The first widely used color photography process, introduced in 1907, using a screen of dyed potato starch grains as a color filter. It produced luminous, grainy, pastel images unlike anything before or since.

Why are the colors so muted?

Light passed through both the dyed starch screen and the emulsion, losing a great deal of intensity. That absorption is why autochromes glow softly rather than saturate — reproducing it faithfully means keeping the palette restrained.

Autochrome Color Screen applied to the same source image — The same source image before and after applying Autochrome Color Screen.

Original source image before Autochrome Color Screen — The same source image before and after applying Autochrome Color Screen.

Autochrome Color Screen Photo Filter Online

Recreate early color photography through a luminous starch-grain screen. Control the strength, compare the result, and download a finished image from your browser.

Upload a photo for the Autochrome Color Screen effect

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Supported formats include JPG, PNG, GIF, WebP, SVG, HEIC, AVIF, TIFF, RAW, PSD. Maximum file size: 11 MB.

What you can do with the Autochrome Color Screen effect

Review the available effect capabilities before you begin.

Apply the Autochrome Color Screen effect to any photo
Fine-tune the effect strength to taste
Preview your photo live as you edit
Download your edited photo in high quality
Apply Autochrome Color Screen to many photos at once

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About the Autochrome Color Screen effect

Color is filtered through a fine mosaic of red-orange, green and blue-violet grains, giving a soft pointillist texture and muted pastel palette. It reproduces the dyed potato-starch screen of the first commercial color process.

How to use Autochrome Color Screen

Upload a photo, adjust the Autochrome Color Screen intensity, compare its processed preview with the source, and download the finished result.

Why use the Autochrome Color Screen effect?

Autochrome Color Screen, tuned to your photo

Use the intensity control to balance the Autochrome Color Screen treatment with the detail and character of your original photo.

A fast Autochrome Color Screen workflow

A reduced Autochrome Color Screen preview keeps adjustments responsive. Free downloads are clean and web-size; Premium or a credit unlocks the original resolution.

Secure Autochrome Color Screen processing

Autochrome Color Screen uploads are processed on secure servers and automatically removed under the normal Pixoate retention policy.

How it works

Processing

Autochrome Color Screen runs as a classic image effect and does not use an AI action.

Best for

garden and floral photography, period portraits, still life, and softly lit heritage subjects.

Less suited to: high-contrast or fast-moving subjects, since the original process needed long exposures and rendered them poorly.

Ways to use Autochrome Color Screen

Autochrome Color Screen questions

What was autochrome?: The first widely used color photography process, introduced in 1907, using a screen of dyed potato starch grains as a color filter. It produced luminous, grainy, pastel images unlike anything before or since.
Why are the colors so muted?: Light passed through both the dyed starch screen and the emulsion, losing a great deal of intensity. That absorption is why autochromes glow softly rather than saturate — reproducing it faithfully means keeping the palette restrained.