How to create a film photography effect in Photoshop. Turning digital photography into a film-shot masterpiece

At one time, my acquaintance with curves was not very productive - it took me a lot of time and effort to understand how it works. Therefore, today I will try to clearly explain how it helps in photo processing, as well as show the results of its use.

Tool Curves got its name due to a specific way of working with two basic derivatives of light: tone and contrast. Essentially, all actions are performed using points on the diagonal line of the histogram and moving them along it. It looks a bit like magic, but no - once you understand the basic principles, you will understand that working with a curve is more convenient than with sliders.

The tool is primarily needed for complex adjustment of contrast in the image, since it is the contrast in halftones that is more important for perception. Curves make better use of limited dynamic range. And if now image processing is a very simple matter, then in times film photography this was problematic. It is thanks to the use different types curves, each film reflected the footage in its own way. Most often these were variations of the S-shaped line, so my work with photographs usually involves editing photos using this particular curve.

On a desktop, many programs allow you to fully work with curves, for example Adobe Lightroom or Photoshop. The same cannot be said about mobile solutions. The free Lightroom Mobile is a good place to start, but I recommend Enlight, a paid app for advanced photo editing. In it you will find a full-fledged Curves tool with all desktop capabilities.

The main concept behind curves is that it is impossible to add contrast in one tonal range without reducing it in another. Therefore, you need to decide what to spend your “stock” of contrast on. It could be uniform distribution(simple diagonal) or redistribution (arbitrary curve).

To achieve a filmy effect in a photograph, you can use the S-curve mentioned above. Moreover, in Enlight you can do this in several channels: Red, Blue, Green and the general RGB channel. Their peculiarity lies in working with only one color and its contrast in the picture. Experiment with all the curve settings and you will get incredible results. It's much more convenient and deeper than a simple toning tool. Don't forget also that for full processing you will need to shoot in

IN Lately Old-school style processing has become especially popular among photographers; such photographs remind us of stills from retro films. There are many special presets and actions for creating this effect, but in this tutorial we will show you how to achieve this effect yourself in 3 simple steps in Adobe Lightroom.

What do we mean by film effect?

Before proceeding directly to processing, let's figure out what characteristics film effect photography has. As an example, I took several photographs to clearly show this effect. It is also worth saying that there are several styles of such photographs, this is not difficult to guess, because film comes in many different types. For fun, check out the most popular: Velvia, Provia, Kodak Gold, and Ilford Delta.

When I began to get acquainted with film photography, I noticed that in most cases the black and white points in the photographs were shifted. The black in the photo is not quite black, but dark gray, and the white, in turn, is light gray.

This photograph demonstrates the result of the shift in black and white points that is so characteristic of film. On the left side of the image is the darkest point of the entire image, but as we can see, this area is far from black, it is dark gray. And the lightest point, which is located in the lamp area, is also not pure white, but light gray.

The dynamic range of film photography is very wide, i.e. There are many tonal transitions between the darkest and lightest parts. One of the most important features Film photography is characterized by low contrast between the white and black points of the image. The film is produced in medium tones, and this is its key property.

Colors

Summarize color characteristics Film photography is impossible due to the fact that film is very different and conveys colors in different ways. By creating a film effect, we can choose a more suitable color scheme for the frame.

Film photography is unique in its own way. This photo is imperfect technical side– deep shadows fade into a blue tint, but it is pleasant for visual perception, the film makes the photograph truly special.

Luckily, we can recreate the film effect in graphics programs. I'll show you a few simple ways make your photo look like film.

Grain

Regardless of the quality of the photosensitive surface, grain is a constant companion of many types of film. In the pursuit of technical perfection in photography, many people try to get rid of grain and noise. I grew up with film and therefore have a different attitude towards grain; in my opinion, it gives a photograph its flair.

In this photo, the grain is especially noticeable in the shadow areas, which makes the portrait look great. You can achieve such graininess by just moving one slider in the programLightroom.

So, the features of film photography are: offset black and white points, color and grain. Now we can start processing.

Working with Curves

The best way to emulate the film black point and white point settings we discussed above is to use Curves. We will do this in just a couple of seconds by changing the appearance of the curve.

You will find the Curves module on the right side of the program screen, it is called Tone Curve. I use a point curve (there is also a parametric curve), it allows you to adjust the ranges of the photograph by moving the curve itself. To switch the mode, click on the icon in the lower right corner of the module.

Click the icon to switch the curve display mode.

Now the appearance of the curve has changed somewhat, and points have appeared on it.

