Got a cool image you want to give the vintage treatment to? It’s easy to create vintage looks in Lightroom Classic in just a few quick steps.
1. Convert to Black and White
Give a few subtle adjustments as required, like the contrast, highlights and shadows, etc. Then select the Black & White tab.
2. Add a little color
Next, visit the Color Grading panel and add a little color to your B&W image. This is purely optional, but some slight blue toning or browns for the old sepia or various other vintage looks can look great.
3. Add a vignette
Next is the Effects panel, popping a post-crop vignette. White can work here, or even a little black. Don’t forget to add some grain as well.
Before and after
So quick and easy and can give a terrific treatment to some old-styled images. Different color combinations or even split toning can give different effects, sepia, selenium, cyanotype and more. Sadly you cannot add scratches or wet plate looks, but taking it into plugins like Silver Efex Pro can extend your vintage treatment further.
Thanks for your time and efforts on articles such as this. Something very similar works in PS and PSE.
Thanks Ed. You can do something similar in pretty much any software platform, but I figure Lightroom is a good place to start.