(embiggenable) • iPhone
A REQUEST FROM JONATHAN WEBER read (in part)....
....I would love to know the Photoshop process you use for framing your iPhone photographs as "family Snapshots" complete with date.
my response: my process started with a hires scan of an existing snapshot-grandma and grandpa, mother's side-from one of my passed-down-to-me family albums. Although, any original snapshot would do. Keep in mind that there are a wide variety of vintage snapshot shapes and borders which is why I have several different master files to cover different shapes and border styles I might want to use.
After making the scan, I added 4 additional layers to the file. One was a type layer for the date. The other 3 layers (all set to Multiply) are "dirt" and "scratches" - one for the border dirt, one for scratches over the picture area and another for grain over the picture area. I put the dirt and scratches on layers so that their blending transparency can be modified according the picture being converted to a snapshot.
FYI, the original scan base layer has a shadow I added to give the final piece a bit of a dimentional look. The master file also has guides-which conform to the original image size-that I use to place and size the picture I am converting.
Once you have a master file, it's a simple matter to drag / copy and paste a picture into the master file-placed directly above the background layer-and then position and size it. TIP: I always size the edges of my picture just outside of the the guides. Then, with the Rectangular Marquee tool (0 Feather), and the guides set to SNAP or SNAP TO / Guides, I drag the tool from top corner to opposing bottom corner of the guides, select inverse and hit delete. This procedure gives the picture a sharp and repeatable edge.
After the picture has been placed and sized, I perform-on the picture layer only-some image processing to give it a somewhat vintage look. Then type in the date and drag the date layer where I want it to be (always different cuz that's how original snapshots came back from the drugstore).
None of this is rocket science. A bit of just messing around with Photoshop should get you to where you want to go.
PS I use this same procedure for pictures made with my "real" cameras, not just for iPhone pictures.