A friend of mine wanted a picture of his daughter made to look old (yellowing, crackled, etc.) I'm cool with making an image sepia and all, but where can I look to find tips for making an image look like those that are posted as originals in the challenges?

Make your nice sepia print, then when it comes out of the printer, attack it with a 2x4, hammer, whatever to give it the beat up look. What could be simpler? :D

Mike

The phrase you are looking for is "distressing" a photo, a carry over from woodworking (I believe) where people would "distress" new furniture with chains and stuff to make it look aged as part of an antiqueing process. This turns up some hits in the right vicinity:
http://www.google.com/search?q=distressing+photoshop

ciao,
-X

You could also paint some cracks on, and select small areas and using the hue/saturation "stain" the image. I think I have seen actions for this somewhere, possibly on adobe studio exchange? http://share.studio.adobe.com/axBrowseProductType.asp?t=5
Wayne

Another possibility would be to get an existing picture of the same size and use it as an overlay and then play with the blending effects and settings. I have not tried this myself, but in theory should work with reasonable results.

Stick it in the washing machine, I've had a few that accidentally got distressed this way, they look awful by the time the machine's finished with them.

Thanks for the tips. I knew there was a word for it, just couldn't come up with it. I'll try the 2x4 & hammer trick first maybe. :grin: Thx for the links.

Wanted to do the same thing...What she did was have a photo taken, get the photograph and the edges she damped with strong tea. LOL

This thread made me giggle...

Did you use the hammer?

Here's an old-style Challenge (http://www.retouchpro.com/challenge/manipulation/challenge14/index.html), pre-gallery (no longer supported) about this very thing. Some interesting results and perhaps an idea or two. Be sure to check out the linked discussion thread for even more ideas.

Make your nice sepia print, then when it comes out of the printer, attack it with a 2x4, hammer, whatever to give it the beat up look. What could be simpler? :D

Mike
I was thinking the same thing mike. :nod: Thanks for a good laugh :lol:
Bruce :D