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author: Xtro
introduction:
I've just got back from Prague. Great city, amazing architecture, but the beer! I don't think I've ever drank so much in my life. While I was there I did the usual touristy stuff, mainly because my wife insisted on taking a photo of everything and anything. Any how, it looks as though I can finally put at least one of these to good use (the photo, not my wife).
requirements:
Adobe Photoshop 6 or higher
target result:

step 1
Let's start with finding a good image. Take a look at this:


step 2
Pretty boring, really. Just to the left out of shot was this gorgeous Czech girl, but of course, on the right, just out of shot, was my wife. So you get a lovely view of the river. Time to photoshop it. First of all, we don't want any color. So, SHIFT+CRTL+U to desaturate it:


step 3
Good, now if you have any old photos handy, you'll see that back then the photos were of pretty bad quality. To cheat on this we're going to add some noise to it. Click Filter->Noise->Add noise. A window pops up. You can try out different values to see which you like best. I chose these settings:


step 4
Great. It's already beginning to look beat up. Ever wonder why old photos had that horrible white border? Me neither. Let's add one. First, add four guides. You do this by grabbing the rulers at the top and the left of the screen. I've put them 4 pixels inside our image:


step 5
Now check that Snap is on. to do this, click View->Snap. Is there a little tick next to it? if there isn't, click it. Now use the marquee tool (M) and drag it from one guide corner to the opposite. Now you should have dancing ants:


step 6
Good. No, not good. We don't want to select the photo. Click Select->Inverse:


step 7
That's better. Now click Edit->Fill. When the pop up window comes up, choose 'White' from the drop down menu:


step 8
Done. To deselect, press CRTL+D. We don't want the guides now, either, so click View->Clear guides. Time to change the color. Press CRTL+U to bring up the Hue/Saturation window. Incidentally, I'm giving you the keyboard shortcuts because YOU HAVE TO LEARN THEM! They spend up your work flow so much that they really are indispensable.


step 9
Very important! Make sure the 'Colorize' box is checked. I've really bumped up the Light setting, as this gives us a washed out effect. Dirt... Dirt adds lots to an old photo, and it is unique. I'm going to show you two ways of making gunk. Way one: The fun bit. Go and have a coffee. No really, go and have a coffee. Make sure you spill a bit. Get a piece of paper and stand the cup on it a couple of times. Let it dry then mangle the paper. Make it horrible and crumpled. Now scan it. If you don't have a scanner, take a photo of it. This is what I ended up with.


step 10
Drag it onto our photo and press CRTL+T to enter transform mode. Have a close look at the settings. I've rotated it by -90ยบ, I have also made it smaller.


step 11
Well that's crap, I hear you say. Have some faith! In the layer panel we have a new layer (layer 1). You see where it says 'Normal'. Well click the drop down menu and choose 'Multiply' or 'Linear Burn'.


step 12
Now who's ace? Right, find someone with long hair. Steal one. Scan it. This time I used 'Black and white bitmap' setting.


step 13
Before we can drag it onto our image, we need to convert it. Click Image->Mode->Greyscale. When the window pops up click ok. Now CRTL+T again and scale it:Before we can drag it onto our image, we need to convert it. Click Image->Mode->Greyscale. When the window pops up click ok. Now CRTL+T again and scale it:


step 14
Yes, I know. It looks horrible. Press CRTL+I to invert it. Now vhange the blend mode to 'Lighten'. I really need to clean my scanner:


step 15
Way two: Custom brushes: Yes, photoshop let's create our own brushes. Click Edit->Define brush set. Now our image is a brush! Well we don't want this so do a search on Google for 'photoshop brushes'. You will find literally thousands of free custom brushes to use. Look for one that looks like blood or something similar. Got it? Good. Now create a new layer. change the blend mode to 'Soft Light'. Make sure the foreground and background colors are at the black and white defaults:




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