Create A Retro Effect In Photoshop

“Retro” refers to an image or a design from a previous time period, such as the ‘50s, ‘60s, ‘70s, or ‘80s. Just like any other design style, these styles have their place. For example, you might be asked to create an album cover for an artist that has a ‘80s rock n’ roll sound, or perhaps you’re tasked with designing a dinner menu for a retro diner. It’s important to be able to achieve these styles so that you can create a convincing vintage look.

Retro ‘70s Photography

We have all seen those vintage photographs where the color is a little off. The look was so common with vintage photographs that the look reminds most people of ‘70s photography. The key characteristics of this era of photography are accentuated blue and yellow tones in the photograph.

Step 1: Find Your Image

I have selected a photo of a bird near the water. The grass is a vibrant green, and the water is a true-to-life blue.

Step 2: Duplicate the Image

Duplicate the background image. We do this because we want to leave the original to work untouched, just in case we make a major mistake and need something to come back to. We also do this because we are going to apply different effects to the duplicated layer.

Step 3: Apply the Image to Itself

With the duplicate layer selected, select “Image” > “Apply Image.” A window will pop up, and we will be applying the source image (the one that we are working on) to itself. The default is for the blending to be set to “multiply,” but we are going to change this to “screen.”

Step 4: Blur the Duplicate Layer

We need to apply a slight blur to the duplicate image layer, to give it the “fuzzy” quality usually found in vintage photos. Go to “Filter” > “Blur” > “Gaussian Blur.” For this image, I set the blur to 3.0.

Step 5: Lessen the Effect

You only want this effect to soften the image slightly, but you still want the original layer to show through. Go to the layers panel, and with the blurred layer selected, change its blend mode to “soft light.”

Step 6: Add a Blue Photo Filter

We need to add blue to the image to help create the vintage look we are after. Go to the Layers Panel, click the adjustment layer icon, and choose Photofilter. Select blue as the color, and set the density to 35.

Step 7: Add A Yellow Photo Filter

We need to add yellow to the image to help give it the vintage look we are going for. In your Layers panel, click the adjustments layer icon and select Photo Filter. A window will pop up. Select Yellow from the list and set the density to 70. This will create a slightly yellow tone to the image.

Step 8: Add Some Texture

Texture is one of the key elements to most vintage or retro styles. The look of decay or imperfection really makes your work look convincing, as if the image had been around for decades. You can find thousands of free grunge textures online. Import a rich grunge texture into your Photoshop file, and change the blend mode to either “multiply” or “overlay.” Your choice depends on how dense your texture file is. If it is too dark, then your whole image will look muddy. I set our example to “overlay.” I also dropped the opacity to 75%.

Step 9: Lighten the Center

To add a slight vignette look to your work, create a new layer, and select your brush tool. Set the hardness to 0, and make the size as large as the middle portion of your image. Select white as your foreground color and click once to create a blurred white area in the center of your image. Set the blend mode of this layer to “lighten.”

Option 2: Vintage Without Decay

Sometimes you just want to achieve a vintage look without the decay and destruction. There is another method where you can add a vintage look to your photographs without having them look so aged.

Step 1: Duplicate Your Image

Hit Command/Ctrl + “J” to duplicate your layer.

Step 2: Tweak Your Colors

Create a new layer above your photo layer. Select your marquee tool, and select the left portion of your image. Go to your swatches panel, and click on the bright red color to make it active. Fill the selection with red by hitting Command/CTRL + Delete. Select the other half of your image and go to your Swatches panel again. Select bright green to make it your active foreground color. Hit Command/Ctrl + Delete to fill your selection with green.

Step 3: Bend Your Image’s Colors to Your Will

With your duplicate photo layer elected, go to “Image” > “Adjustments” > “Replace Color.” A dialog box will come up. Click on Source, and select the name of your Photoshop document. Under this menu, there will be another menu where you can select the layer. Select the red/green layer that we created earlier and click “OK.”

Step 4: Adjust to Taste

This step is a subjective one. You really have to decide on the effect that you are going for. I set both Fade and Color Intensity to 70. Here, I am already getting that ‘60s look and feel to my image.

Step 5: Add a Warming Filter

This really just depends on the look you are going for. For the example, I clicked the New Adjustment Layer icon and chose Photofilter. I selected a warming filter and set the density to 50.

Step 6: Add a Vignette

Choose black as your foreground color. Go to “Layer” > “New Fill Layer” > “Gradient.” Choose a radial gradient and make sure that the gradient is foreground to transparent. You may have to check the reverse option in order to get the vignette. Set the scale between 140–150. Set the opacity to 30–40%, and your will have a vintage vignette look.

Create a Stylish Badge in Adobe Photoshop

Badges are a great way to display information on any blog or website. Due to their eye-atching quality, they grasp the visitor’s attention instantaneously. There are many resources for generic badges on the web these days; however, it’s always good to make your own. This way, you can tailor it to perfectly suit the needs of your current project. So, today I’ll show you how to make a stylish badge in Adobe Photoshop through an easy step-by-step approach.

Resources:

Cardboard Paper Texture

Let’s have a look at our final result first:

Step 1

Create a new document with a 600px width and a 650px height in Adobe Photoshop.

Step 2

Fill the background with #ededef color using the Paint Bucket Tool.

Step 3

Now, set #01c1f2 as your foreground color, select the Polygon Tool, and use the settings shown below to draw a basic badge shape.

