Creating Instagram Filters In Photoshop

Editing Images Has Become Much Easier For Anyone Out There Without Any Knowledge Of Designing Or Perfection. Instagram’s Contribution To Creating Special Effects In Otherwise Boring Photos Is Tremendously Popular Amongst Kids And Amateurs. Effects, Frames, Colors And Much More Can Be Changed Within A Couple Of Minutes With These Online Filters. However If You Are A Perfectionist You Must Have Noted How The Quality Of Image Is Lowered After Using These Instant Filters. They Lack Proper Customization And That’s Why The Alteration In The Image Is Usually Followed By Adverse Effect To The Photo Quality Which Easily Gives Anybody An Impression That The Photo Has Been Edited.

If You Want To Go Ahead With Good Quality Editing Of Pictures Then You Must Go For Photoshop Were Customization Is Taken Care Of. In This Tutorial We Will Show You How To Add Amazing Instagram-inspired Effects To Your Photos Using Adobe Photoshop So That You Can Instagram The Professionally.

I Am Using Adobe Photoshop CS5 On Windows For This Tutorial. Open The Image You Want To Edit In Photoshop. Set Up A Photography Workspace By Selecting Window > Workspace > Photography. This Will Open Up All The Windows You Are Going To Need For This Tutorial.

Select The Rectangular Marquee Tool And Frame The Area Of The Photo That You Want To See In Result. Go To Image > Crop. Note: Do Not Crop Out The Subject’s Feet Like I Did When I Took The Picture.

The Cropping Tool On Instagram Alters All Pictures To Have A 1:1 Dimensional Ratio, Or Square-shaped Actually. This Step Is Optional So You Can Skip Unless You Want An Exactly Similar Instagram Effect. Go To Image > Canvas Size. Change The Number In The Height Box So That It Is Identical To The Number In The Width Box (i.e., Give It A 1:1 Ratio). Click OK. Your Image Will Now Be Square-shaped.

Go To File > Save As And Save The File Under A New Title So That The Original Photo Will Not Be Altered.

According To Webstagram, Earlybird Is The Most Popular Instagram Filter After Normal. TheEarlybird Filter Adds Sepia And Yellow Photo Effects, As Well As A Soft Blur And Dramatic Vignetting.

This Is The Earlybird Filter Effect In Instagram:

And Here Is The Earlybird Filter Effect In Photoshop:

Right-click The Background Layer And Select “duplicate.” Name The New Layer “Lighting Effects.” Now You Are Ready To Make Wanted Changes.

In The “Lighting Effects” Layer, Go To Filter > Render > Lighting Effects. Modify The Light Type To Omni. This Will Give An Imitation Light Effect That Looks Like A Light Bulb Is Directly Above The Image. Drag The Circle So That The Sides Touch The Edge Of The Photo. The Light Will Be Brightest In The Middle And Gets Faint Toward The Edges. Change The Intensity To About 32 So That The Center Is A Little Overexposed And The Edges Are A Little Darker. Click OK.

Change The Blending Mode Of The “Lighting Effects” Layer To Luminosity Using The Drop-down Menu. The Luminosity Mode Prevents The Layer From Altering The Colors Of The Original Image So That Only The Lightness Will Alter. Using The Slider, Change The Opacity So That The Center Of The Photo Is Just Slightly Over-exposed, And The Corners Of The Photo Are A Bit Dark. For My Image, The Magic Number Was 33%.

Click Photo Filter In The Adjustments Menu. Click The Circle Next To Color, And Then Click On The Color Box. In The Box That Has A # Symbol Next To It, Type In The Following Code: B39f77. Change The Density To 75. This Change Will Put In Some Strong Sepia-like Tones To The Image.

Select Vibrance In The Adjustments Menu. Vary The Vibrance To +54 And The Saturation To +4. Now Increasing The Vibrance Will Make Muted Colors Look More Glowing, While Leaving Already Vivid Colors And Skin-tones Unaffected. Slightly Increasing The Saturation Will Make All Colors In The Image Appear Slightly More Vivid.

Create Another Photo Filter By Opting Photo Filter In The Adjustments Menu. Go For Yellow In The Drop-down Menu Next To Filter. Set The Density To 56%. Click On The Photo Filter 2 Layer In The Layers Box. Change The Blending Mode To Hue And The Opacity To Around 50%. The Colors In The Image Should Now Have A Slight Yellow Hue. If The Colors Look Awfully Yellow, Lower The Opacity And Density Settings Until You Get The Preferred Result.

Press Ctrl+Shift+N To Create A New Layer. Name The Layer “Vignetting.” Next, Right-click The Rectangular Marquee Tool And Select Elliptical Marquee Tool! Press M To Use This Tool. Line Up Your Cursor Just Outer To The Upper-left Corner Of The Photo. Click And Drag Toward The Bottom-right Corner Until The Edges Of The Circle Are Just Outside The Edges Of The Image.

Press Ctrl+Shift+I Or Go To Select > Inverse To Select The Reverse Of What You Selected Before. Just The Corners Of The Image Should Now Be Selected.

Press Shift+F6 Or Go To Select > Modify > Feather. Type 100 In The Box And Click OK. This Will Deeply Soften The Selection. You May Need To Regulate This Value According To The Size Of Your Photo.

With Black Set As The Foreground Color, Press G To Open The Paint Bucket Tool And Click Inside One Of The Corners Of The Selection To Fill It With Black. Change The Opacity Of The “Vignetting” Layer To Around 85% And Change The Blending Mode To Overlay. The Overlay Blending Mode Will Lighten The Lighter Parts Of The Image And Darken The Darker Parts. Press Ctrl+D To Deselect The Image. The Edges Of The Image, Mainly The Corners, Should Look Much Darker And More Theatrical.

Right-click The Rectangle Tool On The Menu On The Left! Select The Rounded Rectangle Tool. At The Top, Change The Radius To .2 In, And Select The Third Icon From That Left That Says “Paths” When You Hover Over It. Use The Paths Tool To Turn The Rounded Rectangle Into A Selection Rather Than A Filled Shape.

Starting Just Inside The Upper-left Corner Of The Photo, Click And Drag Toward The Bottom-right Corner So That The Edges Of The Rounded Rectangle Shape Touch The Edges Of The Photo.

Press Alt+Ctrl+C Or Go To Image > Canvas Size. Check The Box Next To Relative And Change Width And Height To 4 Percent. This Will Expand The Size Of The Image By 4% So That The Frame Will Cut Off As Little Of The Actual Photograph As Possible. There Should Now A White Border Around The Image.

Press Ctrl+Shift+N To Create A New Layer. Name The New Layer “Border.” Click On The Paths Tab In The Layers Box. Click The Icon That Looks Like A Circle Made Of Dashes And Says “Load Path As Selection” When You Hover Over It. This Will Turn The Rounded Rectangle Path Into A Selection Instead. Press Control+Shift+I To Select Everything Opposite, Or Outside, The Rounded Rectangle Selection.

Click Inside The Foreground Color Box To Bring Up The Color Picker Menu. In The Box Next To The # Symbol, Enter The Following Code: Ecebd9. This Yellow-gray Color Matches The Color Of The Instagram Earlybird Border. Press OK. Using The Paint Bucket Tool, Click Inside The Selection To Fill The Frame With This Color.

Here Is The Finished Work

Allen Ray

is a graphic designer. The Design Mag was founded in 2008, and since then she is constantly looking for new ways to serve the Design community both online and offline. It is her ultimate goal to make The Design Mag the best source for Design related Tutorial and Resources. Follow on Twitter@thedesignmag

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