90s Photo Filter

Make a photo look like a 90s snapshot: the hard flash and dark edges of a disposable camera, the warm fade of a one-hour lab print, sun-bleached colour, a light leak at the end of the roll, or grainy black and white. Aim the flash at a face, add an orange date stamp and a white border or a 35 mm film strip, and download the full-size photo with no watermark. Drop a whole set of photos and they all get the same look, each with its own grain. Everything runs in your browser, so your photos stay with you.

100% private — everything runs in your browser. Every photo is processed on your device with our own code; nothing is uploaded or stored.

How to give a photo a 90s look

1. Drop one photo or a whole set, paste one, or try the sample.
2. Pick a look. The small previews show each one on your photo.
3. Tap a face in the photo to aim the flash, then set the flash and the edge falloff.
4. Set the grain, light leak and lens fringe.
5. Turn on the date stamp and set any date, or type your own text.
6. Choose a border, compare before and after, and download a JPG or PNG. With several photos, download them all as a ZIP.

What you can use it for

• Giving a phone photo dump one film look
• Party, wedding and holiday sets with a disposable camera feel
• Throwback posts and profile pictures
• Album art, zines and posters
• Period references for design and film projects

What made 90s snapshots look that way

• The flash. Cheap cameras had a small built-in flash. One writer remembers “a sharp, harsh burst that lit up everything within ten feet” (Fstoppers, June 2025). Another used flash for every example of the look, because so many 90s snapshots had it (Fuji X Weekly, July 2023).
• The lens. A plastic lens gave slight softness and “light falloff around the edges” (Fstoppers). The Softness and Edge falloff settings copy these.
• The film and the lab. Colour came from consumer film and from one-hour labs, and the same writer notes that many of those labs ran Fujifilm machines and paper (Fuji X Weekly). The print looks here are our own recipes, not copies of any film stock.
• The date. Many film compacts could print the date onto the frame, using tiny LED digits, some with seven segments (US patent 5862421).

Made Good Designs is not affiliated with any camera or film brand named on this page.

The eight 90s looks

Look	What it aims at	Flash	Edges	Grain	Faded	Leak
Disposable flash	Flash, edge falloff, warm saturated colour, soft plastic-lens look	50	40	32	12	0
One-hour lab print	Faded warm print with round corners	0	10	30	32	0
Sun-bleached	Pale, washed-out colour, a little light leak	0	0	24	54	22
Green-shadow print	Green in the shadows, crisp contrast	0	0	34	10	0
Cool blue	Cooler colour, blue in the highlights and shadows	0	0	28	18	0
End of the roll	Orange light leak from the edge of the frame, on a film strip	0	14	30	18	64
Party flash	Hard flash with a dark room behind	80	72	38	0	0
Grainy black and white	Black and white with heavy grain	0	18	46	8	0

Numbers are each look’s starting slider values.

Date stamp layouts

Order	14 August 1997 prints as
Year month day	'97 8 14
Month day year	8 14 '97
Day month year	14 8 '97

The digits are our own seven-segment drawing, the blocky shape of a calculator display, so they stay sharp at any photo size. The stamp shows only what you set.

Border sizes

Border	A 4,032 × 3,024 photo becomes	A 6,000 × 4,000 photo becomes
No border	4,032 × 3,024 px	6,000 × 4,000 px
White print border	4,244 × 3,236 px	6,280 × 4,280 px
White border, round corners	4,214 × 3,206 px	6,240 × 4,240 px
Album page with photo corners	4,636 × 3,628 px	6,800 × 4,800 px
35 mm film strip	4,032 × 3,840 px	6,000 × 5,080 px

A border goes around the photo, so nothing is cropped or resized. On a tall photo the film strip runs down the sides.

Related tools

• Only want grain? Use the Grain Filter.
• For an instant-print frame with a caption, use the Polaroid Frame.
• Want tape, not film? Try the VHS Effect.
• For darker corners alone, use the Vignette Effect.

Frequently asked questions

How do I make a photo look like a disposable camera?

Pick Disposable flash, then tap the face so the flash lands there. It adds a bright centre, dark edges, warm saturated colour, soft focus and grain. Add the date stamp and a white border to finish it.

How do I make it look like a 90s photo without flash?

Pick One-hour lab print, Sun-bleached, Green-shadow print or Cool blue. None of these uses the flash setting.

Can a filter really add flash?

It can only suggest it. The filter brightens one spot and darkens the edges, so it looks closest on a photo with a person near the camera. It does not relight the scene, and shadows stay where they were.

How do I add the orange date stamp?

Tick Add a date stamp, pick a date and a corner, and set the size and colour. The stamp is printed into the picture under the grain, so it sits in the image and doesn’t look pasted on top.

Can I do a whole set of photos?

Yes. Drop up to 36 at once, set one look, and press Download all as a ZIP. Each photo gets its own grain and light leak, so they don’t look stamped from one copy, and the film strip border counts up.

What is the difference between this and a VHS filter?

This page is about film prints: flash, grain, fading and borders. A VHS filter is about video tape: scan lines and colour bleed.

Does it make a real old photo?

No. It is a style. The date on the stamp is whatever you type, and it is there for the look.

Is the export full size?

Yes. You get every pixel of your photo with no watermark. A border adds to the size around it, and the tool shows the final size before you download.

Are my photos uploaded?

No. Everything runs in your browser. Downloads carry no location data from the original file.

Does it work on a phone?

Yes. Very large photos may be scaled down if a phone can’t hold them, and the tool says so.