35 Beautiful Vintage and Retro Photoshop Tutorials
By Jacob Gube
With the recent post on retro and vintage in modern web design, it’s time to put the theory into practice. We’ve scoured the Web to find some impressive Photoshop tutorials that can help you achieve an "old-fashioned" look-and-feel in your designs. In this post, we go back to the 1900′s all theway to the 1980′s to showcase a variety of vintage- and retro-inspired designs that involve poster art, collages and graphical elements. Whether you’re into print design or web design, you’ll find something you can use or build upon.
You may want to take a look at the following related posts:
- Grunge Photoshop Tutorials
- Beauty Retouching Photoshop Tutorials
- Digital Photography Photoshop Tutorials
- Modeling Photoshop Tutorials
- Rainbows, Glows and Light Effects With Photoshop
Without further ado, we present 35 high-quality vintage and retro Adobe Photoshop tutorials that may help your design… well, travel back in time.
Vintage and Retro Photoshop Tutorials
Colorization Tutorial
This short tutorial showcases a method for colorizing a black and white photo to achieve an aged, vintage look.
Wicked-Worn Vintage Pop Art Design
Mesh vintage pop art with grunge to create a unique mash-up of the two popular design styles.
Retro Grunge Poster
Wield the Pen Tool and utilize some free brushes and textures to achieve this retro-grunge hybrid look-and-feel.
Vintage Film Style Video
Use a stock image of an old TV and Photoshop CS3 Extended to play vintage-style video clips inside the TV.
Give Your Photos a Retro Comic Book Effect
Here’s another method for creating a retro-stylec comic book effect to your photos using Photoshop.
WWII Airplane
Recreate the World War II airplane brushed-metal texture and paintings in this excellent Photoshop tutorial that involves using Noise and Blur filters.
Cool Vintage Collage Design
In this Photoshop tutorial, you will learn how to use old advertisements, hand-written text, and patterns to create a vintage design.
Pin-up Effect
This video tutorial showcases how you can create the classic 50′s pin-up effect using some Photoshop filters and Blending Modes.
Radio Knobs/Dials of the Past
Learn how to design old-school radio knobs/dials in this Photoshop tutorial by skillfully using of the Marquee Tool in Photoshop.
Turn of the Century Vaudeville Poster
Create a beautiful turn-of-the-century poster geared towards intermediate to advanced Photoshop users.
Virtual Letterman Jacket
In this Photoshop tutorial, you will learn how to design retro-style varsity/letterman lettering using some ingenious Layer Styles.
B-movie poster art
In this tutorial, you can learn the techniques involved in recreating B-movie posters from the golden age of cinema.
Gigposter Design
In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to create a retro-styled poster using Photoshop and Illustrator.
Vintage Polaroid Effect
This photo treatment tutorial shares a method for creating a vintage look using modern, colored digital photos.
Photoshop Vintage Effect
Learn how to age modern digital pictures by adjusting contrast, saturation, and Curves in this short step-by-step Photoshop tutorial.
Vintage Fifties Letter
Create this aged letter envelope by following this Photoshop tutorial that’s aimed at intermediate Photoshop users.
Vintage Truck
In this short Photoshop tutorial, you’ll learn some techniques on how to use colored digital stock images to give it a vintage/retro look-and-feel.
Make it worn
Learn how to create a worn look-and-feel web design background, using detailed from scanned book pages.
Comic Book Photo Effect
Learn how to take ordinary photos and give it a retro-styled, pop art comic book effect.
Vintage collages in Photoshop
In this tutorial, you can gain insights and learn useful methods on how to achieve a vintage collage.
Make your own pop art
Learn the techniques involved in creating your own classic 50′s style pop art.
Hot Chick on a Muscle Car
Create a retro-styled post card using stock photos that are linked to by the author of the tutorial.
Retro Wallpaper/Poster
This step-by-step tutorial walks the readers through the process of creating a retro wallpaper/poster.
Retro Style Game Controller
Illustrate an old-school gaming console joystick using Photoshop with this wonderful tutorial.
