Vintage Photo Effect

Give your photos a soft and memorable feeling. This easy Photoshop tutorial is suitable for beginners and will show you how to use four adjustment layers to create this photo effect. A Photoshop action is also included at the end of this Photoshop tutorial.

Vintage Photo Effect Photoshop Tutorial

Preview of Final Results

Step 1 – Open the photo into Photoshop

Choose File > Open, browse for the photo, then click OK. This photo effect works best on outdoor portraits.

Step 2 – Create a group

To create this effect, we’ll be using three adjustment layers. For better layer organization, we’ll place all these adjustment layers inside a group that lets us know that these layers are related to the photo effect. To create a new group, click on the button in the layers palette. Double-click on the group name in the layers palette to rename the group.

Step 3 – Selectively lower the contrast of the image

Lowering the contrast will reveal more details and soften the emotion in the photo by reducing shadows. To selectively adjust the contrast in the image, we’ll be using the selective color tool. Make sure that you have the layer group selected first so that when you add the adjustment layer, it’ll appear inside the group. Add a selective color adjustment layer by choosing Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Selective Color.
The settings used with the selective color tool will vary depending on the contrast in your image. When adjusting the settings, be sure that no part of your image turns gray. In the colors drop down menu, select black then lower the black value until the shadow is revealed. For most out of the camera images, this should be around –10%.

Next, select neturals from the colors drop down menu. Watch the skin tones while adjusting the blacks setting. Lower the blacks so that the shadows on the face are reduced but not so much so that they disappear. This setting will vary depending on the lighting of the skin tone. For our image, we used a setting of –20%.

Finally, adjust the whites. Select whites from the colors drop down menu then increase the blacks. This will further reduce the contrast. If you increase it too much, your highlights will be darker than your midtones and shadows.

Step 4 – Darken the image

Our image looks brighter than it was before because of the selective color adjustment layer we added. To darken back the image, we’ll add a brightness/contrast adjustment layer. Choose Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Brightness/Contrast. If you are using Photoshop CS3 or newer, checkmark the use legacy option. This will let us adjust the brightness linearly. Reduce the brightness setting until the photo is back to the original brightness.

Step 5 – Add a photo filter

To give the image an aged tint, add a photo filter adjustment layer (Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Photo Filter). Set the filter to the color of your choice. A popular color choice for this type of effect is yellow.

Step 5 – Increase the contrast (Optional)

Add a curves adjustment layer (Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Curves). Adjust the curves setting to add contrast.

Final Results

Here’s the final results of this photo effect. Rollover the images below to see the before and after effect.

Below is an higher contrast example with a curves adjustment layer.

Download the PSD

• Low resolution watermarked Photoshop document (1.33 MB)
• High resolution watermarked Photoshop document (74 MB)

Download the Action

• Vintage photo effect Photoshop action (2.65 KB) 

source: photoshoptutorials.ws

Urban Ink Photo Effect

Learn how to create this photo effect with just two layers by using all blending options instead of layer masks. This photo effect works great on photos with a simple background. Example Photoshop documents included.

Urban Ink Photo Effect Photoshop Tutorial

Preview of Final Results

Stock Photos

The image below is the stock photo we used to create this tutorial. We used the highest resolution image for this tutorial but you can follow this tutorial with a lower resolution image. You can also use your own image. We recommend starting with a photo of a model and a simple light background.

Step 1 – Open the image of the dancer

Load the image of the dancer into Photoshop. To do this, choose File > Open, browse for the file, then click OK. Note that this effect only works on photos with a simple background.

Step 2 – Duplicate the layer

Press Ctrl+J or choose Layer > Duplicate Layer to create a copy of the layer.

Step 3 – Apply Threshold

Choose Image > Adjustments > Threshold. Adjust the input slider so that most the background disappears and only the shadows of the model is in black.

Step 4 – Blend the layer

Right-mouse click on the top layer then choose Blending Options.

While holding down the Alt key, drag the white input slider in the Underlying Layer setting towards the left. Click OK when done. If you are working on an image with a dark background, you may have to adjust the black input slider instead.

Here’s what our image looks like after the adjustment.

Step 5 – Create a new layer

In the Layers palette, click on the button to create a new layer.

Step 6 – Blend the layer

Right click on the current layer then choose Blending Options.

