Beginner Photoshop Tutorial: 5 Easy Photo Effects

Retouch your photos with these five easy photo effects.
These Photoshop tutorials will show you how to create some of the most popular photo effects using
professional non-destructive editing techniques.
You’ll need Photoshop CS4 or newer to follow these tutorials.
The first effect you’re about to see is an awesome way to give your flat photos a contrast boost.
This photo effect uses just one black and white adjustment layer!
To start, click on the “New Adjustment Layer” button in the layers palette then choose Black & White.
Set the blending mode of this layer to Soft Light.
Adjust the settings as you like in the adjustments palette.
If you don’t see this palette, go to Window > Adjustments.
You can use this slider here to directly select a color in the image to adjust.
So let’s say I want to make this sky darker, just click and drag to the left.
For the trees, I’ll make them brighter by dragging to the left. It’s that easy!
Here’s the before and after of this contrast boost photo effect!
The first photo effect we just showed you is great for flat-looking photos.
Now we’re going to show you a photo effect for those high contrast outdoor photos.
This photo effect gives your photos that old-school retro look and you can do it non-destructively without even creating a new layer.
First, unlock the background layer so we can apply a layer style to it.
To do this, just double-click on the layer. You’ll get a window with some layer properties; just click OK.
Right-click on the layer then choose Blending Options.
Select the Color Overlay options then set the blend mode to Exclusion and opacity to 25%.
Next, click on the color then pick any color you like. I’m going to pick this one right here.
Here’s what the effect looks like!
Next up is a quick and easy way of giving your photos a dreamy look.
We can apply this using Smart Filters.
Start by converting the layer into a Smart Object.
Right click on the layer then choose Convert to Smart Object.
Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur.
Adjust the settings so that you get a blur like this then click OK.
Double-click on the blending options button here then change the blending mode to Screen.
Adjust the opacity to your likings then click OK.
That’s the soft fog effect! Here’s what it looks like before and after.
The next photo effect is subtle but gives your photo a really nice antique feel.
This effect works great on portraits.
Start by creating a new Hue-Saturation adjustment layer.
To do this, click on the New Adjustment Layer button then choose Hue-Saturation.
Select the Sepia preset. If you don’t have this preset, enable the colorize option then set your hue to 35 and saturation to 25.
Right-click on the layer then choose Blending Options.
In the Blend If area, hold down the Alt or Option key on a Mac then drag the black input slider all the way to the right.
The slider will detach from the other half and give you a smooth blending as you drag it towards the right.
Click OK.
Here’s the half sepia effect! It’s a nice subtle effect for portrait photos.
The final photo effect you’ll learn is a Lomo color effect.
It gives your photos a color pop just like some Lomo cameras and is surprisingly easy to do.
Start by creating a new Levels adjustment layer.
Click on the New adjustment layer then choose Levels.
Select red from the drop down menu then drag the black and white input slider towards the middle like this.
We’re going to finish this Lomo effect with a vignette.
Before you add one, right click on the background layer then choose Convert to Smart Object.
This will let us apply the vignette as a Smart Filter which lets you go back and change the settings anytime you like.
Go to Filter > Lens correction. In the Custom tab, adjust the vignette to -100 then click OK.
Here’s the Lomo photo effect!
Give these photo effects a try and let us know how it went for you in the comments.
Here’s a final recap of the five easy photo effects.
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