Photoshop Elements: Dirty Polaroid Effect

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Adobe® Photoshop® Elements 7

January 21, 2009

Turn your photo into a fun dirty Polaroid™-like image using Poladroid and Photoshop Elements. Poladroid is a free program that turns your photo into a Polaroid™-like image; we'll use grunge brushes to add the dirt and smudges in Photoshop Elements.

Before After
Before image After image

Resources

Poladroid, the Polaroid™ Image Maker

Grunge Brushes by hawksMont

Make a Dirty Poladroid Image

To make a dirty Polaroid™-like image:

  1. Download and install Poladroid and convert a JPG image to a Poladroid image.
  2. Open the converted image in Photoshop Elements.

  3. Add text to the image using the Horizontal Type tool, or draw text freehand with the Brush tool on a new layer:

    1. Select the Horizontal Type tool.
    2. On the options bar, select the font and font size.
    3. Press D to set the default text color to black, or select a color for the text.
    4. Enter the text.
    5. Alternatively, in the Layers palette, click the Create a new layer icon to add a new layer above the background. In the new layer, select the Brush tool and draw freehand text.
  4. Add a grunge brush layer above the text layer. In the Layers palette, click the Create a new layer icon to add a new layer above the text layer.

  5. In the new layer, paint some grunge splatters on the photo:

    1. Select the Brush tool.
    2. On the options bar, select a grunge brush and brush size.
    3. Set the brush Mode to Multiply and the opacity to 80%.
    4. Select a brown or gray color for the grunge.
    5. Paint or stamp on the image to add grunge. Brush over parts of existing strokes for an interesting effect.
    6. Continue stamping and painting as desired, varying the brush tip, brush color, size and opacity for different effects.

  6. In the Layers palette, set the Blend Mode of the grunge brush layer to Multiply. The following image shows the added grunge splatters:

    Paint with grunge brushes

  7. Select the Smudge tool and choose a soft brush. Set the opacity to 25%. Smudge the grunge splatters and the text for a stained, smudged look.

    Add smudges

  8. Add a Dodge and Burn layer at the top of the layer stack to add contrast to the photo by darkening (burn) the edges and lightening (dodge) sections of the photo:

    1. In the Layers palette, click the Create a new layer icon.
    2. From the Edit menu, select Fill Layer and fill the background layer with 50% Gray.
    3. Set the blend mode of this layer to Overlay. You can now see the layers below.
    4. Press D to set the foreground and background colors to the default of black foreground and white background.
    5. Using a large soft brush with the opacity set to 50% or less, paint with black on the 50% Gray layer to darken the edges of the image. Paint with white to add highlights.
    6. If you make mistakes you can correct them by painting with black and white on this Dodge and Burn layer. The following image shows the result of burning and dodging:
    Burn and dodge
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Updated on November 9, 2009