While holding down the Alt key, drag the white input slider from the Underlying Layer settings towards the left. You won’t see any effect yet but this will help us preview the final results when we add color to the image in the next step.

Step 7 – Add color to the image

Paint the current layer with any color of your choice. Use a large brush with a hardness of 0. We used cyan, magenta, and yellow to create the results shown below.

If you need to, you can go back into the blending options to adjust the blending options.

Step 8 – Refine the threshold layer

Select Layer 1 then paint the layer as you like. For my image, I used a large brush with a hardness of 0 to paint the shadow on the bottom with white. This makes the shadow fade into the background.

Final Results

Download the Photoshop document | 1.29MB

Other Examples

Download the Photoshop document | 1.38MB

Download the Photoshop document | 1.33MB

source: photoshoptutorials.ws

Half Sepia 2

This is a new version of our previous half sepia tutorial. This version of the half sepia photo effect has higher contrast and works better for more photos.

Preview of Final Results

Half Sepia 2 Photoshop Tutorial

Step 1

Open a photo inside Photoshop. The half sepia photo effect works on most photos but is most useful for images with high saturation.

Step 2

In the Layers palette, click on the button and select Hue/Saturation.

The Hue/Saturation tool will appear. First, checkmark the Colorize option near the bottom right corner. Copy the settings from the image below then click OK.

Your image should now have a bright sepia tone.

Step 3

We will now work on the layer mask of the Hue/Saturation adjustment layer. Make sure that you have the layer mask selected by clicking on the layer mask thumbnail in the Layers palette.

Choose Image > Apply Image and use the default settings. The only setting that you may need to adjust is the Invert setting. If you leave the Invert option unchecked, the sepia tone effect will only be visible in the brighter areas of your image. If you enable the Invert option, the sepia tone will be visible only in the darker areas of the image.

Step 4

Now we'll add a black and white adjustment layer. In the layers palette, click on the button and choose Black & White. If you are using Photoshop CS2 or older, you will not have the Black & White menu option. Instead, choose Channel Mixer.

The Black and White or Channel Mixer (If you're using Photoshop CS2 or older) settings will appear. Simply click OK with any settings. We'll go back to edit the settings later.

Change the blending mode of the new Black & White or Channel Mixer adjustment layer to Soft Light.

Double click on the Black & White or Channel Mixer adjustment layer thumbnail to bring back the settings. Adjust the settings while looking at the preview to get the results that you desire. If you are using the Channel Mixer tool, checkmark the monochrome option.

Half Sepia 2 Final Results

source: photoshoptutorials.ws

Surprisingly Easy Rainbow Light Painting Effect

Give your photos a unique look with this retro effect that's super easy and fun. You will learn how to create this effect with just one layer and three colors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Preview of Final Results

Rainbow Light Painting Photoshop Tutorial

Step 1

Start off by opening any photo into Photoshop. This effect works best with isolated objects on black backgrounds such as the image below.

Step 2

To begin, we'll desaturate the image. This step isn't necessary to get the effect, but it will be helpful when we're painting. In the Layers palette, click on the   button and choose Hue/Saturation.

In the Hue/Saturation tool, set the Saturation to -100 then click OK.

Step 3

Now we'll create a new layer. This is the layer where we will be painting the colors on. Click on the button in the Layers palette. This will create a new layer called "Layer 1".

Change the blending mode of Layer 1 to Color.

Step 4

The primary colors that we'll be using are yellow, magenta, and cyan. Before we start painting, we'll use the Swatches palette so that we can quickly select those three colors. In the Swatches palette (Window > Swatches), click on the icon then choose one of the PANTONE CMYK swatches.

When it asks if you want to replace or append the swatch, choose replace. Your swatch palette will now have yellow, magenta, and cyan as the first three colors. Now you can select one of these three colors quickly.

Step 5

Select the tool from the toolbar. Right mouse click on the image and the brush options will appear. Set the hardness setting to 0%. Don't worry about the master diameter setting yet.

Step 6

Begin by selecting either yellow, magenta, or cyan from the Swatches palette and painting anywhere in the image with a large brush size. You can adjust the brush size by pressing the [ or ] key on your keyboard.

Select a different color and paint the rest of the image.

 

Final Results

Now that you're done, you can delete the Hue/Saturation adjustment layer.

source: photoshoptutorials.ws