Add noise filter not working

[Jaffa]

I wanted to add noise to an image to get that old world feel about it.  I had the original background layer duplicated and used the Filter/Noise/Add Noise. Sure enough it seemed to work fine, however as soon as I hit the "Apply" the effect disappeared.  I tried several ways, including ticking and unticking the "Monochromatic" box,  ticking and unticking the "Gaussian" and "Uniform" options, but nothing worked.

I have now solved my immediate predicament by using the New Live Filter Layer - Add Noise.  However I wonder about two things (1) why does the filter not work ...........   (2) Why bother having the Filter/ Noise/ Add Noise, etc, etc, when the much more useful New Live Filter Layer is available??

[firstdefence]

@Jim Air Sounds like you have a large image. It will apply the noise but it applies it softly. Try zooming into the image a fair bit then adding noise and click apply you will see the noise applied. 

 

Tip: If you are applying a filter directly to an image try this: With most filters especially Gaussian filters you tend to get better a effect if you apply the filter in steps, so instead of applying say 60% in one go try applying 3 times at 20%.

 

You can also apply Noise in a non destructive way using Live filters. 

These icons  sit at the bottom of the layers panel  and its the one that looks like two triangles or an egg timer, this applies a layer and overlays the effect instead of applying the effect directly to the image, this means you can turn the effect off or double clicking on the live filter layer enables you to alter the settings, an added bonus to live filters is you can use blend modes to affect the image, have a play with them to see what effect you get. You can apply a fair few filters and all of them can be turned on or off and edited and all the time your original image is untouched. 

 

Try it, its a cool feature.

[Pšenda]

11 minutes ago, firstdefence said:

Try it, its a cool feature.

 

But he's doing it with him!

"I have now solved my immediate predicament by using the New Live Filter Layer - Add Noise."

 

3 hours ago, Jim Air said:

when the much more useful New Live Filter Layer is available??

 

Live Filter is perfect and non destructive, but they are constantly consuming CPU performance. Therefore, if more are used, this can disproportionately extend the rendering.

And some filters do not do live.

[firstdefence]

Like I have said previously the Filter > Noise > Add Noise does work but if applied subtly, say less than 10% it can look like it hasn't been applied and zooming in would reveal the subtle effect. see video where I apply approx 70% when I click Apply the effect looks like it fades but it does apply an effect, so imagine if that effect was at 10 -20% The image used was 3024 x 4032px

 

Add Noise.mp4

[MEB]

Hi JimAir,

Welcome to Affinity Forums

Affinity Designer/Photo uses mipmaps - lower resolution versions of the image - to improve its performance when rendering images on screen at zoom levels below 100%. So what you see on screen is the result of those filters (or adjustments) being applied dynamically to the lower resolution versions of the image/objects (depending on the zoom level). When you press Apply the filters/adjustments are backed to the full resolution image instead thus the differences you are seeing between the two. To prevent this from happening and get an accurate "preview" of the filters/adjustments make sure you are seeing/checking them at 100% zoom or more to ensure they are being applied/previewed using the full resolution version. 

[Jaffa]

Thank you very much for all your replies, MEB, firstdefence and Psenda.  I have taken on board your comments, but have not as yet managed to find time to put them into action or try out.  Nevertheless, this is very useful background which will help me in continuing to learn this marvellous program.  Best regards!