Faking Lomo Effects in Photoshop

Photoshop is probably one of the best things to happen in the computer world. Thanks to Photoshop, we can now enjoy seeing ourselves blemish-free in photographs, add creative elements to otherwise bland photos, and if you want to earn some money from amateur photography, you can also use Photoshop for faking Lomo effects with your digital photos.

Beginner’s Guide to Using Photoshop for Creating Lomo Effects :  If you’re not familiar with the ins and outs of Photoshop, here’s a simple step-by-step guide for creating Lomo effects with your digitally captured photos.

Step 1 Choose a photo.
Just go to File then click on Open and from there, you can browse your photos. Once you’ve found the photo you’d like to create a Lomo effect for, double-click on the photo to have it opened.

Step 2 Add contrast.
Contrast is an important element with Lomo photos and that’s the first thing you’ll change about your photo. Click on Images in the toolbar. There, you’ll se Brightness or Contrast. Click that and change the level of contrast by twenty.

Step 3 Change level of saturation.
Color saturation is yet another critical feature of Lomo photos. You’ll find this under Image tools, too. Click on Saturation or Hue then increase by twenty as well.

Step 4 Blend and duplicate layers.
Layers are one of the most important features of Photoshop. With layers, you can add depth to your photos and that’s exactly what you’ll do now. Pull out the Layers toolbar then click on Overlay so that you can start blending the edges of your photograph. Afterwards, click on Duplicate to achieve twice the effect.

Get Edgy with Lomography
Now, if you’re after a literally edgier look – fancy having darker and distorted edges for your photos? – then here’s what you have to do.

Step 1 Avoid hard edges.
We don’t want it crisp. That won’t work with Lomo photos. To get smooth but distorted edges for your photo, set Feather to about a twelfth of your image then use the rectangular marquee tool to select the entire image. Right click then select Inverse.

Step 2 Use new layers.
Create a new layer, fill it solidly with black, and merge or blend the layer with the photo.

There are many other Lomo effects you can fake or create using Photoshop. Naturally, not all of them would be easy to achieve but constant practice is sure to help you achieve your goals.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 6th, 2009 at 8:08 am and is filed under Photography Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.