Retro Stars
Use the Polygonal Lasso Tool to create stars and then add multi-colored streaks to it, to achieve this popular ’80′s look and feel.
Sweet Radio Station Advert Design
Learn how to create a radio station advertisement with retro curves with the help of Illustrator (or download them from vector stock sites).
Pop Art Inspired by Lichtenstein
Create Lichtenstein-style pop art design by studying this Photoshop tutorial geared for intermediate designers.
Retro Lighting – Ford Mustang
You can utilize the Custom Shape Tool for elements of the design to recreate this 70′s inspired design.
Mix Cool Retro Curves into Your Photographs
Combine retro with modern design styles and elements to create this stunning photo effect.
Photoshop Serigraphs
Learn how you can take a portrait to recreate this Andy Warhol inspired pop-art.
Retro Sunflower Design
Remake this sunflower-themed retro wallpaper using ready-to-use Photoshop brushes, the Ellipse Marquee Tool, and custom shapes from the Custom Shape Tool.
Retro Summer Poster Illustration
Utilize some of Photoshop’s vector tools to create a summery retro poster illustration.
3D Retro Strip
Use the Pen Tool to create 3-dimensional retro strips.
Abstract Retro-Pop Wallpaper
This tutorial shows readers how to design a colorful retro-pop wallpaper using stock photo for texture and the RNS Bobo Dylan Font.
Further Resources
- Digital Photography Photoshop Tutorials
- Beauty Retouching Photoshop Tutorials
- Modeling Photoshop Tutorials
- Grunge Photoshop Tutorials
- Vintage and Retro Photoshop Tutorials
- Rainbows, Glows and Light Effects With Photoshop
(vf)
Derek
October 14th, 2008 8:04 amVery nice collection, I’ve been trying to locate a decent collection of retro-style tutorials!
1st post! Sweet!
Justin
October 14th, 2008 8:12 amThese all are so great. I’ve been looking for things like this
Jason
October 14th, 2008 8:15 amExcellent. You guys never fail to bring the good stuff.
Jonathan
October 14th, 2008 8:16 amIs it me or these long collections of design things are becoming a bit boring? Has this website lost its essence somehow?
dev(Www.iHaCK.ASIA)
October 14th, 2008 8:24 ami like the Wicked-Worn Vintage Pop Art Design, the no.2,really beautiful.
Rodmanu
October 14th, 2008 8:27 am@Jonathan
I personally think it is great to have those long collections of design, Internet is so vast and it is time consuming to do such a research, I find it really helpful to have these kind of articles and search for them into smashingmagazine rather than on the whole web.
Roshan
October 14th, 2008 8:47 amNice collection of vintage art. I might try few of these to improve my photoshop skills.
amazing effects.
Roshan
Common
October 14th, 2008 9:17 amAnyone have good tutorials on creating different types of note paper and sticky notes in photoshop?
Raphael
October 14th, 2008 9:47 amThank you! i love these retro styles…
steve
October 14th, 2008 10:12 amawesome, thanks
Cosmi
October 14th, 2008 10:52 amI love retro & vintage !
Herbert Berends
October 14th, 2008 11:02 amNice list. Very useful! I was surprised to see that they have used my picture/illustration of an old TV! I had no idea of this new function in Photoshop CS3…
gNcWebmaster
October 14th, 2008 11:17 amAwesome Collection. Thanks For…
ronen
October 14th, 2008 12:06 pmGreat!
thank you, not so much for the tutorials but for the collection itself. it’s always useful.
Ronen.
Jad Graphics
October 14th, 2008 12:23 pmAwesome retro tutorials. Can’t wait to try some of these out.
Jad Graphics
Joe
October 14th, 2008 12:53 pmLOL @ the “Ford Mustang” tutorial. The car used is definitely not a Mustang…
Tom Ross
October 14th, 2008 12:56 pmThanks for featuring my tutorial. Great list you have here, I hadn’t seen a few of these before :).
Stefan Matei
October 14th, 2008 1:07 pmHey, thanks for the mention!
