Add the hipster vintage look to photos with Photoshop CS6

Learn how to utilise Adobe Camera Raw as a creative tool, and add cool retro effects to your shots.

The option to add retro effects to your photographs is now a necessary gizmo in any self-respecting picture editor on the App Store. In fact, adding retro effects to pics on your mobile phone has made a few people as rich as Croesus.
Don't forget to check out our Photoshop CS6 review.

Forget these automated apps, though! In this tutorial we'll show you how to add these effects by hand, using Adobe Camera Raw in Photoshop CS6 (and earlier versions), to any picture you select. Not happy with the final result? You have the choice to tweak your settings until you get the right result.

So, get prepared to dive in. We have even supplied an picture to help you start.

01.  Square crop

Open the picture from the link above in Adobe Camera Raw (ACR). Click onthe Crop tool and select one:1 aspect ratio fromthe drop-down. Select the Straighten tool and mark a line along the horizon of the lake.

02.  Split tone

Move to the Split Tone tab and select a yellowish hue for the highlights (about 60) and set Saturation to about 40. Set the shadows’ Hue slider to about 230 and the Saturation slider to 40 to give the darker tones a blue tint.

03.  Border effects

 

Select the Graduated Filter from the main menu. Set Exposure to -4.00 & Brightness to -200. Make a mark about 10mm in from edge & generate a very tiny gradient of about 2mm. Repeat this on all sides to make a thick black border.

04.  Add a vignette

 

For the finishing touches to the image, we’ll darken the corners to help draw the viewer’s eye into the frame and add to the retro style. Go to the E ffects tab and set the Post Crop Vignette Amount to about -50.