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How to Make Pictures Look Like a Vintage Polaroid

Polaroids are instant photographs that were commonly used by photographers in the days before digital photography, when they needed to produce the image immediately. When you want to add a retro look to a project you can make your digital images appear vintage by converting them to a Polaroid style with a sepia tint. You will need a good graphics editing software to do this as you will need to work with layers and effects.

Things You'll Need

Graphics editing software

Instructions

- 1
  Create a new document in your graphics software.
- 2
  Double-click on the "Gradient" tool. Select a radial gradient and set the first color stop to a light brown and the second color stop a darker brown.
- 3
  Click on the "Filter" menu. Click on "Texture" then "Texturizer." Select a canvas texture. Click on "OK."
- 4
  Click on "Layer" followed by "New Layer." Name the layer "Polaroid Border." Click on the "Marquee" tool. Click and drag an area on the background the size that you would like the Polaroid to be. Set the foreground color to "#ffffff" and the background color to "#bbbbbb."
- 5
  Click on the "Filter" menu. Click on "Render." Select "Clouds." Go to the "Filter" menu, click on "Noise" and "Add Noise." Check the amount to 1.3 percent and the "Distribution" to "Gaussian."
- 6
  Click on "Image," then "Adjustments." Select "Hue/Saturation." Change the settings to "Hue 33, Saturation 30, Brightness +32." The Polaroid background will take on a brown tinge.
- 7
  Double-click on the right side of the "Polaroid Border" layer. Highlight the "Drop Shadow" checkbox in the "Layer Styles" window. Change the "Distance" and "Size" settings to "4." Click "OK."
- 8
  Drag the image that you would like to be the feature of the Polaroid into the work space. Place it in the Polaroid background and adjust the sizing so that it fits properly in the background. To do this click "Edit" and "Free Transform."
- 9
  Click on the photo layer. Click on "Image," then "Adjustments." Select "Hue/Saturation." Change the settings to "Hue 32, Saturation 30, Brightness -7."
- 10
  Click on "File." Choose "Save." Save your vintage Polaroid conversion.

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