We can see that the box now displays dots in the lower left and upper right corners.

Roughly speaking, the point in the lower left corner is responsible for the black color (the black point), and the point in the upper right corner, respectively, for White color. Now we can adjust these points and bring the image to the desired look.

To turn black into dark gray, simply click on the point responsible for black and drag it from the corner a little higher. In the example below you can see how the black color has changed to dark grey.

Original photo

By moving the point from the bottom left corner up, we ensured that the black turned into dark gray, and the contrast of the entire image decreased.

To turn white into light gray, move the other end of the curve down. Notice the carousel ring, it turned light gray after the changes were made.

By moving the point responsible for white, we got light gray tones.

So, with the help of incredibly simple manipulations, we are closer to the desired result: our photo resembles a classic film photo.

Working with color

Another important point in creating a film effect is adjusting the color of the photo. At this stage, you are literally not limited by any boundaries; you can experiment and create a wide variety of color stylizations.

To work with color, I use the Hue, Saturation and Luminance (HSL) module. Having opened the module, select the Color tab. Here we can control the brightness, saturation and hue of each color separately.

Use the color bar to adjust the colors of your image.

Try lowering the blue value and, conversely, increasing the green tones. Use yellow and purple colors to make the photo more vintage.

Adding grain

And the final step in processing is adding grain. In the Develop module, find the Effects panel section and change the position of the slider responsible for adding grain (this subsection is called Adding grain). To have full control over the application of this effect, zoom in on the image.

Move the slider slowly so as not to overdo the effect.

Zooming in on the image, I set the Amount slider to approximately the middle. The Size and Roughness values ​​are selected individually for each photo. For my photo, the values ​​shown in the image above were ideal. Large grain makes the image look like a film photo taken at high ISO.

Making a preset

To avoid having to do this work over and over again and waste your time, Lightroom has the ability to record all your actions in presets, so that you can later apply the settings specified in the preset to other photos. To do this, find the Presets panel and click on the plus sign icon.

To create a new preset, click on the plus sign in the upper right corner

In the window that appears, uncheck all the parameters that were not used. If you followed my tutorial, then leave the checkboxes next to Tone Curve, Treatment (Color), Grain and Process Version.

Make sure to only check those options that were adjusted when you created the effect.

To apply a saved effect when working with other images, we open the Presets section and select the required preset from the list.

Conclusion

Following this lesson, in a few very simple steps you can create a film effect that will give your photo a very special mood. Experiment with color, curve and grain settings to create your own unique style.

Processing images “to look like film” is quite a popular trend that is gaining more and more fans. Instagram and popular mobile applications, allowing you to apply various photo effects by simply pressing a button. In fact, most of the effects used in such applications are photo processing for film. Indeed, in the pre-digital era, there was a huge number of different photographic films, many of which gave their own, unique image.

You can achieve the effect of a film photo in different ways. But one of the best and easiest is to use Alien Skin Exposure. Exposure 5 was a great experience big way. The original version was a simple Photoshop plugin with very limited functionality. Today it is an independent program that can be used for color correction without resorting to Photoshop or other “heavyweight”.

At the same time, Exposure can still be called as a plug-in for Photoshop, Lightroom and Aperture. In Photoshop, Exposure is called through the filter menu, like any other plugin.

To open the program in Lightroom, right-click on the image, select Edit in and look for our Exposure in the menu that appears.

Let's look at how to do film-like processing using Alien Skin Exposure 5.

To correct the exposure (for example, you need to make the photo lighter), use the MidTone slider from the Tone Curve tool block. Also pay attention to the presets of this block

Official examples

Vintage processing for one of the first Calotype photo processes. As well as frames and “scuffs” to enhance the effect of antiquity

Gritty Lo-Fi - a combination of dim colors, slight blurriness inherent in the plastic lenses of the first point-and-shoot cameras, combined with the specific color rendition of Polaroid SX-70 film and slight vignetting

Velvia 100F slide film effect is well suited for landscapes and nature due to its rich colors and high contrast

Film imitation Portra 160 NC - good for portraits. Muted color saturation and low contrast make skin color more natural

Imitation of Kodak HIE infrared film - whitens greens, darkens blue sky and adds a slight Glow effect

Imitation of a slightly toned black and white photo taken using the high key technique, with a slight glamorous glow

Imitation of one of the first color Kodachrome films, produced from the 30s to the 60s of the last century

Conclusion

Alien Skin Exposure is one of the most powerful and useful tools for film color grading. Considering that such processing is now in fashion, it can greatly simplify the life of both commercial photographers, for example those who are engaged in wedding photography, and beginners who simply want to get an interesting, non-standard result without going into all the intricacies of color correction.

