A thing I really enjoy doing is Photo Aging - making new pictures look old, like you can see in this fabulous contest. I used Photoshop CS2 for this, but I am sure any version or even any other program can basically do the same.
1. The right choice of pictureIt's a thing easily overlooked or underestimated, but the original choice of picture is vital when it comes to photo aging.Modern items or things will, when the photo is transformed into its old look, be irritating. Those modern sneakers you don't notice in the normal picture look like abominations in an aged picture. Portraits will do well as aging bases (and they make great gifts when aged), but remember to keep modern things out of them: A TV in the background or a too-modern tank top ruin the whole impression. Choose a picture that might fit into yonder times. Also, it has to be a good, clear, crisp pic to start with, because there is enough blurring and smudging to come. ;)In this case, I chose a picture of the Cologne skyline with the Cathedral. It's a rather boring, uninventive pic, but believe me - it will grow on you. Once you start aging it.
2. Converting it to b&wThe first step sounds easy, but has some traps.Dupe (duplicate) the original layer. Call it "b&w" or some such and desaturate it (image adjustments desaturate). Desat simply is seldom enough, though (this is the trap). Make sure you go to edit fade desaturate and change the mode to "color". It makes a huge difference.3. FramingWhat I also did at this stage was adding a small white frame already. Go to the background and enlarge the canvas (image canvas size). Most old pictures have a frame of some sorts, most simple is this white version. We will play with it later, too. :)
So here is a b&w picture now - but it doesn't look old at all, right?
4. Yellowing (Sepia Tint)Old pictures often have this yellowed and washed-out look. There are several ways to achieve this (like using Hue/Saturation with the colorize box checked), but the one I prefer is using layers, again. This enables you to change layer modes and opacity later.Open up a new layer on top. Fill it with white. Ooops, gone is your image for now, but never mind. ;) Make another new layer on top and fill it with some brownish-beige color. (I used #878737 in this case, but it really can be different.) Play around a bit to see what you like.Now we want to see our photo again. Lower the opacity of the two new layers (you named them "white" and "sepia", right?). Play around with layer opacities until you like the result. In this case, I used 16 for the white layer and 25 for the beige layer.The good thing about this way is that, as you move along, you can always correct this step. You may add layers upon layers of things and, in the very end, decide you might like less yellow - or more - and you can do that whenever you like.Here is what you should have now:
5. Grain, noise and textureNow you will do the first real aging magic! :)Just to be safe, I'd do this in yet another dupe layer of the b&w version. The changes we do now are irreversible (except by going back in the history to previous snapshots, of course).Noise!Go to filter noise add noise.Make sure to check "Gaussian" and monochromatic and choose the amount of noise you want. I used 3%, but you can safely use up to ten.Grain!Go to filter texture grain. The settings to the right should be more or less like this:
Oh look! This looks older already!
6. Tilt!It does look older, but somehow... too straight. Keep in mind old photos were developed by hand. The layer you are working with is smaller than the canvas anyways (you enlarged that, remember?). Take it and free transform it. Tilt it slightly to one side. Yay!
7. There shall be lightStill remembering the darkrooms of old (not what YOU are thinking) and the development by hand? Ever noticed that the edges of those old photos often look darkened? We want that, too! So we need a vignette.Go to filter render lighting effects. Here are the settings that worked well for me:
Another way of doing this would be adding an empty layer, then selecting an oval roughly around the center, feathering the selection sufficiently, then inverting it, filling the outer selection with black, then deselecting, gaussian blurring the black "frame", then setting the layer mode to multiply and the opacity down to something between 5 and 30. Or you do it differently yet - there are many ways to achieve a dark vignette look. Feel free to choose your own.
8. Contrast, perhaps?At this point, I had the impression that too much contrast got lost during the graining and noising process, and I wanted more kawoom. So I added an adjustment layer of brightness/contrast and kawoomed the contrast up to +45.This is not the only solution for every photo aging, though. Some old photos are slightly overexposed (you could do this will adjustment layers of curves or levels), other have extremely low contract. Others again look very dark. At this point, you can really choose among a load of "flaws" that your photo might have. Take your time to consider which one suits the mood of the picture best.So this could be your final version:
Yes, it could be. But you'd miss all the fun!
6. Pimp my pic - blotches, scratches and grunge stuffOld pics are USED. They were handed down, pinned to walls, folded and stamped. The real fun about aging photos is coffee stains and scratches, blotches and thumb prints. It's like playing in the mud, but without mud. ;)Again, I use different layers for different types of stains and scratches. I am anal about layers, yes, but there is another reason for this. As you know, photos are about composition. The stains and scratches will be part of your composition here. Some old pictures look charming, others look just ruined. We opt for charming, not for ruined, and that means that your huge coffee stain will never cover the little girl's face - it will curl picturesquely around it! The scratches can add interesting diagonals to your picture and lead the eye, or they can be used to cover a disturbingly modern item in the picture.So they have to be used wisely, probably have to be moved later, the opacity has to be played with, and for all of this, the layers.If you make the scratches and stains on different layers, you can switch them on and off to judge their effect, or move them around in the picture to see where they look best, or free transform them.But how do we GET all that fun stuff upon our photo?Custom BrushesThe magic word is "custom brushes". Custom brushes are easily made and extremely useful. There are, of course, tons and tons of free photoshop brushes downloadable on the internet. If you look for "custom photoshop brushes" and words like "grunge", "stains", "splatter" or "old", you will find heaps.If you want to use them in a photo contest, though, you will have to make them yourself. Many of the brushes are copyrighted (even if they are free for private use). Besides, using them in a photo contest is dubious, because they are images in themselves: If they were not made by you, they are against the photo rules - unless specifically stated otherwise in the contest rules.AND - it's so much more fun to MAKE them! And it's really easy! You need the stain or scratch, then you click edit define brush preset - and whichever picture you have on screen is made into a brush! Have a look at Kimbomac's great tutorial about making customized brushes.Just keep in mind: If you use stains and blotches, make them dark: dark brown or gray is perfect. If you use scratches, make them light (mostly white).Your ScannerToo complicated? Don't want to make brushes at all? A shame, but there is another quick and dirty way to add grunge.Use a whole sheet of paper. Crumble it. Fold it. Splash coffee on it. Place the coffee cup on it several times to leave marks. Do whatever you wish. Then, scan the whole dirty beast. (You can make this is several steps and scan a "crumbled and folded" sheet and a "stained" sheet, or all in one - whichever you prefer).Scanned? Great. Copy it into your picture. Free transform it until it fits. Now set the layer mode to multiply. Yay!Same thing with the scratches. Use different kinds of hairs and scan them. Use the "black and white bmp" setting of the scanner to make sure you to get a scratchy look. You have to convert it back to jpg before you can use it on your photo, btw. Copy onto your photo, and set the layer mode to lighten or screen.Yay again! Here are all the changes I made using both techniques:
Now this is it. Here is your "before - after" shot:
Have fun playing with photo aging. If you have any further questions, do not hesitate to send me a PM.