Cos
October 14th, 2008 1:08 pmGreat list, thank you! I’ve done a few of these tuts with fantastic results (and learn a thing or two in the bargain).
Steve Tolley
October 14th, 2008 1:25 pmThanks for including my tutorial, great collection, Very Useful!
Stevie :D
Jimi Ninja
October 14th, 2008 2:02 pmI thank them for putting it all in one place and making sure I don’t have to trawl the internet trying to find stuff. Cheers!
BCS
October 14th, 2008 4:46 pmThis is truly a very pleasant surprise for me… thank you so much for including my tutorial on your list! Like what Tom Ross said, I haven’t seen a lot of these before, and they’re all beautiful! :) I have a strong feeling that I’ll be using some of these someday. :)
Eli
October 14th, 2008 6:26 pmThank you for linking to one of my tutorials on Design Blurb :) Great roundup.
Praveen Sewak
October 14th, 2008 7:31 pmWoW! Guys whose tuts. are linked here actually read SM. Can’t say that i am surprised, but wow! SM is the first browse of the day for me.
Great list btw. There are a few i would definetely use in my designs. [Hot Chick on a Muscle Car] for one… hehe.
Good job (again) SM…
gaurav_m
October 14th, 2008 8:57 pmnice ..simply great
Roshan
October 14th, 2008 9:06 pmThanks nice post.
John Sexton
October 14th, 2008 9:12 pmWow, I’m thrilled to see my work featured on here too (Vintage Turn of the Century Vaudeville Poster)!
That was the first tutorial I’ve written up, but I hope to do more before too long.
Thank you! This site is a great resource.
Marco
October 14th, 2008 9:31 pmYes Jonathan, it is just you. These roundups are great, very helpful. Thanks guys.
Ash
October 14th, 2008 11:31 pmOnce again, excellent resources !
Some effect were still hard to achieve for me, now i will be able to complete my skills.
Thanx a lot !
Sophia
October 15th, 2008 12:15 amThere can never be enough retro and vintage :D. I am so feeling the 3D Retro. Nice!
honour chick
October 15th, 2008 12:39 amAwESOME!!! makes me want to cry :(
freshness
October 15th, 2008 1:39 ami already knew some of them, but this is a nice bunch, thanx :)
Riccardo
October 15th, 2008 2:46 amNice article, it’s always great to have these tutorials collected together in one place. I’m sure these will be useful in the future.
Jacob Gube
October 15th, 2008 3:09 amHi everyone! I’m glad you enjoyed this article. Since the vintage/retro trend is (relatively) still in its infancy, it was quite a challenge to find this many high-quality tutorials to share with you.
To the authors of tutorials featured here, I’d like to thank you for providing us with top-notch tutorials and helping us advance our craft by sharing your techniques and knowledge.
Jesse Vlasveld
October 15th, 2008 3:48 amI’m certainly going to experiment a little with this style, it’s hot.
Chris
October 15th, 2008 4:18 amBrilliant list – I’m bent double, gagging with the waves of nostagia..
yogesh lalchandani
October 15th, 2008 4:33 amNice Design styles and coloring tuts
armanjac
October 15th, 2008 5:56 amArmanjac essai délicious
Ann Edwards
October 15th, 2008 7:07 am@Joe. No kidding. I find that more than slightly annoying….
That’s the only one included that I don’t think matches the quality of the others.
Luke
October 15th, 2008 2:22 pmNice collection. Where would one use this?
Burkhard
October 15th, 2008 3:21 pmrealy great tuts. They are very helpfull for editing my photos.
wrend
October 15th, 2008 9:21 pmGreat Website! Great Tutorials! I just found great brushes on this blog I can use for designing.
Simon
October 16th, 2008 8:58 amGreat list, love the Retro Grunge Poster Tutorial.
Thx for the post.
Cheers
Simon
Lonelytraveller
October 16th, 2008 10:32 amGreat tutorials, thanks! I wish I found a post like this before creating the vintage graphics for my blog.
