PhotoRiyaHow to make a photo sepia
Drop a photo onto the box above and it turns sepia straight away. Use Contrast to deepen the shadows or soften them, and tick Add film grain for an aged look. Press Download to save it.
Sepia suits portraits, family photos, travel pictures and landscapes, anything that should look timeless.
What sepia is
Sepia toning was a darkroom process that changed the silver in a black and white print into a brown compound. It made prints last longer and gave them a warm tone. Today the word means a brown-tinted monochrome look.
Here the photo is turned to grays and then mapped onto a gradient from a deep brown in the shadows to a cream in the highlights. It is a duotone, so you can switch to another colour pair whenever you like: pick another preset or your own colours.
Tips for a better sepia photo
Photos with a good range of tones and a bit of texture work best. Raise the contrast for faded photos. Add grain for a vintage look. For a cool alternative, try the Cyanotype preset in the duotone generator, or go neutral with the black and white converter.
Questions people ask
How do I add a sepia filter to a photo?
Drop your photo onto the tool above. The sepia effect is applied at once. Adjust the contrast, add grain if you like, then press Download.
Can I change the sepia colour?
Yes. Switch to another preset, or choose your own shadow and highlight colours. The tool is a duotone generator, and sepia is one of its presets.
Is sepia the same as black and white?
No. Black and white uses only grays. Sepia uses a brown tint for the shadows and a warm cream for the highlights.
Will it make my photo look old?
Sepia gives a vintage tone. For a more aged look, raise the contrast and add film grain.
Is my photo uploaded to a server?
No. The conversion runs inside your browser tab, on your own device, and nothing is sent anywhere. That also makes it instant: there's no upload or queue.
What size is the result?
Photos are kept at their full size up to 4,096 pixels on the long side. Larger photos are reduced to that, which is still more than enough for screens and A4 prints.
Is it free?
Yes. There is no limit, no watermark and no account. PhotoRiya is open source under the MIT and Apache 2.0 licenses.
More free tools
- Duotone photo generator pick any two coloursTurn a photo into a duotone with any two colours or a preset.
- Black and white photo converter with real colour filtersConvert a photo to black and white with colour filters, contrast and film grain.
- Photo to oil painting with adjustable brush sizeTurn a photo into an oil painting with an adjustable brush size.