Turn your mainstream photos into retro coolness. This Photoshop tutorial will show you how to apply a
retro photo effect using professional non-destructive editing techniques.
To follow this tutorial, you'll need Photoshop CS3 or newer.
Start this tutorial by opening a photo into Photoshop.
Duplicate the layer by pressing "Control-J" or "Command-J" on a Mac. You can also do this by going to "Layer > Duplicate" Layer.
Right click on the layer then choose "Convert to Smart Object".
By converting the layer into a smart object, we can make use of Smart Filters. I'll tell you more about Smart Filters later.
First, we'll add a bloom effect.
Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur.
Leave the settings as is and just click OK;
we'll edit these settings later.
If you look in your Layers Palette, you'll see that Photoshop created Smart Filters for you.
Smart Filters are basically the non-destructive version of filters which means you change the filter settings anytime you like.
You also have blending options for your filter. In the Layers Palette, double-click on the blending options button.
Change the blending mode to Screen then click OK.
Now double-click on the Gaussian Blur filter to bring up the settings for the filter.
Adjust the settings to your liking then click OK.
You just created the bloom effect! Unfortunately, it looks a little fake
to the going to adjust the blending options born
Right click on the layer then choose Blending Options.
In the "Blend If" area, drag the black input slider towards the right. As you drag the slider, you'll notice that there is a number changing.
When this number changes to 128, you're in the right spot.
Now, hold down the "Alt" key on your keyboard then drag the right half of the black input slider all the way to the very right.
right. You'll notice that it detaches from the left half and the blending becomes smoother as you drag it towards the right.
Click OK and here's what the image looks like so far.
Next, we're going to add a Black & White adjustment layer.
In the Layers palette, click on the New Adjustment Layer button then choose Black & White.
Change the blending mode of this layer to Overlay.
In the Adjustment Palette, change the settings as you like.
like. If you don't see this palette, go to Window > Adjustments to bring it up.
If you click on this button here, you can directly select a point in the image that you want to adjust.
So let's say we want to make this guys face brighter.
Just click then drag to the right.
And now I want to make this sky darker.
Click on the sky, drag to the left, and now it's darker.
The next effect we add will give the image a color effect similar to the expired film look.
In the layers palette, click on the New Adjustment Layer button then choose Solid Color.
Skip the settings for now and just click OK;
we'll go back to change it later.
Change the blend mode of this layer to Exclusion.
Reduce the opacity to around 25%.
Now double-click back on the layer and pick any color you like.
I'm going to pick this cyan color here.
Click OK to apply the changes. You can also adjust the opacity of this layer to increase or decrease the effect.
To complete this image, we're going to add some light leaks. These light leaks are available as a free download on our website
and they make it super easy to add cool light abberations to your photo.
Save the light leaks to your computer then go back to Photoshop.
In Photoshop, go to File > Place. Choose the light leak that you like to use.
I'm going to choose this one right here. Change the blend mode to Screen
then position and press Enter on your keyboard or click this checkmark button right here.
You can duplicate the layer to make the effect stronger.
If you want to add more, just go to File > Place then pick another one.
I'm going to pick this one here, change the blend mode to Screen, then scale the image to something like this.
Here's is the Hipster the photo effect! Try it on different photos to see what you can get.
Remember that everything we did is non-destructive so you can go back to edit the settings anytime you want.
For example, let's say I want to adjust this light leak a little bigger.
Maybe I'll change the color a little bit; I can hide some layers to see what effect I can get; double-click on this filter to change the settings;
or reduce the opacity of any layer I like.
Once again, here's the Hipster photo effect. It's a great way to give your photos that old-school retro look.
I like to use this effect on my Facebook pics to make them look more social than they really are. Give it a try and let us know if it works!