked to the eye.
Green and yellow: for portraits and skin
A green filter was a common portrait choice because it renders skin tones naturally rather than blotchy or flat, since skin sits closer to green on the color wheel than most filters account for. Yellow is the mildest, general-purpose option of the five — a small correction rather than a strong effect.
Blue: a cooler, flatter look
A blue filter pulls warm tones — skin, wood, brick — down toward the shadows, while cooler colors lift. The result reads flatter and colder, useful for a hazier, more distant mood than the other four filters tend to produce.
Live, adjustable, and easy to combine
Pick a filter from the row of six, including neutral for no shift at all, then keep adjusting: exposure, contrast, grain, and vignette all sit alongside it, and the before/after view updates as you go. Nothing here needs a channel mixer or a separate masking step — it's a single choice you can change as often as you like.
Frequently asked questions
What does 'mixing channels before grayscale' actually mean?
Normally, converting to black and white blends the red, green, and blue channels evenly. A color filter changes that blend first — weighting some channels more than others — so the resulting grays reflect the filter's color, not a flat average.
Which filter should I use for a portrait?
Green is the traditional choice for natural-looking skin. Yellow is a safer, milder option if green feels too strong for the photo.
Can I combine a color filter with a preset like Cinematic Noir?
Yes. Presets set a starting point for exposure, contrast, grain, and vignette; the color filter is a separate control you can change on top of any preset, including after picking one.
Do I need to know anything about photography to use this?
No. Each filter changes the preview instantly, so you can pick by eye — the explanations above are there if you want the reasoning, not because you need it.