How to Create a Vintage Photo Effect Action in Photoshop

Final product image — What You’ll Be Creating

In this tutorial, you will learn how to create a Photoshop action to add vintage photo effects to your photos. I will explain everything in so much detail that everyone can create it, even those who have just opened Photoshop for the first time.

Want to save time? Why not head on over to GraphicRiver and/or Elements, where you can purchase vintage photo effect actions and create amazing photo filters and effects fast.

You could also check out our recommended vintage photo effect Photoshop actions:

Photoshop Actions

20 Vintage Photo Effect Photoshop Actions & Old Retro Styles

Melody Nieves

What You’ll Need

To recreate the design above, you will need the following resources:

1. How to Start Creating an Action

Step 1

First, open the photo that you want to work with. To open your photo, go to File > Open, choose your photo, and click Open. Now, before we get started, just check a couple of things:

Your photo should be in RGB Color mode, 8 Bits/Channel. To check this, go to Image > Mode.
For best results, your photo size should be 2000–4000 px wide/high. To check this, go to Image > Image Size.
Your photo should be the Background layer. If it is not, go to Layer > New > Background from Layer.

Step 2

Now go to Window > Actions, and in the Actions panel click on the menu icon in the top right-hand corner, choose New Set to create a new set, and name it Vintage Effect. Then, click on the same menu icon again, choose New Action to create a new action, and name it Vintage Effect as shown below:

2. How to Add Textures

Step 1

In this section, we are going to add a few textures. Go to File > Place Embedded, select the texture from the first texture link, and click Place. Then, set the Width and Height of the texture to 125% and Angle to 90 as shown below. After that, name this layer Texture_1.

Step 2

Now change the Blending Mode of this layer to Multiply and set the Opacity to 60%.

Step 3

Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Black & White to create a new black and white adjustment layer and name it Texture_1_Desaturate.

Creating new black and white adjustment layer

Step 4

Now press Control-Alt-G on your keyboard to create a clipping mask. Then, change the Blending Mode of this layer to Color.

Step 5

Select the Background layer, go to File > Place Embedded, select the texture from the first texture link, and click Place. Then, set the Width and Height of the texture to 155% as shown below. After that, name this layer Texture_2.

Step 6

Now change the Blending Mode of this layer to Multiply and set the Opacity to 58%.

Step 7

Select the Texture_1_Desaturate layer and press Control-J on your keyboard to duplicate it. Then, drag this layer just above the Texture_2 layer in the Layers panel and press Control-Alt-G on your keyboard to create a clipping mask. After that, name this layer Texture_2_Desaturate.

3. How to Create the Textures

Step 1

In this section, we are going to create some textures. Select the Texture_1_Desaturate layer, go to Layer > New > Layer to create a new layer, and name it Vertical Grain.

Step 2

Now go to Edit > Fill, and set Contents to 50% Gray, Blending to Normal, and Opacity to 100% as shown below. Then, press Control-J on your keyboard to duplicate this layer.

Step 3

Hide this layer and select the Vertical Grain layer. Then, go to Filter > Filter > Gallery > Texture > Grain and set the Intensity to 40, Contrast to 50, and Grain Type to Vertical.

Step 4

Now change the Blending Mode of this layer to Soft Light and set the Opacity to 45%.

Step 5

Select and show the Vertical Grain copy layer. Then, go to Filter > Noise > Add Noise, set the Amount to 12.5% and Distribution to Gaussian, and check the Monochromatic option.

Step 6

Now go to Image > Auto Tone and then Image > Auto Contrast to make some auto-corrections to the layer’s tone and contrast. Then, change the Blending Mode of this layer to Soft Light and name it Noise.

4. How to Make the Final Adjustments

Step 1

In this section, we are going to make the final adjustments. Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Hue/Saturation to create a new hue/saturation adjustment layer and name it Overall Saturation.

Creating new hue and saturation adjustment layer

Step 2

Now change the Blending Mode of this layer to Color. Then, Double-click on this layer thumbnail and, in the Properties panel, set the Saturation to -60.

Step 3

Press D on your keyboard to reset the swatches. Then, go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Gradient Map to create a new gradient map adjustment layer and name it Overall Contrast.

Creating new gradient map adjustment layer

Step 4

Now change the Blending Mode of this layer to Vivid Light and set the Opacity to 38%.

Step 5

Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Levels to create a new levels adjustment layer, and name it Overall Brightness.

Step 6

Now Double-click on this layer thumbnail and, in the Properties panel, enter the settings below:

Step 7

Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Gradient Map to create a new gradient map adjustment layer and name it Color Look.

Step 8

Now Double-click on this layer thumbnail, and then in the Properties panel, click on the gradient to open up the Gradient Editor panel and enter the settings below:

Adjusting gradient map — The left color stop has color 592d0a, and the right color stop has color fede5d.

Step 9

Change the Blending Mode of this layer to Screen and set the Opacity to 30%.

Step 10

Now press Control-Alt-Shift-E on your keyboard to make a screenshot, and then press Control-Shift-U to desaturate this layer. Then, go to Filter > Other > High Pass and set the Radius to 10 px.

Step 11

Change the Blending Mode of this layer to Soft Light and set the Opacity to 50%. Then, name this layer Overall Sharpening.

You Made It!

Congratulations, you have succeeded! You have now learned how to create a vintage, faded photo effect action using various photo filters and effects. Here is our final result: