Make a Modern Photo Look Vintage

Do you have digital photos that you think would look even better ye olde world style? This article will teach you how to use Adobe Photoshop CS3 to achieve a great vintage-looking photo.

Steps

  1. Find a photo you'd like to use. Open it and go to File > Save As.
  2. Duplicate the layer by right clicking the icon in the layer box. Hit OK. Then, in the scroll box in the layer palette, select Hard Light.
  3. Copy the Background Layer again and drag it to the top of the list of layers. Press CTRL+I to invert the colors of the layer. In the scroll box, select Soft Light.
    • At the bottom of the layer palette, click the icon that looks like a circle that is half white and half black. Select Gradient Map.
    • A box will pop up so you can edit the gradient. In the options at the bottom of the box, select both Reverse and Dither. Click the top portion where the color is. A menu should drop down. Select Light Brown and press OK. Change the Layer Blending of the Gradient layer to Hard Light.
    • Using the Rectangle Select Tool, Select the entire canvas. Right click on the canvas and in the menu select Feather. Type in 100 in the box (this number may be too high or too low depending on the size of your photo, so play around with several numbers before you find one that gives you nice rounded edges). Right click on the canvas again and then select Select Inverse.
  4. Go to Layer > New Fill Layer > Solid Color. A box will appear. Hit OK. Then select a black color and hit OK again. Duplicate the layer that was just made. Go to Filters > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Drag the tab to blur the layer as much as possible. Press CTRL + F to blur one more time for a more realistic border.
    • To finish it off with an old-timey feel, create a new layer. Then using the Paint Bucket tool, color the layer a yellow brown. I used #999711.
  5. Go to Filters > Filter Gallery. A box will appear. Under the Texture Category, select texturizer. On the right hand side of the screen is a drop down menu. In the menu, select Sandstone. Press OK.
  6. Change the blending of the layer to Pin Light and change the opacity to about 50 - 60%.
  7. Drag one of the black border layers to the top of the list so that it's over the textured layer.
  8. Save and admire your work.



Tips

  • Save constantly to avoid losing work
  • It can't hurt to play around with settings and layers to see what other looks you can obtain
  • If you're on a laptop, this will be easier if you plug in a mouse

Warnings

  • Make sure you SAVE AS so you don't edit the original

Things You'll Need

  • A digital photo
  • Adobe Photoshop CS3

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