What the sepia filter does
The tool uses the classic sepia color matrix found in most photo editors. For each pixel, the new red, green and blue values are weighted mixes of the original three channels, tuned so that every color lands on the same brown scale: whites turn to warm cream, mid tones to tan and shadows to a deep brown. Very bright areas are capped at the maximum value, so they come out as a pale, slightly yellow cream rather than pure white.
The Strength slider (0 to 100%) blends between your original photo and the full sepia result. A low value such as 30–40% gives a subtle warm, “faded film” feel that still shows the original colors; 100% gives the full antique look.
Make it look like an old print
Tick Darken the edges to add a soft dark brown vignette on top of the sepia tone. The corners darken gradually while the center stays clear, which mimics the uneven exposure and aging of early prints. A few tips for a convincing result:
- Pick photos with simple subjects and strong light and shadow: portraits, architecture, street scenes.
- Avoid bright neon colors and modern screens in the frame, which give the trick away.
- For a stronger or custom-colored vignette, leave the checkbox off and finish with Vignette Effect, where you set the size, strength and edge color.
- For a newspaper-print style, try Halftone Effect with a brown ink color.
Sepia vs. black and white
Both remove the original colors, but they feel different. Black and white is neutral and graphic; sepia is warm and nostalgic. Sepia also tends to be kinder to skin, because the brown tint hides redness and uneven tones that a stark gray version can make more visible. Black and white, on the other hand, gives you a contrast control and stronger, punchier shadows. A good rule: sepia for family portraits, weddings, travel and anything meant to feel like a memory; black and white for street photography, architecture and dramatic light. If you want pure gray tones, with a contrast control and a red filter mode for darker skies, use Black and White Photo instead.
Formats and batch processing
You can open JPG, PNG, WebP, AVIF, GIF (first frame), BMP and SVG files, plus iPhone HEIC photos. Add several images to tone them all with the same settings; Download saves them in a ZIP, each with “-sepia” added to its name.
| You open | You download |
|---|---|
| JPG | JPG (quality 92%) |
| PNG | PNG, transparency kept |
| WebP | WebP (PNG in Safari, which can’t save WebP) |
| HEIC, AVIF | JPG |
| SVG, GIF, BMP | PNG |
Privacy
There is no upload step. The sepia tone is computed by your browser on your device, and the site’s security policy only lets the page talk to its own server. The saved file is rebuilt from pixels, so EXIF metadata such as GPS location and camera model is not copied into it.