Digital Camera World » retro

Lomo Photoshop effect: step-by-step tutorial

dcworld — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 12:33:12 +0000

Get a cool toy-camera lomo look with your digital photos in this simple 6-step Photoshop Elements guide

Lo-fi toy cameras, like the Lomo and Holga, produce pictures where normal considerations of quality are completely forgotten, but interest and vibrant colours are added instead. Rather than crisp, sharp images, the resulting pictures end up with a heavy vignette, lack of detail, blurred edges and surreal colour – but surprisingly the effect is rather pleasing. In this tutorial we’re going to take the image traits of these cameras and apply them to a digital image in Photoshop to recreate the lomo look. You will learn how to work with layers, masks, perspective correction and gradient fills to build up and apply the lomo effect. Remember to download the start image from the link below.

1. Prepare in Camera Raw

Open toycamera_before.dng in Adobe Camera Raw, select the White Balance tool and click the grey area of the 2010 sign. Select the Straighten tool and draw a line horizontally, parallel with the pavement. Set Exposure to 0.35, Recovery to 65, Fill Light to 15, Brightness to 20, Clarity to 20 and Vibrance to 50, then click on Open Image.

2. Correct the distortion

Go to Filter>CorrectCameraDistortion. Set the Vertical Perspective value to -20. Hit OK. To minimise the crop, use the Rectangular Marquee tool to make a selection from below the pier entrance to the bottom of the image. Go to Image>Transform>Perspective and increase the width at the bottom. Use the Crop tool to remove the chequered background.

3. Create depth of field

Duplicate the Background layer, then go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur and enter a Radius of 15 pixels. Click on the Background layer and go to Layer>NewAdjustmentLayer>Levels. Click OK without making an adjustment. Hold down Alt and hoven between the Levels and top layer. Left click when the cursor changes shape to clip the layers together.

4. Using a Layer Mask

Click into the Levels layer’s mask and then select the Gradient tool from the Tools palette. From the gradient options, click the preview and select a Black/White gradient. Click OK, then select Radial from the Gradient Type menu. Click and drag from the centre of the image to the far left to reveal the sharp image beneath.

5. Add a vignette

To add a vignette effect, click on the top layer and then go to Layer>New>Layer. Select Edit>FillLayer and then choose White from the Contents menu. Go to Filter>CorrectCameraDistortion, then in the options menu decrease the Vignette amount to -50. Click OK. Click on the Blending Mode drop-down in the Layers palette and select Multiply.

6. Lighten the tones

Make sure that the top layer is selected and go to Layer>NewAdjustmentLayer>Levels. Set Shadows to 8 and Highlights to 233, lightening the picture. Click OK, then go to Layer>NewAdjustmentLayer>Hue/Saturation and increase Master Saturation to +20. To finish off, select Flatten Image from the layer options menu.

Photoshop tutorial: vintage effect for digital photos

dcworld — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 15:18:52 +0000

Recreate the retro antique look for your digital photos with this simple Photoshop Elements tutorial

Want to find out how to recreate an analogue film look for your digital photography? Follow the 6 easy steps of this Photoshop Elements tutorial that will show you how to distress your digital photo for a vintage antique look. Learn how to creatively alter an image’s colours and tones to make them stand out from the crowd. Before colour film was invented, many monochrome shots were hand-coloured. Find out how to use the Convert to Black and White command along with layer blends to mimic that distinctive retro technique and add a delicate wash of colour to your image. You can download the start image for this tutorial by clicking the link below.

1. Duplicate layer

Open AntiqueColour_Before.jpg (see download link above). Go to Window>Layers to open the Layers Palette. Double click the Background layer’s thumbnail. A New layer box will appear. Click OK to unlock the layer. Now drag Layer 0 onto the Create new layer icon at the bottom of the Layers Palette to duplicate it.

2. Convert to monochrome

Select the top layer (Layer 0 copy) by clicking its thumbnail. Go to Enhance > Convert to Black and White. Click the Urban/Snapshots style. Drag Contrast right to a value of +5. This creates a slightly solarised monochrome effect, which will help emphasise the image’s hand-painted look. Click OK.

3. Refine the colours

Drag the black and white Layer 0 copy layer bwlow Layer 0. Set Layer 0′s blending mode to Soft Light. Reduct its opacity to 67%. The combination of the layer blending mode and the opacity change creates a more delicate range of colours that mimics the retro hand-painted technique.

