How do I achieve a 'grainy' / 'snow-dusted' effect in Photoshop or Illustrator?

Question

If someone could point me to a tutorial for getting the "grainy" or "snow dusted"-like effect, I would very much appreciate it. Thanks!

Answer 1

Let's say you have a layer. This layer has two fills. Your primary fill is blue. Your secondary fill is a gradient, with the angle somewhere between 85 and 60 degrees, from white (or black) 100% to white(or black) 100%.

Your secondary fill sits on top of the primary.

Apply film grain (or grain, depends on how you'd like your final graphic to look like) on the secondary fill.

For the secondary fill, use a blending mode that best suits your purpose. I'm sorry I can't give you specifics, I don't have Illustrator at hand.

But I can tell you that what you've shown is most def. a grain, applied on a gradient filled layer. That's why the snow thingy appears to be fading.

What I've said(about a layer having two fills) can also be achieved with two separate layers, of course. The snow thingy layer can be an irregular shape, just draw it with the blob tool or with the pen.

Best of luck, friend!

Edit Just realised you need colored grain. Started the pc. Did this real quick. I'm attaching the ai file.

PS: check this tutorial out

Attachment: Download

Answer 2

Start with this:

Create a new layer in 50% gray, then use Add Noise (about 3%, Gaussian) to make your flat gray layer grainy. Set it to Linear Light blend mode.

Use the eraser / mask out the parts of the layer you don't want grain on, like the hill and sky:

Now add a gradient map from teal at 0%, to beige at 60%, to white at 100%.

Optional: Save for Web as PNG with Noise dithering and only about 10 colours: