Make a photo look vintage in five minutes
Fade the blacks, warm the colours, then add paper, dust and grain at low opacity. Pick the overlays to match the era you want.
A vintage photo is mostly about what is missing: deep blacks, clean whites and loud colour. Take those away, add a little texture, and the photo looks old. Here is a five minute version with free overlays.
Step by step
- Fade it. Add a Curves layer. Drag the bottom left point up a little (milky blacks) and the top right point down a little (soft whites).
- Warm it. Add a Photo Filter layer (Warming 85) at about 25%, or lower the blue channel slightly in Curves.
- Calm the colour. Lower Saturation by 15–25% with a Hue/Saturation layer.
- Paper. Place old book page or aged paper with stains on top, set it to Multiply, opacity 20–40%.
- Dust. Place worn photo print, set it to Screen, opacity 50–80%.
- Grain last. Place ISO 800 medium grain, set it to Overlay, opacity 30–50%.
Pick the era
| Look | What to change |
|---|---|
| 1970s colour print | Stronger warm cast, add golden hour haze in Screen |
| Old black and white | Desaturate fully, use ISO 3200 grain and archive print wear |
| Home movie still | Super 8 grain and projector scratch lines |
| Faded snapshot | Lift blacks more, little texture, subtle peach glow |
Less is more. If you can see each effect on its own, lower the opacity. The photo should look old, not filtered.