How to Create a Retro Effect in Adobe Photoshop

Posted on 20th June 2023

When you think of retro effects, what probably comes to mind are aged photos with cracking paint, old-school video games, and maybe some 8-bit music. But there’s a lot more to the retro style than that! In this tutorial, we’ll show you how to create a retro effect in Adobe Photoshop.

To start, open up your image in Photoshop. We’re going to be working with this image of a cityscape:

Next, go to Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation. Check the “Colorize” box and play around with the Hue, Saturation, and Lightness sliders until you get a look that you like. For this image, we went with a hue of 45, a saturation of 35, and a lightness of -10:

Now, go to Filter > Noise > Add Noise. Add a bit of noise to your image – we went with an amount of 5% and chose “Gaussian” for the distribution. You can also play around with the other options here to get different effects.

Next, go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Add a bit of blur to your image – we went with a radius of 2 pixels.

Now, go to Image > Adjustments > Levels. Adjust the levels of your image until you get a look that you like. For this image, we moved the black input slider to 20 and the white input slider to 200.

Finally, go to Image > Adjustments > Desaturate. This will remove the color from your image, giving it a more retro look.

And that’s it! You’ve now created a retro effect in Adobe Photoshop.

Assuming you have a photo that you would like to turn into a retro effect, open it up in Adobe Photoshop. In the layers panel, create a new adjustment layer by clicking on the half black and half white circle at the bottom of the panel. Next, select “Hue/Saturation” from the list of options. Check the “Colorize” box and move the hue slider until you find a color you like. You can also play around with the saturation and lightness sliders to get the perfect retro effect.

Now that you have the perfect color, it’s time to add some vintage effects. Go to Filter > Distort > Wave and play around with the settings until you get a look you like. Then, go to Filter > Artistic > Plastic Wrap and again, play around with the settings until you get the look you want.

To really make your image pop, go to Filter > Stylize > Glowing Edges. Again, play around with the settings until you get the perfect retro look.

Finally, to add a bit of grain and make the image look even more vintage, go to Filter > Noise > Add Noise. Add as much or as little noise as you like until you are happy with the results.

And that’s it! You now have a beautiful retro image that is sure to stand out.

In this tutorial, we will show you how to create a retro effect in Adobe Photoshop.

1. To start, open up your image in Photoshop. We are using this image.

2. Next, go to Image > Adjustments > Desaturate. This will remove the color from your image and leave it in black and white.

3. Now, go to Image > Adjustments > Threshold. Move the slider until you get a nice high contrast image.

4. Go to Image > Adjustments > Levels. Adjust the levels until you get a nice looking image.

5. Now, go to Filter > Stylize > Glitch. Adjust the settings until you get a retro looking image.

6. Finally, go to Image > Adjustments > Vibrance. Adjust the vibrance until you are happy with the results.

And there you have it! You have successfully created a retro effect in Adobe Photoshop.

Adobe Photoshop is a widely used program for crafting digital images. Many graphic designers use Photoshop to give their work a retro effect. This can be done by applying a few simple steps.

Create a New Document

First, open Adobe Photoshop and create a new document. To do this, go to File > New. A new window will pop up. In this window, you will need to set the width and height of your document. For this example, we will set the width to 8 inches and the height to 10 inches.

Next, you will need to set the Resolution. The resolution is the number of pixels per inch in your document. A higher resolution will result in a higher quality image, but will also result in a larger file size. For this example, we will set the resolution to 300 pixels/inch.

Finally, you will need to set the Background Contents. This will determine the color of the background of your document. For this example, we will set the Background Contents to White.

Once you have set all of the options, click OK to create your new document.

Add an Image

Next, you will need to add an image to your document. To do this, go to File > Open. A new window will pop up. In this window, you will need to navigate to the location of the image you wish to open. Once you have found the image, click on it and click Open.

Your image will now be added to your document.

Apply a Filter

Now, you will need to apply a filter to your image. Filters can be found under the Filter menu. For this example, we will apply the Oil Paint filter. To do this, go to Filter > Oil Paint. A new window will pop up.

In this window, you can adjust the options for the Oil Paint filter. For this example, we will leave the default options. Once you are satisfied with the options, click OK.

Your image will now have a retro effect.

Save Your Image

Finally, you will need to save your image. To do this, go to File > Save As. A new window will pop up. In this window, you will need to choose a location to save your image. Once you have chosen a location, click Save.

Your image will now be saved.

Conclusion

By following the steps above, you can easily give your images a retro effect using Adobe Photoshop.