Tips & Tricks

How to Create a Vintage Photo Filter With Photoshop in 60 Seconds

How to Create a Vintage Photo Filter With Photoshop in 60 Seconds

Tuts+Photography
Final product image
What You'll Be Creating

In this quick video, I will show you how to create your own Photoshop Action for a cool vintage photo effect.

Photoshop in 60 Seconds: Vintage Filter Effect

Vintage photos take us back in time to a whole different world. And you can give your photos the beautiful look of old photography with a custom Photoshop action. In the video below, watch me create an easy Photoshop action for a vintage photo effect that incorporates both fade and texture.

If you want to create vintage and retro effects quickly, using one-click Photoshop actions, see this roundup of the best ones out there:

And feel free to download the Old Paper Stock image used in this video over on the Envato Tuts+ YouTube channel.

How to Create a Vintage Filter Action in Photoshop

Open your photo in Photoshop. Here I'll be using this Man Stock.

Pixabay Asian Man Stock
Man Stock

Go to Window > Actions, to open the Actions palette. Then hit the Folder and Paper icons to create a New Action Set and Action. Name your new action.

Create a New Action in Photoshop

Next, go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Levels. Adjust the Shadow Output Level to 56 and increase the Shadow Input Level to 23.

Adjust the Levels

Copy and Paste your Old Paper Reference onto the canvas, setting the Layer Blend Mode to Divide.

Paste the Old Paper Reference

Add two new Adjustment Layers: one for Curves, and the other for Color Lookup. Adjust the curve for the Blue Channel to add a yellow and blue tint to the photo. Then set the Color Lookup layer to FoggyNight.

Hit the Stop button on the Actions palette when you're finished, and feel free to Save this action for later photos.

Color Lookup Adjustment Layer

Here is the final result.

Vintage Photo Effect Photoshop Action Tutorial

Want to see this in action? Check out the video above to see this lesson at work!

4 Vintage Photoshop Actions

Love the look of retro photos? Browse the amazing selection of Photoshop Actions available through GraphicRiver and Envato Elements to create instant vintage effects! And check out a few of our favorites below.

Vintage Photoshop Action

How would your photo look if it were taken during the early 1900s? Find out with this incredible vintage action. This action is created using old charcoal and watercolor scans that result in an amazing effect. Download this action to get access to 16 different color variations.

Vintage Photoshop Action

Vintage Sketch Photoshop Action

Merge your love of old photos with a quick sketch effect with this awesome action. Tested on multiple versions of Photoshop for your convenience, this action includes 10 total color effects. Simply run the action after you open your photo to save hours of work!

Vintage Sketch Photoshop Action

Premium Vintage - Photoshop Actions

Create luxury photo effects with this incredible collection of Photoshop actions. This pack features five professional actions located in one organized file. Download today to get access to an additional help file for more instructions.

Premium Vintage - Photoshop Actions

Vintage Film Photoshop Actions

Are you a fan of retro films? Then showcase your love of this vintage art form with these incredible Photoshop actions. Inspired by vintage film like Fujifilm and more, this pack comes complete with 10 total actions. Create non-destructive photo effects easily with this essential action pack.

Vintage Film Photoshop Actions

60 Seconds?!

This is part of a series of quick video tutorials on Envato Tuts+ in which we introduce a range of subjects, all in 60 seconds—just enough to whet your appetite. Let us know in the comments what you thought of this video and what else you'd like to see explained in 60 seconds!

Want to learn more? Check out these awesome tutorials: