Smoke Background Maker
Make a smoke background in your browser: wisps of white, coloured or pastel smoke on a dark or light ground, drawn from numbers, not photos. A seeded flow (the curl of a smooth noise field) carries thousands of particles; their paths build up into soft, curling wisps, with a glow you can turn up or down. Pick one of 5 flows, from wisps rising from the bottom or a single plume to all-over haze and swirls, up to three smoke colours and the ground colour. The same seed always gives the same picture at a given size, so you can come back to a background you liked; press New seed for a new one. Download a PNG at 12 screen sizes, from 4K desktop to phone and a seamless tile, a full-page print PDF (Letter or A4) or a 300 DPI print PNG. Nothing is uploaded.
100% private — everything runs in your browser. Everything runs in your browser; nothing is uploaded.
The download is drawn at full size from the same seed and settings as the preview, so it has the same layout with finer detail. The same seed always gives the same picture at a given size.
Smoke
Colours
Size
Runs in your browser with our own code: nothing is uploaded or saved. You may use what you make here, including commercially, with no credit needed.
How to make a smoke background
- Choose a preset, such as white smoke on black, coloured smoke or pastel smoke on cream.
- Pick a flow, then set the swirl size, the amount of smoke, the wisp length, the softness and the glow.
- Pick the ground colour and one to three smoke colours.
- Change the seed, or press New seed, until you like it; for the all-over flows, tick Seamless to make a tile.
- Pick a screen size and download the PNG, or download the print PDF or the 300 DPI print PNG.
What you can use it for
- Desktop and phone wallpapers
- Video call and stream backgrounds
- Album covers, posters and flyers
- Slide and title backgrounds
- Website hero sections and seamless page backgrounds
- Printed backdrops and card backgrounds
The 12 presets
| # | Preset | Flow | Seed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | White smoke on black | Rising wisps (from the bottom) | 7 |
| 2 | Grey haze on charcoal | All-over drifting haze | 21 |
| 3 | Coloured smoke (magenta, cyan, gold) | Rising wisps (from the bottom) | 11 |
| 4 | Purple and teal swirls | All-over swirls | 3 |
| 5 | Pastel smoke on cream | All-over drifting haze | 5 |
| 6 | Pastel swirls on white | All-over swirls | 14 |
| 7 | Dark smoke on white | Rising wisps (from the bottom) | 9 |
| 8 | Single white plume | Single plume (from one point) | 2 |
| 9 | Blue haze | Drifting sideways | 17 |
| 10 | Red and orange smoke | Rising wisps (from the bottom) | 23 |
| 11 | Sepia smoke on paper | Drifting sideways | 31 |
| 12 | Gold wisps on navy | All-over swirls | 41 |
Each preset only fills in the fields; change any colour, setting or the seed afterwards.
The 5 flows
| Flow | Seamless option |
|---|---|
| Rising wisps (from the bottom) | No (starts from an edge or a point) |
| Single plume (from one point) | No (starts from an edge or a point) |
| Drifting sideways | No (starts from an edge or a point) |
| All-over drifting haze | Yes |
| All-over swirls | Yes |
Download sizes
| Size | Pixels |
|---|---|
| 4K desktop | 3840 × 2160 px |
| QHD desktop | 2560 × 1440 px |
| Full HD | 1920 × 1080 px |
| Ultrawide | 3440 × 1440 px |
| Phone | 1080 × 2400 px |
| Large phone | 1290 × 2796 px |
| Tablet portrait | 2048 × 2732 px |
| Square post | 2048 × 2048 px |
| Story | 1080 × 1920 px |
| Header banner | 1500 × 500 px |
| Video call background | 1920 × 1080 px |
| Seamless tile | 1024 × 1024 px |
| Print, US Letter | PNG 2550 × 3300 px (300 DPI); PDF 1700 × 2200 px (200 DPI) |
| Print, A4 | PNG 2480 × 3508 px (300 DPI); PDF 1654 × 2339 px (200 DPI) |
Which tool to use
| You want | Use |
|---|---|
| Curling smoke wisps, seeded and seamless | Smoke Background Maker (this page) |
| Smooth colour blends | Gradient Generator or Mesh Gradient Generator |
| Grain and noise over a colour | Noise Texture Generator |
| A wallpaper with your own text or shapes | Phone Wallpaper Maker |
For smooth colour blends, try the Mesh Gradient Generator; for grain over a colour, the Noise Texture Generator.
More free tools
More background and wallpaper tools?
Background makers and image tools that run privately in your browser, with no sign-up and no watermark.
Frequently asked questions
Is this a photo of smoke?
No. Every picture is drawn by our own code from numbers: a seeded flow carries particles, and their paths are softened and coloured. There are no photos, so the result is yours to use.
Will the same seed give the same background?
Yes. The drawing uses only the seed and the settings, so the same seed and settings give the same pixels at the same size. Our tests draw each preset twice and compare a hash of the PNG; a different seed gives a different picture.
Can it tile without a seam?
Yes, for the 2 all-over flows (drifting haze and swirls): tick Seamless. The flow, the particles and the softening all wrap round the edges, so copies placed edge to edge join with no seam. Our tests check the join by pixels. The rising, plume and sideways flows start from an edge or a point, so they do not tile.
Why does the download look finer than the preview?
The preview is drawn smaller with the same seed and settings, so the layout is the same; the download is drawn at full size, so the wisps are sharper.
What sizes can I download?
12 screen sizes, from 4K desktop (3840 × 2160) to a phone (1080 × 2400) and a 1024 px seamless tile, plus a full-page print PDF and a 300 DPI print PNG for US Letter or A4. Most home printers leave a thin white edge.
Can I use dark smoke on a white background?
Yes. Pick a light ground and dark smoke colours, or start from the Dark smoke on white or Sepia presets.
Is it free?
Yes. There is no sign-up, no watermark and no limit.
Is anything uploaded?
No. Everything is drawn by JavaScript in your browser and nothing is sent anywhere.