by Annie Liu

Created on: November 23, 2007

Not only can you restore old or damaged photographs to look new but you can also make a new photo look old in Photoshop. With the help of this commonly used photo-editing software you can make your photos look aged.

Here is a simple trick..

Find a picture that shows no evidence of any modern technology unless you are looking for a disorienting effect. Photos of country landscapes or historical structures will give the best results.

1. First step is to remove all the color. Select IMAGE > ADJUSTMENTS > DESATURATE (Shift+Ctrl+U).

2. Right-click the layer to duplicate layer (Ctrl+D). Click OK. Set the blending mode to "Overlay". This gives some amount of intensity to the picture.

3. Select FILTER > BLUR > GAUSSIAN BLUR. Set the Radius to about 1-1.5 pixels to give a blurry look. Click OK.

4. Apply a slight motion blur. Select FILTER > BLUR > MOTION BLUR. Change the Angle to about 45o and Distance of 3-5 pixels.

5. To add grainy effect. Create a new layer. Go to EDIT > FILL (Shift+F5) fill the layer with 50% gray. Set the blending mode to "Overlay".

6. Select FILTER > NOISE > ADD NOISE. Set the amount between 3% - 5% and Distribution to Gaussian. Check the Monochromatic check box. Click OK.

7. To make the grain appear less noticeable, repeat step 3 and step 6 once again. For a more subtle effect apply a very slight blur of about 1-2 pixels.

8. Remember the old fashioned camera lens that created these dark corners in the photos. For this, create a new layer. Use the ELLIPTICAL MARQUEE TOOL to select a large circle in the middle of the picture.

9. Go to SELECT > INVERSE (Shift+Ctrl+I) then click EDIT > FILL (Shift+F5) to fill the selection with black color.

10. Apply FILTER > BLUR > GAUSSIAN BLUR. Set the Radius to maximum 250 pixels and click OK. Drop the opacity of this layer to about 40-50% for a subtle effect.

Lastly, you can give the photo a brownish tint. Create a new layer. Change the blending mode to "Color". Fill the layer with yellow-brown tone. Click on IMAGE > ADJUSTMENTS > HUE/SATURATION (Ctrl+U) to change the color tones. And there we are!

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