4. Go with the grain

Click the Layer Palette’s Create a new layer icon. Go to Edit>Fill Layer. Choose the 50% Gray option and click OK. Go to Filter>Noise>Add Noise. Set Distribution to Gaussian and set Amount to 300%. Click OK. For organic looking clumps of grain, go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Set the Radius to 1.8

5. Add a sepia tint

Set Layer 1′s blending mode to Multiply and reduce its opacity to 42%. Click the Create new fill layer icon at the bottom of the Layers Palette and choose Solid Color. Pick a vintage sepia colour (R: 188, G: 147, B:88). Set the Color Fill layer’s blending mode to Soft Light. Set the opacity to 74%.

6. Create a vignette

Choose Layer>Merge Visible. This creates a flattened version of the shot. Select the Burn tool from the Tools Palette. In the Options bar set Range to Shadows and set Exposure to 9%. Spray around the edge of the frame to gently darken the sepia tones, creating a soft and organic-looking vignette.

Photoshop tutorial: Polaroid transfer effect

dcworld — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 14:36:48 +0000

Give portraits a retro film look with this simple Photoshop Elements tutorial for recreating a Polaroid Transfer effect

Want to recreate an analogue film effect for your digital photos? In just 6 easy steps, this Photoshop Elements tutorial will show you how to achieve a Polaroid transfer effect. The original technique involved applying a sheet of film to a piece of damp paper and then peeling them apart. The result would be an attractive torn-edge border and unusual shifts in colours. In this tutorial you’ll learn how to desaturate colours while maintaining great skin tones and also find out how to use Levels and Adjustment Layers. To finish you’ll add the border for a final touch. You can download the border for this tutorial by clicking the link above, but remember to check the links on the right for more free borders and Photoshop resources to download.

1. Tweak the tones

Open polaroid_before.jpg. Go to Windows>Layers to open the Layers palette. Click the Create New Fill or Adjustment Layer icon at the bottom of the palette and choose Levels. Drag the grey Midtone input slider to 1.30 to brighton the midtones, then set the white Highlight input slider to 205 to blow out the highlights.

2. Target the channels

By tweaking the tonal levels in individual channels, you can recreate the distinct colour hues of the Polaroid Transfer process. Set the drop-down menu to Red, then set the grey Midtone slider to 0.80. This reduces the reds in the scene, adding a colder green/blue tint to the background.

3. Moody blue

Set the drop-down menu to Green, then drag the grey Midtone slider to 0.90 and brighten the green highlights to 220. Next, choose the Blue channel and drag the Midtone slider to 1.45 to lighten the blue midtones. This further enhances the cold blue background while preserving the warmer skin tones.

4. Selective saturation

Create a new Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer and drag the Master Saturation down to -25 to create the faded colours associated with the Polaroid Transfer technique. Select the Reds channel and set Hue to +15. Push Saturation up to +43 to make the colours of the skirt and shoes look more vivid.

5. Soften the skin

To add a flattering blur effect, duplicate the Background layer by dragging it onto the Create a New Layer icon. Choose Filter>Blur>GaussianBlur, then enter a Radius of 8px and click OK. Set the Background Copy layer’s Blending Mode to Lighten and reduce the layer’s Opacity to 20%.

6. Add the border

To get the rough-and-ready border texture that typifies a Polaroid Transfer print, open polaroid_border.jpg. Go to Select>All, then Edit>Copy. Return to the main document and choose Edit>Paste. Finally, set the border’s Blending Mode to Lighten. The black sections of the border layer will vanish. As a finishing touch you can make the model look more mysterious by crushing the black levels to hide shadow detail. Click the Create New Fill or Adjustment Layer icon, choose the Levels and drag the black Shadow input level slider to 34."

Photoshop video: Polaroid transfer effect

dcworld — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 12:06:19 +0000

Want to give your portraits an edge of cool? Watch this simple Photoshop Elements tutorial video to give photos a retro film look with a Polaroid transfer effect

Find out how to recreate a classic analogue film effect for your digital photos. This Photoshop Elements tutorial shows you how easy it is to add an element of cool to your portraits with a Polaroid transfer effect. The original technique involved applying a sheet of film to a piece of damp paper and then peeling them apart. Not only were you left with an attractive torn-edge border, but you also got unusual shifts in colour. In this video you’ll learn how to desaturate the colours while keeping vibrant skin tones and get to grips with Levels and Adjustment Layers. Finally you’ll be able to add a border for the finishing touch. You can download the border for this tutorial by clicking the link below, but don’t forget to check out the links on the right for more free borders to download.