Did you know that by using the same method to crop an image to a specific shape in Photoshop, you can give your photos a classic vintage look with rounded corners?

To get started, open up a new document in Photoshop and select the Rounded Rectangle tool. You can access that either from the Tools menu. If you see a shape other than the rounded rectangle, just click the button and hold the button until it opens up the various shapes available, after which you can select the Rounded Rectangle.

Alternatively, you can use the keyboard shortcut Shift-U to cycle between the various shape options until you get the rounded rectangle.

PS1

Rather than draw out the rectangle, just click anywhere on the canvas to open up a dialog box where you can enter the dimensions of the rounded rectangle, and determine how rounded the corners of your photo will be.

The roundness is determined by the Radius, and the higher the number, the more rounded the corners will be. You can either use the settings in the screenshot below, or play around with the numbers to get the exact dimension and roundness that you want.

Make sure that your rectangle has a fill (any color will do as it will be hidden by the photo), and no stroke. (These settings are in the menu at the top of the screen.

PS2

To insert the photo in the same file where you've created your rectangle, go to File Place Embedded and navigate to where your photo is saved on your computer and hit enter/return or click Place.

PS3

In your Layers panel (accessible from Windows > Layers), you should now see your photo above your rectangle. Right-click the photo layer and select Create clipping mask. That will restrict your photo to the bounds of the rectangle.

You can resize and move the photo within that rectangle by right-clicking the layer and selecting Free transform.

PS4

If you want to go the extra step, you can use a variety of desktop or mobile apps that will give your photos the authentic vintage colors needed to complete the illusion.

Do you have any tips or tricks to give your photos a vintage look in Photoshop? Let us know in the comments.