The short answer
Why use Sepia Tone?
An old-style family photo, a vintage invitation or a western-themed poster needs that brown cast. One slider does it here, where an editor would need a gradient map or a color balance layer.
The sepia slider covers 0 to 100 and opens at full strength, 100. It uses the standard sepia color matrix that browsers apply in CSS, which mixes the red, green and blue of each pixel into warm brown tones. At 50 you get half the effect, a softer brownish wash with some of the original color still showing.
Sepia keeps the brightness pattern of the photo, so a dark, underexposed picture becomes a dark brown one. Brighten it first with Brightness or Exposure. White does not stay pure white either: it turns a pale cream, so a white background picks up a slight yellow tone.
Grayscale gives neutral black and white without the brown, and Tint washes the photo in any single color you pick. Duotone lets you choose both colors, for example navy and gold. For an aged print, combine Sepia Tone with Vignette to darken the corners and Film Grain for texture, in that order.
Where Sepia Tone fits
Wedding invitations
Give an engagement photo a soft brown tone to match a kraft paper invitation.
History projects
Make a recreated scene look period-appropriate for a school history presentation.
Restaurant menus
Tone food photos brown for a rustic or old-fashioned menu design.
Start to finish
How to use Sepia Tone
- 01Tap Choose image and pick the photo to age.
- 02Leave Amount at 100 for a full brown print, or lower it toward 50 for a lighter wash over the original colors.
- 03Tap Apply changes, look at the whites, which turn cream, then tap Download result.
What to expect from Sepia Tone
| Check | What it means here |
|---|---|
| Supported input | JPEG, PNG, WebP, GIF, BMP, SVG and browser-supported AVIF images |
| Main controls | Amount slider, plus a color picker for effects that need one |
| Output | A PNG image with the effect applied |
| Working limit | 50 MB and 50 megapixels per image |
Sepia Tone tips
- Brighten dark photos first; sepia keeps every shadow just as dark.
- Around 60 keeps skin tones believable while still reading as vintage.
- Apply Vignette after Sepia Tone, not before, so the corners stay neutral brown.
- Pure white backgrounds become cream, which suits paper-style invitations.
Sepia Tone FAQ
Something missing? Ask us.
Does Sepia Tone make a photo look like old faded film?
Can I choose a different tint color?
Does Sepia Tone upload my file?
Is Sepia Tone free to use?
Why did Sepia Tone fail or look wrong?
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