How to Create a VHS HUD Design and Vintage Photo Effect in Photoshop

In this tutorial, we will use Adobe Photoshop to create a retro photo effect and add a VHS HUD design to it.

You can also check my VHS Template created the same way for my GraphicRiver portfolio.

Tutorial Assets

The following assets were used during the production of this tutorial:

• Photo
• VCR-OSD-Mono font
• VHS Texture

1. How to Prepare the Document

Step 1

Use Control-N to create a new document and use the following settings: 3000 x 2000 px; 300 dpi.

Step 2

Go to File > Place and put your image inside the document.

Step 3

Right-Click on the layer and then click Convert to Smart Object.

2. How to Create a Retro Photo Effect

Step 1

Select the smart object and then go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and use the following settings: Radius: 3 px.

Step 2

Create two duplicates of your smart object using Right-Click > Duplicate.

Step 3

Double Click on the first duplicate of the smart object and Uncheck the Green and Blue color channels. After that, Uncheck the Red and Green color channels of the second duplicate.

Step 4

Move the first duplicate 20 px to the left while holding Shift, and then move the second duplicate 20 px to the right while holding Shift.

Step 5

Now we need to create color correction layers. Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Hue/Saturation and set the Hue to -25.

Step 6

Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Exposure and use the following settings: Offset: +0.0050.

Step 7

Now let’s add a texture to create a more realistic retro photo effect. Place the VHS texture above all the layers, and change the Blending Mode to Screen.

This is how our image will look after all the manipulations listed above:

3. How to Create a VHS HUD Design

Step 1

Hit U and select the Rectangle Tool. Then create a shape with the following settings: Width: 550 px; Height: 15 px.

Step 2

Create another shape with the following settings: Width: 415 px; Height: 15 px. Place it perpendicularly to the first shape.

Step 3

Select the shape layers while holding Shift, and select Merge Shapes. Then create three duplicates of the layer using Right-Click > Duplicate.

Step 4

Rotate each shape while holding Shift to create a rectangle figure and arrange the shapes to form a frame.

Step 5

Now we need to create another frame. Create shapes as we did before but with the following settings of each rectangle: Width: 4 px; Height: 100 px. After that, place it in the center of the document as shown in the image below:

Step 6

Create a cross in the center of the document made by two rectangles with the following settings: Width: 2 px; Height: 140 px.

Step 7

Now we need to create the record icon of the VHS HUD. Hit U > Ellipse Tool and after that create a red ellipse in the top-left corner near the frame, with the following settings: Width: 70 px; Height: 70 px. 

Step 8

Click T and create a new text layer in the top-left corner, right after the record icon.

Step 9

Create another text layer and place it in the bottom-left corner, near the frame.

Step 10

And finally, let’s create the timecode element of the VHS HUD and place it in the top-right corner of the frame.

Awesome Work, You’re Now Done!

Your retro photo effect with the VHS HUD design is ready! In this manner, we can create vintage-looking photo effects in Adobe Photoshop using smart objects, shapes, and free fonts.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial; please feel free to contact me for any help with the techniques we covered. You can also check my VHS Template with more similar effects and a great variety of VHS textures in my portfolio on GraphicRiver.

Looking to learn more? Why not check out the following tutorials:

• 
  Photoshop Effects
  How to Create VHS Glitch Art in Adobe Photoshop
  Ivan Gromov

• 
  Animation
  How to Create a Glitch Animated Gif Action in Adobe Photoshop
  Ivan Gromov