Alvaro Guzman
October 16th, 2008 10:43 amthanks for posting my tuts (Vintage pop art, and old TV) in the list!!!
hughe palmer
October 16th, 2008 1:41 pmthis is one of the better tutorial collections i have come across. nice work!
mnvamsi
October 17th, 2008 2:42 amWell these fellows are really gems..
great work when compared to previous photoshop articles..
I have to take a brief look at all the tutorial in detail.
Spyece
October 17th, 2008 5:51 amWow thanks a lot mate! These tutorials are really the best once out there.
amy nickerson
October 17th, 2008 11:44 amMustang tutorial was great. But I substituted a REAL Mustang in the picture. Someone needs to tell them it’s not a Mustang!!
billseymour
October 18th, 2008 8:22 amTerrific roundup. I’d previously found about 1/2 of them- the beauty of the list, for me, is the other half! Please continue the ‘long list’ concept- I’d enjoy seeing additional topics explored. –Bill
Mark Mayers
October 21st, 2008 5:07 pmNice one!
Thanks for including my ‘Invaders from Venus’ and ‘Pop Art’ tutorials!
Mark
SAMUEL HEIDEMANN
October 23rd, 2008 12:33 pmOlha esse post com muitoooooos tutoriais para design retrô!!!!
show de bola
Abifahrt
October 24th, 2008 12:34 amVery nice tutorials,
thank for the collection
faze1
October 29th, 2008 10:41 pmthanks for the set,
dim
January 23rd, 2009 8:20 amgreat tuts…And also on http://www.designioustimes.com/tutorials/retro-sun-rays-–-photoshop-version.html you can find a great retro tut.
fede
January 30th, 2009 2:50 pmyo te di una ayuda
nos vemos tu amigo
de argentina FEDE
SALUDOS
chris davies
March 26th, 2009 11:31 amsuperb, genius
Aravind
March 30th, 2009 11:31 pmMind blowing collections!!!! I’ve been looking for things like this. Really fantastic collection. Keep it up.
kenneth-ac
April 5th, 2009 6:38 pmjust marvelous, wonder if i’ll manage to do something similar, or at least respectable hahaha
just kidding, i know i can…
wjong
May 22nd, 2009 9:08 pmnice tutorial, thanks for sharing
ecoy
September 13th, 2009 7:43 amsome are good. some are just okay. noting superb. too see an artwork with a couple of vectors and grunge whatever is quite popular and in my opinion should not be the basis of coolness in terms of art.
Kerrick
November 4th, 2009 10:54 pmThe very first tutorial is a broken link. The proper link is http://fx.worth1000.com/tutorials/161018/yet-another-colorization-tutorial
tb32156=
December 7th, 2009 7:48 amcool images i really think they are cooool
johanna
May 4th, 2010 11:08 amThank you for those WONDERFULL tutorials!
Jern
June 8th, 2010 9:28 pmGreat guys thanks for sharing it.
emma
July 28th, 2010 4:52 pmhey guys check it out! :)
Merlin
August 13th, 2010 10:49 pmThe WWII Plane Texture and the comic book links appear to be broken.
Merlin
August 14th, 2010 7:22 pmNevermind, the links appear to be fixed. Great set of tutorials.
Journee
September 7th, 2010 5:02 pmLike the retro iv got a thing for. School it’s called retro day and needed some help thanks now I know what I’m going to wear to school
chris
October 20th, 2010 11:26 pmThanks for Shared!!!
Lara@
January 11th, 2011 8:44 amWow brilliant post! Fantastic tutorial dude. It�s insane how many breathtaking tutes you guys post. Absolutely love your site. Thank you very much!
Darshan Sawant
February 2nd, 2011 1:08 amAmazing isn’t the word………….. to good ya
Tara
April 26th, 2011 7:22 amAwesome resource. Thanks!
Fred
May 9th, 2011 4:59 pmHi, please i want to make picnik movie posters effect on photoshop, who can help me? :)
dreamdezigns
May 25th, 2011 2:05 amwow great resource
popart girl
July 4th, 2011 8:54 ami love the pinup effect :)
Eric Gardiner
August 29th, 2011 3:39 pmYo dis was gud