iPhoto for iPad tutorial: Add vintage effects to your photos

iPhoto - iOS - Create Vintage Images - Featured

The new iPhoto app for iPad and iPhone is the perfect way to quickly touch up an image to get rid of blemishes, but it’s possible to do a lot more than that. We’ve written a great deal about the ability to create fantastically retro photos with iPhoto on your Mac, but now it’s on iOS devices that functionality has made its way to the iPad, with touchscreen controls that make the process both more fun and more intuitive.

For example, while the Mac version of iPhoto would have fairly rigid settings for things like vignettes, it is now possible to move and resize your vignette by simply pinching your fingers on the screen. You can also alter the colours of your shots by swiping on the screen rather than having to drag endless sliders around. Here we focus on Black & White. This is no longer an effect that looks the same every time thanks to the slider at the bottom of the screen, and you can create some incredible-looking vintage shots, all of which are totally different, using just this one tool.

Step 1: Choose your photo

Find a photo to edit using the browsing options like Albums and Events. You can see all the images in the chosen section to the left; just tap the one you want.

Step 2: Enter Editing mode

Next, open up the Editing menu. Tap the button in the top-right and a bar will appear with options such as auto-enhance and rotate in the middle.

Step 3: Pick the effect

In the bottom-left, hit the Effects button. A swatch book will open with a host of filter types, so choose the Black & White swatch from this menu.

Step 4: On the bar

The bar at the bottom represents different tones. Slide your finger along the bar to set the lightness of certain areas of the photo until you find your perfect level.

Step 5: In the frame

Next to the bar are three buttons. The leftmost adds a vignette. Tap it and place two digits on the photo; pinch and move your fingers and the frame will move.

Step 6: Time to share

Once done, tap the Share button to see the sharing options. You can beam the photo to other iOS users, upload it to a website or save it to your Camera Roll.

(Click the image below to zoom in and view the annotations)