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Photoshop Tutorial: Worn Photo Edges Effect
I looked everywhere for a tutorial on how to make a photo look weathered and aged with worn edges. I couldn’t find anything so here’s how I created a worn edge look in Photoshop. I took this an extra step further by adding sepia tone and a grainy texture; however, you can skip these two steps if you wish to keep the colour.
 
Step 1: In Photoshop, open up the image you wish to add the worn edge effect to. (Double-click on the layer “Background” and rename it or leave it as “layer 0”, so we can edit this layer).
Step 2: With the image layer selected add a vector mask by selecting “Add layer mask” at the bottom of the layer palette.
Step 3: With the mask thumbnail selected (click on the white square thumbnail itself and not the image thumbnail), select the Rectangular Marquee Tool  , and select the area of the image that you want to keep (the area outside the marquee line will be cropped). Under “Select > Modify > Smooth”, change the sample radius to create a rounded edge to the marquee selection. I changed the ratio to 8 for my image size which is about 750 pixels wide (go to Image > Image Size to check image size).
Note: If you are not satisfied with the rounded corners of the marquee selection, you can change the radius incrementally without having to deselect and reselect the marquee selection; otherwise, you can deselect the marquee selection Ctrl+D (Mac: Cmd+D) and redo the marquee and then decrease the size of the radius for a smaller curved edge.
Step 4: With the marquee selection still there, hold down Ctrl+Shift+I (Mac: Cmnd+Shift+I) to inverse the selection, then hit delete.
Step 5: Next we will create the brown paper colour that we will see when we start to give the photo it’s roughed-up edges. While holding down Ctrl (Mac: Cmnd), with the mouse click on the vector mask thumbnail we just made. This should give you a selection that is the same shape as the smoothed-edged cutout of the photo. At the bottom of the layers palette, select “create a new layer” and with the Paintbucket Tool  , fill in the selected area with a brown colour such as HEX CODE #: AD8B4A. Move this layer below the photo layer. Click Ctrl+D (Mac: Cmnd+D) to deselect the marquee.
Step 6: Select the vector mask thumbnail of the image layer, and then select the Eraser Tool  . Use a spackled rough brush edge such as “splatter”, and erase parts of the corners to simulate a “chewed up” or rough edge, pulling the brush outward. Use a soft fuzzy brush to go along the sides and to clean up and corners that are too chewed up. Make sure to give the edges some areas that are really worn and some that are left a little more in-tact.
Step 7: To make the worn edges more realistic, we have to fade the colour along the edges of the photo. First we will create a white shape that is exactly the same as the worn edge that we just did. While holding down Ctrl (Mac: Cmnd), with the mouse click on the vector mask thumbnail of the photo layer and then create a new layer. You can rename this layer “white” and move it in between the brown paper layer and the photo image. With the Paintbucket Tool , fill in this selected area with white. Click Ctrl+D (Mac: Cmnd+D) to deselect the marquee.
Step 8: To fade the colour of the photo, select the Eraser Tool , with a soft, fuzzy edge with opacity at about 20%. With the vector mask thumbnail of the photo layer selected, start erasing the colour near the rough edges using long sweeping strokes. Go all the way around the photo and make a few dramatic colour fades. The photo should fade more as it gets closer to the edges and brown paper.
Step 9: For added depth, give the white layer a drop shadow (see settings below). You don’t want too much of a shadow, just enough to give some depth and make the top photo layer look as if it’s lifting from the brown paper. You can also add a drop shadow to the brown paper layer as well.
Step 10: You can try experimenting a bit by duplicating the white shape layer (just drag the layer “white” into the icon “Create new layer” at the bottom of the layers palette) and giving the layer opacity of about 33%. Then by slightly moving the layer just a nudge so that the paper looks like it has peeled away a few paper layers at the corners. Just erase any parts that overlap too much over the brown paper, or if you are placing this over a background.
Sepia Tone: To give the photo a sepia tone, select the photo layer then go to Image > Adjustments > Desaturate. This will turn your photo into a grayscale image. Now hit Image > Adjust > Hue and Saturation. Click on the “colourize” box near the bottom right corner and use the 3 sliders as shown below, to adjust the hue, saturation and lightness. The hue slider will change the colour of the photo, the saturation slider will change how intense the colour is and the contrast will change how light or dark the photo is with the middle being neutral.
Noise: You can also add some noise to the photo to give it an even more vintage and grainy look. With the photo layer selected, go to Filter > Noise > Add Noise, make sure the “Gaussian” box is checked, and adjust the graininess to your liking.
The image below is the final result with sepia tone and grainy texture.
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