Monday, February 13, 2012

Old Photo Effect With A Touch Of Colour

Here's the result of trying to simulate and old photo feel, but with some added colour. I used the following photo as a basis for what old looks like.

Taking note of the following characteristics:
  • Blurred edges
  • Grainy print
  • Stained edges
I went ahead and shopped the following:
  • Used Artistic > Film Grain filter
  • Gaussian blur masked by a radial gradient with the start of the gradient offset by 50%
  • Black & White adjustment layer with tint, and manually adjusted to best bring out pattern of shirt in photo.
  • Added mask to B&W adjustment layer and used grey to to partially expose some original colors.
  • Slightly reduced opacity of B&W layer to give a little overall color.
  • Added a radial gradient to the border with a tan colour and gave it Multiply blend mode.
Result is shown below.  Overall I'm pretty happy with it.  However, I wish I could have reproduced the randomness of the stained border in the true old photo, rather than just using a radial gradient.

BEFORE:
AFTER: