Use Adjustment Layers for a bleached photo effect

One of our favourite Photoshop tricks is to age an image to give it the look of an old, bleach photo print. This bleached photo effect is very easy to achieve using Adjustment Layers.

How to use Adjustment Layers to create a bleached photo effect

Our original image

Below, we show you how to achieve this classic gritty, desaturated look in just 4 simple steps.

Step 1: Improve the contrast 
Open your original image and press Cmd/Ctrl+J to copy Background image to a new layer. Go to Image>Adjustments>Shadows/Highlights. Move the Shadows slider to 35% and Highlights slider to 10% to even out the harsh shadows and bright highlights.

Step 2: Darken the sky
Click Create New Adjustment Layer and select Curves. Plot a point and drag it downwards until Output reads 97 and Input reads 148. Select a black soft-edged brush and paint the Curves adjustment out of the car and buildings.

Step 3: Lose the colour
Click on the Create New Adjustment Layer icon and select Black & White. Leave the sliders at their default position. Click on the Blend Mode options and choose Overlay. The image now takes on a semi-monochrome look.

Step 4: Lower the saturation 
To increase the bleaching effect, click on Create New Adjustment Layer one final time and choose Hue/Saturation from the drop-down. Move Saturation slider down to about -45 or until only the strongest primary colours remain visible.

Our final image

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 11th, 2012 at 7:00 am and is filed under Tutorials. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a comment. Pinging is currently not allowed.