Step 4

Open the “cardboard texture” file, and copy and paste it just above the shape layer. Now, in order to confine the texture to the shape only, click on the texture layer, hold down the “Control” button on your keyboard, and click the thumbnail of your shape layer. Then, click on the “Add layer mask” icon present at the bottom of the layers panel. Change the blending mode of texture layer to “Overlay.”

Step 5

Now, duplicate the shape layer by going to “Layer” > “Duplicate layer.” Place the copy of your shape layer below the original shape, drag it a bit downward, and change its color. This will add a sense of “thickness” to your badge.

Step 6

Next, use the Ellipse Tool to draw a circle using #ea2c46 color. Then, duplicate this layer, color it using #c81b33 , place it below the original circle layer, and drag it a bit downward.



Apply the cardboard texture on the front circle in the same way that we did in step 4.

Step 7

Draw another smaller circle using Ellipse Tool, as shown below.

Step 8

Now, I’ll make a stitched circle. Select the Brush Tool, open the brush panel, and select the settings provided below.



Now select the Ellipse Tool, click on the icon of “paths” from top options bar, and draw a circle on a new layer. Then, right-click and choose the option of “stroke path.” Select “brush” in the stroke path window. After that, hit Delete to get rid of circular frame.

Step 9

Next, we’ll create a ribbon behind the badge. Create a new layer; place it just above the background. Now select the Rounded Rectangle Tool to draw the shape shown below. Then right-click and select the “Rasterize layer” option.



Now, select the Rectangle Tool to draw a square, and rotate it using Free Transform Tool (Ctrl + “T”). Rasterize this layer also. Now press Ctrl + to make selection around the square. Now, click on the rounded rectangle layer and go to “Edit” > “Clear.” This way, you’ll get a nice ribbon as shown below.

Step 10

Rotate the ribbon a bit using the Free Transform Tool. Now, select the Elliptical Marquee Tool to make a hole near the top of the ribbon. You can accomplish this by selecting a circle on ribbon layer and pressing “Edit” > “Clear.”

Step 11

Now, to make a silver ring around this new hole, make a circle bigger than the first hole on a new layer using the Elliptical Marquee Tool. Fill it with any color for now. Make another circle that’s approximately the same size of the original hole on a new layer. Now press Ctrl + to make selection around it. Then, click on the larger circle layer and select “Edit” > “Clear.” Now, double-click on this ring layer and apply the following settings for a gradient overlay.

Step 12

To form the hanging loop, select the Hard Round Brush with a 3px size. Then, select the Ellipse Tool with the “Paths” option selected, and draw an ellipse. After that, right-click and select “Stroke path” > “Brush.” Now, erase the part that should be behind the ribbon, as shown below.

Step 13

Now, double-click on the ribbon layer to open the layer style window. Use the following settings for a drop shadow.



After that, right-click on the ribbon layer and select the option of “copy layer style.” Then, right-click on shape1 copy, shape2 copy, and loop layers, and select the option of “paste layer style” to apply the same drop shadow effect to all of these layers.

Step 14

Duplicate the ribbon layer and press Ctrl + “U” to open the “Hue/Saturation” window. Use the following settings to set the hue and saturation.



Place this newly-made ribbon layer below the original ribbon layer, rotate it a bit, and reduce its opacity to 20% to give a nice shadow effect. Erase the upper part of this new layer, as shown below.

Step 15

Now, we’ll add some text on this badge. Create a new layer, select the Type Tool, and type in your text. Use color #eeeeee for text.

Step 16

Apply the following settings to create a drop shadow on the text layer(s).

Step 17

Now we will add some text in a circular path. Select the Ellipse Tool. Make sure to click on the icon of “Paths” from top options bar, and draw a circle on a new layer. Now select the Type Tool and take the cursor to your newly-drawn circle; you will notice a change in the cursor the moment it touches that circle. Type in your text, now: it should follow the circular path, as shown below.



You will notice two shapes on either side of your circular text. On the left side, there is an “X” sign, which indicates a point from where the text would start. On the right side of the text, there is an “O” sign, which indicates will end. So, by adjusting these two points, you can position your text accordingly. Use the Path Selection Tool to move these two points as needed.

Step 18

Now, to add text to the lower half of the circle, draw another circle and type in your text. Now select the Path Selection Tool, and take it to the text. It should show an arrow pointing inside of the circle; just drag the text inside the circle. After that, adjust the starting and ending points of the text to position it centrally, much like in step 17.

Step 19

Apply the same drop shadow settings that were used in step 16 to these new circular text layers.

Step 20

Create a new layer; select the Polygon Tool with the following settings to draw a star.



Duplicate this star layer few times, and arrange the stars as shown below.

Step 21

Select the Line Tool to draw a small horizontal line, duplicate it and place the lines as shown below.

Step 22

Click on one of the star layers and apply the following drop shadow settings.



Copy and paste this layer style settings onto all of the remaining star layers and horizontal line layers.

Step 23

Duplicate the hanging loop layer, turn the new copy black, position it at an angle, and reduce this layer’s opacity to 20% to form a nice shadow, much like the one from step 14.

Step 24

Duplicate the shape2 copy layer and place the new copy below the badge layers. Change the color to #000000 and reduce its opacity to 15%. Drag it downward and outward to form a shadow of the badge, as shown below.



That’s it! I hope you enjoyed the tutorial and learned something useful.