How/why was this done?

[ddeerreekk]

I've noticed in quite a few pictures an effect that makes them look somewhat 'vintage' and faded, and wondering how you'd achieve this effect in photoshop. Here are two examples of what I mean:

Inked by *jaimeibarra on deviantART
When The Tough fall in love... by *jaimeibarra on deviantART
[not my photos]

I was able to get a similar effect using solid, light green layers with the blending modes set to color and screen, with varying opacity. I'm not sure if there is a better way to do it.

That brings me to my next thought - is this an effective way of processing a photo? Or is it just a sort of fad or something like that? I would always think to get my blacks a true black and have the white balance right on.

Thoughts?

 

[ann]

it is only effective if that is the way you wish the photo to appear.

 

[MyGrafico]

the blending modes is what I would of thought of too.. sometimes you can also take down the saturation down on the orgianal as well.

 

[platano]

ok, i think i got the solution for you, some people might think of this as "cheating" but it will work.

download this photoshop action from here

Photoshop Color Actions 2 by ~AliceInUnderland on deviantART

install it and just hit the "play" button and enjoy. actions are just fast and easy ways that you can add effects to images. If you have any questions, just hit me up.

 

[William Petruzzo]

That faded effect is pretty simple. It's done using the curves tool to bring up the black point and bring down the white point. I wrote about it in a post a couple months ago. There's a reasonably detailed explanation on how to do it:
http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...oing-through-antiquing-phase.html#post1576293

The tint is probably best achieved using the color balance adjustment layer and tweaking the midtones.

As to whether or not it's 'valid'? That's a loaded word. For most people, it's probably a fad. You'll just have to try it and find out for yourself.