Moreover, if you shoot in Jpeg, then you don't even need Photoshop or Lightroom for processing. If we are talking only about color correction for the original style or photo film, only one Exposure will be enough.

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to create an old film effect in Photoshop using textures, adjustment layers, and filters. With this technique you can easily create a vintage effect with a realistic film effect.

Step 1

We create new document 860 x 640 pixels in size with a black background. After that, add a paper texture above and set it Opacity(opacity) by 30%. Above we apply adjustment layers: Hue/Saturation(Hue/Saturation) and Levels(Levels) and transform them into clipping masks for the texture below (Ctrl+Alt+G).

Above, create a new layer and call it “Mask”. Fill this layer with white.

Step 2

On a new layer, paste the texture of the old film and set its blending mode to Multiply(Multiplication).

Go to the “Mask” layer and use RectangularMarqueeTool(M) (Rectangular Selection) Create three selections as shown below. To create several separate selections at the same time, after adding the first one, hold down the Shift key and create two more.

At the bottom of the layers panel, click on the button Addlayermask(Add a layer mask).

Step 3

Add a retro photo with a woman above the layer with the mask. Right-click on the layer with the woman and select CreateClippingMask(Create clipping mask) or use the key combination Ctrl+Alt+G.

Above the layer with the woman, add a new layer and call it “Frame”. By using RectangularMarqueeTool(M) (Rectangular selection) create two selections of the lower and upper borders of the film strip. After creating the first selection, hold down the Shift key and create a second one. Fill the selection with #ababab color.

Hue/Saturation(Hue/Saturation) to desaturate the picture.

Step 4

Go back to the top layer with the film and create an adjustment layer above Levels CreateClippingMask(Create a clipping mask).

Create a new layer and paste a seamless noise texture with blending mode onto it Screen(Lightening).

Add an adjustment layer above Levels(Levels). Right-click on it and select CreateClippingMask(Create a clipping mask).

Step 5

Let's take it eraserTool(E) (Eraser) and, using one of the grunge brushes, remove some of the noise, especially at the top and bottom borders of the film.

If you want to add more vintage effects, then again insert the noise texture with the blending mode Darken(Blackout). After that, press Ctrl+I to invert the texture colors.

Step 6

Then apply a blur to the same layer Filter- Blur-MotionBlur(Filter - Blur - Motion Blur). Angle(Angle) is set to 90, and Distance(Distance) - by 220 pixels. As a result, we got thin, barely noticeable vertical stripes.

Add an adjustment layer above Levels(Levels) and transform it into a clipping mask (Ctrl+Alt+G).

Congratulations, you did it!

This is what the final result of the lesson on creating a vintage picture with the effect of an old film looks like.

If you try to identify a trend in post-processing during recent years, then this can perhaps be said about the desire to return to the old school, film photography. There are many sets of presets and actions that will help take your photo back in time. However, in this tutorial, you'll learn how to create and customize this look in three easy steps using Adobe Lightroom.

Definition of Film Style

In order for our picture to look like a film photograph, we need to understand what distinguishes a film photograph. Although each film is unique, there are general features, which distinguish film photography. View a variety of popular films such as Velvia, Provia, Kodak Gold, and Ilford DeltaVelvia to appreciate the variety of styles.

When I started studying film, the most interesting thing I noticed was that there were usually no absolute blacks and whites. This means that areas of black are actually very dark gray, and even the lightest parts of the photo are very light gray.

In this photo, the black and white points have been changed, which in my opinion characterizes the film. The left side of the photo is the darkest, but not completely black, instead it is dark gray. And even the lightest areas are not pure white, but very light gray.

The film captures a huge dynamic range, the amount of detail taken between absolute black and absolute white. The common feature of film photographs is that these black dots and white dots do not contrast completely. Instead, film photographs have more light in the midtones, and replicating this effect is key to creating a film style.

Color Setting

It is impossible to generalize the color characteristics of film photographs. This is because colors vary greatly from film to film and are unlikely to be generalizable. In fact, what I love about film is that we have many options and ways to work with the color spectrum if we change the film.

There is a certain color style to this photo that I find unique to film photography. With strong shades of blue, the photo doesn't pretend to be a technically perfect photograph, but it does have a unique visual style.

Luckily, the digital darkroom allows us to adjust the color in an image without having to change film types! In this tutorial, I'll show you how to create several types of color settings to recreate a unique look.

