Add a vintage or retro filter to any photo — free, instant, in your browser.

How to add a vintage effect to a photo

1. Upload your photo. Click the workspace, drag an image onto it, or paste with Ctrl+V / ⌘V. JPEG, PNG and WebP files are supported, up to 8 MiB. Nothing is uploaded — the image stays on your device.
2. Apply colour adjustments. In the Adjust tab, reduce saturation to create faded colours, increase warmth for the golden tones of old film, and lower contrast slightly for a washed-out look.
3. Apply a Looks preset. The B&W preset desaturates for a classic black and white film look. Adjust brightness and contrast afterwards to match the film era you are recreating.
4. Download. Open the Export tab, choose your format and download. No watermark, no sign-in, no waiting.

Vintage and retro effects you can create

• 1970s colour film. Warm golden tones, slightly faded highlights and reduced contrast — the look of colour prints from the 70s. Increase warmth, reduce saturation by 20–30%, slightly lower contrast.
• 1950s black and white. Classic silver gelatin print look — high contrast with deep blacks and open highlights. Use the B&W preset, then increase contrast to around +40.
• Faded Polaroid. Washed-out colours, soft contrast and a slightly blurry quality. Reduce saturation by 50%, reduce contrast, slightly increase brightness.
• Cross-process effect. Oversaturated greens and blues with deep shadow tones — the look of colour negative film developed in slide film chemistry. Increase saturation and reduce red channel warmth.
• Sepia tone. Warm brownish monochrome — the classic look of Victorian and Edwardian photographs. Use B&W then apply a warm tint with the colour balance.

Tips for realistic vintage effects

• Start with the colour temperature. Most vintage film stocks had a warm bias. Push the warmth slider to +20 to +40 before making other adjustments.
• Fade the highlights. Old photographs rarely have pure white highlights. Reduce the overall brightness slightly after increasing warmth to create that characteristic faded look.
• Reduce (but do not eliminate) saturation. A light desaturation of 20–40% gives colours a faded film quality without looking grey or washed out.
• Lower contrast for 70s, raise it for 50s. 1950s and 60s black and white film had punchy contrast; 70s and 80s colour prints were softer and more muted.
• Subject matter helps. Vintage filters look most authentic on portraits, street scenes and outdoor landscapes — the kinds of subjects people actually photographed in the film era.

Trending vintage and retro photo effects

These vintage effects are currently popular on TikTok, Pinterest and Instagram. They are all achievable with the colour and tone controls in the editor:

• 90s photo filter. The most-searched vintage effect right now. Faded highlights, slightly boosted greens and the characteristic warm-pink shadows of consumer colour film from the 1990s. Reduce saturation by 20–30%, add warmth and slightly lower contrast for the authentic 90s film look.
• Sofia Coppola movie still. Currently viral on TikTok — the dreamy, hazy aesthetic of Sofia Coppola films like Lost in Translation and The Virgin Suicides. Pastel tones, overexposed highlights and a soft, dreamy quality. Reduce contrast, increase brightness slightly, reduce saturation and add a cool or slightly pinkish tint.
• 80s photo trend. Bold warm tones with slightly higher saturation than the 90s look — the golden-hour quality of Kodachrome film. Add warmth +35, increase saturation slightly, reduce contrast.
• 90s vintage film portrait (AI effect). Popular as a CapCut and AI template — portraits with the grain, colour bleeding and vignette of a cheap disposable camera or VHS screenshot.

All of these effects are created by adjusting the Brightness, Contrast, Saturation and Warmth controls in the Adjust tab — everything runs locally in your browser with no upload required.

Your photos stay on your device

All filter processing runs locally in your browser using the Canvas API. Your photo is never uploaded to any server and stays on your device at all times. This makes it safe to use with private or sensitive photos — portraits, documents, travel images — without any privacy risk.

No account is required. Close the browser tab and nothing is stored anywhere.