Create Hipstamatic and Instagram Style Effects With Photoshop and Retrographer
Tutorial Details
- Program: Adobe Photoshop/Retrographer
- Difficulty: Beginner
- Estimated Completion Time: 15 Minutes
Final Product What You'll Be Creating
If you are on Facebook or Twitter, chances are you’ve seen your friends post vintage, retro, worn, or decayed looking photos to their profile using apps like Instagram or Hipstamatic. Mobile apps like Instagram and Hipstamatic make it easy to produce these types of effects on your mobile device but unfortunately, it can be quite difficult and time-consuming to produce a similar effect using Photoshop alone. In this tutorial, author Mark Heaps will introduce you to Retrographer, a fantastic plugin for Photoshop that will allow you to apply similar effects to your photos in minutes with powerful fine-tuning control not possible in fixed preset applications. Let’s get started!
This tutorial was sponsored by Mister Retro.
Enjoyed this Post?
Subscribe to our RSS Feed, Follow us on Twitter or simply recommend us to friends and colleagues!
By Mark Heaps
Photoshop to HTML
Take your Photoshop skills to the next level by learning how to slice up a PSD into a working standards driven HTML website.
Join our newsletter!
U-Design WordPress Theme only $35.00 
Karma - Clean and Modern Wor ... only $35.00 
The Wrath - More
Photoshop Basix
Just getting started? Start with our basix tutorials on the fundamentals. View All Basix Tutorials
Create a Tutorial, Get Paid!
Have something to teach the world? Want to earn money doing it? Tutorials, screencasts, and articles published here on Psdtuts+ are largely contributed by readers just like you! We'll pay you great money for good content. Find Out More
Interesting stuff! I might give it a try
I’ll be damned, I was just looking for this the other day! Thanks!
But oh no! It costs. A lot.
yeah, $99!
Hmm.. Probably I will try this a bit later..
Nice, going to book mark this one in case I need to pull off that retro look. Thanks!
I want to try it, so great!
So…. instead of a tut to actually how to do this manually, the proper way, we are being ‘forced’ to look at Retrographer plugin to achieve this?
Come on PSD Tuts, this is a TUTS site – not a bloody sales emporium! Show us how to achieve this within Photoshop, manually. Nothing more.
This place is going downhill fast. :/
Hi everyone,
thanks for any and all feedback. I offered to review this plugin for a couple of obvious reasons.
The first and foremost I was really impressed with the quality of the tool. In the video I say in the beginning if you’re doing commercial work and time is a concern, this is a great tool.
Second, I don’t get excited about filters often. Normally I make 99% of everything from scratch. However, sometimes time is of the essence and I need to get the job done. This filter fits that need perfectly. But obviously you can make these effects from scratch and there are lots of tutorials on the site how to do those effects already, so no one is being “forced” into anything. It’s presenting options that best suit your workflow.
I appreciate all the feedback, I hope you enjoy the review.
I understand that, as a workflow tool, its probably exceptional in saving people time, but for the lamen (like me) – or amateur, who edit photos for fun, friends and family etc, perhaps a link along with this tut on how to do it manually would have been better?
I just feel this place is pushing all the tuts towards premium, or paid for applications to enhance our work.
I just want to learn, but not if its going to cost me, or take away the tools of learning by doing it manually.
I hope you understand?
Hi Michael,
I do understand. Tools like this are a lot of fun, but they are even more fun when they are justified for commercial work. Hopefully as you’re exploring and playing around with these types of effects you find the resources you need. I spent approximately five minutes on PSDTuts to see what I can find and managed to find many tutorials that cover different parts of the techniques and effects seen in retrographer. It’s not going to be as fast, and you’ll have to bridge the individual techniques together later, but you can learn exactly what you’re looking for in many of these. I’m sure with a little more time I could find even more, and none of these were premium. Happy Photoshopping!
)
http://psd.tutsplus.com/tutorials/photo-effects-tutorials/quick-tip-apply-a-vintage-effect-to-several-images-using-actions/
http://psd.tutsplus.com/tutorials/designing-tutorials/create-a-wicked-worn-vintage-pop-art-design/
http://psd.tutsplus.com/articles/web/a-little-bit-dirty-brilliant-grunge-design-tutorials/
http://psd.tutsplus.com/tutorials/photo-effects-tutorials/create-a-retro-urban-gig-poster-in-photoshop/
http://psd.tutsplus.com/tutorials/tutorials-effects/50-dirty-filthy-grunge-photoshop-effects/
http://psd.tutsplus.com/tutorials/designing-tutorials/photoshop-vintage-design/
http://psd.tutsplus.com/tutorials/designing-tutorials/create-a-60s-psychedelic-style-concert-poster/
http://psd.tutsplus.com/tutorials/tutorials-effects/photoshop-halftone-effect/
http://psd.tutsplus.com/tutorials/designing-tutorials/how-to-create-a-retro-boxing-poster-in-photoshop/
http://psd.tutsplus.com/tutorials/photo-effects-tutorials/color-effect/
Thanks for the feedback. I don’t think that there is anything improper about using a plugin to achieve an effect, especially if it saves you time and doesn’t affect the quality of your work. Retrographer is really good at applying retro, worn, or distressed effects to a photo, and it does it in a fraction of the time it would take you to perform the effects manually. I think it makes sense to give Retrographer a look but if you’re not interested, we understand.
Agree. This tut is: Buy the plugin > Use it. End. No more words.
This is a free site with many good TUTS. What’s wrong with showcasing a great plugin? I’m about to purchase an InDesign plug-in that costs over $250. Why, because it will save me crazy amounts of time. I’ve always wondered why the Polaroid / Lomo filters apps haven’t really crossed over to Photoshop. This looks like a good option. I’ve used Retro Man permanent press plugin and it’s great. Alien Skin exposure is another option, though haven’t actually tried it.
I prefer this title:
“How to use plugins for useless but trendy effects, or, how I stopped worrying about the hipstamatic and learned how to utterly destroy my photos the easy way”
Thanks for the Great Tutorials, Greetings from Venezuela
Tut+ is a the best
Thanks 4 the info
Clever plugin but I can’t see what I would use it for, great for messing around but………
Thanks for the great tut. I have some mr retro machine wash filters that I love and I have been looking at retrographer. It is pretty pricey and that is why I was happy to see the many possibilities in your vid. Just might surprise myself for Christmas, maybe.
HI Lillimou,
I’m still being impressed by it. Anyone who thinks it’s just a nifty little toy is really mistaken. Just today we had to use some stock photos of people in business environments that had to be made into retro looking old photo album images for an animation. Would’ve taken me the better part of a day with textures, blend modes, and more in PS. But I finished the whole batch in about 20 mins with the plug-in. For what we charge an hour, that’s pure profit for us. So I’m still stoked about it.
I haven’t tried Machine Wash yet, but I’ve looked at some previews of it on their site. Hopefully I’ll get to that one next.
_ Mark
Great vid, Mark!
As for plugins, they certainly have their place. They are tools, like anything else, and it is up to the user to figure out how a tool can fit into their work or not.
Thanks for the tutorial
I do not like the result, sorry!
I have bought the Permanent Press filter a while ago, but haven’t had much time to explore all its possibilities, except for the ones I bought it for. A tutorial like this one for Permanent Press — which, at least to me, is much more useful — would be awesome!