Grain as a Characteristic Feature

No matter how good camera sensors are, the grain that can be seen on many types of film is a feature that is difficult to reproduce. When you strive for a technically perfect photo, you try to remove grain and noise. But after I began to study film photography, I developed an appreciation and understanding of how to add flavor to grain in photography.

The grain in the shadow areas of this portrait shows off a unique film grain quality that I really appreciate. In this tutorial, I'll show you how to replicate it in Lightroom with easy slider adjustments.

We have identified black and white points, chroma and grain as characteristic features of film photography. With these characteristics in mind, we can start building our film simulation in Lightroom.

Working with Curves

It is better to imitate features with black and white points using tone curves. With minor changes, we will change the black and white points as we discussed above.

To get started with the panel Tone Curve, you need to log into the Lightroom module Develop and scroll down to find the panel on the right side.

To change curves, click the button in the lower right corner of the curves panel. This will change the view and there will be points on the curve that we can click and drag to make changes.

Click the button in the lower right corner in the panel Tone Curve to start changing the curve.

Enable the option to change curves by clicking on the icon in the lower right corner of the panel Tone Curve. You will see changes in the window and dots will appear on the tone curve.

After turning on the dots on the tone curve, you will notice small dots in the lower left and upper right corners.

Before we start changing the tone curve, we need to understand what it shows us. I'll use the dot on the left to change the black points of the photo, and the dot on the right to control the white point. With these two controls we can adjust the black and white points, in accordance with our previous comments.

To turn a black dot into a dark gray dot, grab the dot in the bottom left corner and drag it up. In the example below, you can notice that the darkest point of the photo turns from black to dark gray.

This is an original photo, without any adjustments.

Dragging the left point up adjusts the black points for the curves. You will notice that the contrast in the image begins to decrease and the blacks begin to fade into the dark gray range.

At the other end of the tone curve, drag the point down to move the white point into the very light gray range. You'll see in the example image that the light areas at the top of the fair photo take on very light gray tones.

Dragging the right point down moves the white points into the light gray range.

With the Curves panel we have taken a huge step towards film simulation. Black and white dots are what most people characteristic feature film photography. However, many more changes need to be made to recreate the film effect.

Color change

Another important point to create a film effect is to adjust the sliders that control the color of the photos. At this point, you will have literally unlimited options for applying color settings. This step is great for experimenting and creating multiple design styles and colors.

To do this, in the Develop module we use panels Hue, Saturation and Luminance (HSL). I press tab Color to access the maximum number of settings. When we do this, we can control the saturation, brightness, and hue for each of the colors in the color spectrum.

Use the color panel to adjust colors and create own style film photography.

This way you can adjust the colors for the entire photo. Try settings like reducing blues significantly and boosting greens. Increase the yellows and purples to give the photo a more vintage look, or the greens to make it age.

Adding Grain

As a final tweak, we can add grain for a more organic look. In the Develop module, scroll down until you find the Effects panel, which has the option to add grain.

To properly add grain, zoom in. Only when you scale will you have an accurate idea of ​​how much grain is being added to the image.

Working with 100% size and gradually adding grain will ensure you don't overdo it. Use the sliders to fine-tune the grain in your photos.

After scaling, I drag the quantity slider to the middle. The "size" and "roughness" sliders are ideal for adjusting the grain in your images. Larger, coarser grains characterize high ISO films, while smaller grain sizes characterize medium ISO films. This easy simple The adjustment will increase the degree of similarity of the photo to film and help simulate the grain characteristic of photographic film.

Keeping the Style

Once you've set up your film style, you may want to save the position of the sliders so you don't have to adjust them every time you need to repeat the style. The best way to do this is to save the settings you tweaked as a preset. To do this, put on the panel Presets on the left and click the plus button.

Click the plus button in the top right corner of the Presets panel to save your new preset.

When the next window appears, you need to uncheck all the checkboxes except the ones you have applied. If you followed this tutorial exactly, you should leave a checkmark for Tone Curve, Treatment (Color),Grain And Process Version. Being selective about what to check off allows you to use some settings and leave others untouched and then adjust them separately, such as the exposure of a photo.

Selectivity when choosing preset options allows us to set only those settings that we used when simulating film.

In the future, just click the preset you saved in the panel Presets to apply it to your synchronizations with one click. Also consider creating multiple presets with different color, grain, and curve settings, saving them as a custom style.

Let's summarize

In a few simple steps, you can create a film photography look in Lightroom. With settings for curves, color, and external grain, you can easily recreate the film effect. Experiment with color combinations, grain and curves to create different film variations.