How to Create an Animated Polaroid Effect Photoshop Template

What You’ll Be Creating

In this tutorial, we’ll not only create a polaroid effect Photoshop template using photo filters and shapes, but we’ll also create animated photo effects with standard Photoshop tools.

I created Animated Polaroid Slideshow Instagram Stories Template using the same methods for my GraphicRiver portfolio.

httpsgraphicrivernetitemanimated-polaroid-slideshow-instagram-stories23822362

Tutorial Assets

The following assets were used during the production of this tutorial:

1. How to Prepare the Document

Step 1

Use Control-N to create a new document and use the following settings:

Creating a new document

Step 2

Go to File > Place and put the first image inside the document.

Placing the first image

Step 3

Resize your image to the borders of the document and click Enter.

Resizing the image to the borders

Step 4

After that, place the second image as we did before.

Placing the second image

Step 5

Click M to activate the Rectangular Marquee Tool and select the whole canvas of the document.

Selecting the canvas of the document

Step 6

Select both layers and then go to Image > Crop to delete the parts of the photo outside the canvas.

Cropping the images

Step 7

Right-Click on the first layer and then click Convert to Smart Object.

Converting the layer to the smart object

Step 8

After that, convert the second image into a smart object, as we did before.

Converting the second image into the smart object

Step 9

Rename the layers to “Placeholder 01” and “Placeholder 02”.

Renaming the layers

Step 10

Create duplicates of your smart objects using Right-Click > Duplicate.

Creating the duplicates of the smart objects

Step 11

Make the placeholders Invisible.

Making the layers invisible

Step 12

Move the placeholders to the top of the Layers panel.

Moving the smart objects

Step 13

Now we need to resize the photos. Select the “Photo 01” layer and then hit Control-T and change the Width and Height to 85%.

Resizing the first image

Step 14

Resize the second layer as we just did before.

Resizing the second image

Step 15

Select the background layer and then hit Shift-F5 and use the following settings:

Contents: Color
Color: #141414

Filling the background with the color

Step 16

Double-Click on the first photo layer and select the Stroke parameter. Use the following settings:

Size: 10 px
Position: Outside
Color: #fef3d5

Creating a layer style for the first image

Step 17

Add the same stroke parameter to the second image in the Layer Style panel.

Creating a layer style for the second image

2. How to Create the Polaroid Stripes

Step 1

Now let’s create the first element of our stripe. Hit U to create Rectangle Shape and use the following settings:

Creating the first shape of the polaroid stripe

Step 2

Select the shape and move it 20 px down and 15 px to the right from the top-left corner.

Moving the shape

Step 3

Create a duplicate of the shape and move it 200 px to the right while holding Shift.

Moving the duplicate of the shape

Step 4

Now we need to create 18 more duplicates of the shapes and place them the same distance from each other.

Creating duplicates of the shape

Step 5

Select all the shapes while holding Shift in the Layers panel and then Right Click > Merge Shapes.

Merging the shapes

Step 6

After that, create a duplicate of your new shape and move it 1800 px down while holding Shift.

Moving the duplicate of the shape

Step 7

Now we need to merge our new shape into one, as we did before, and then Double Click on the layer and select the Color Overlay parameter. Use the following settings:

Blend Mode:
Normal Color: #fef1cf

Overlaying the shape with the color

Step 8

Go to Outer Glow and choose the following settings:

Blend mode: Screen
Opacity: 100%
Color: #fef1cf
Spread: 10%
Size: 10 px

Creating the outer glow of the shape

3. How to Create a Vintage Photo Photoshop Effect

Step 1

To create a vintage photo effect, let’s add color correction to our document using the curves image filter. Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Curves.

Creating the first adjustment layer

Step 2

Create a duplicate of the curves layer.

Creating a duplicate of the curves

Step 3

Double click on the first curves layer icon in the Layers panel and use the following settings:

Creating the curves color correction

Step 4

After that, choose the following settings for the second curves layer:

Creating the curves color correction

Step 5

Change the Opacity of the first curves layer to 25%.

Changing the opacity of the layer

Step 6

Change the Opacity of the second curves layer to 50%.

Changing the opacity of the layer

This is how our image will look after adding all the Photoshop effects listed above:

How image should look after adding all the effects

4. How to Create an Animated Polaroid Effect in Photoshop

Step 1

Select the first two photos and move them 1010 px to the right while holding Shift, so that they go outside the canvas of the document.

Moving the layers outside the canvas

Step 2

Go to Window > Timeline and click on Create Video Timeline.

Creating a timeline

Step 3

Now you need to create the first keyframe. Select the first photo and then click on the Keyframe icon near Transform to create the first Keyframe.

Creating first keyframe

Step 4

Move the Time Indicator to 0:00:01:00 and then move the photo 1010 px to the left while holding Shift.

Creating the second frame

Step 5

Move the Time Indicator to 0:00:02:00 and hit the Keyframe icon to create another keyframe.

Creating the stop frame

Step 6

Move the Time Indicator to 0:00:03:00 and then move the photo 1010 px to the left while holding Shift.

Creating the animation

Step 7

Select the second photo, and then move the Time Indicator to 0:00:02:00 and hit the Keyframe icon to create the first keyframe for our second image.

Creating the first keyframe for the second image

Step 8

Move the Time Indicator to 0:00:03:00 and then move the second photo 1010 px to the left while holding Shift.

Creating the second keyframe for the second image

Step 9

Move the Time Indicator to 0:00:04:00 and hit the Keyframe icon to create the first keyframe for our second image.

Creating the stop keyframe

Step 10

Move the Time Indicator to 0:00:05:00, and then move the second photo 1010 px to the left while holding Shift.

Creating the last keyframe for the second image

Step 11

Now let’s create the animation for our shapes. Select the shape layer and then Right-Click > Convert to Smart Object.

Converting shape into the smart object

Step 12

Hit Control-T and change the Width to 94.45%.

Changing the size of the shape

Step 13

Select the shape layer and move the Time Indicator to 0:00:01:00. Then click on the Keyframe icon.

Creating the first keyframe of the shape animation

Step 14

Move the Time Indicator to 0:00:01:00 and then move the shape 755 px to the left while holding Shift.

Creating the second keyframe for the shape layer

Step 15

Move the Time Indicator to 0:00:02:00 and hit the Keyframe icon.

Creating the stop keyframe for the shape layer

Step 16

Move the Time Indicator to 0:00:03:00 and then move the shape 755 px to the left while holding Shift.

Creating the keyframe for the shape layer

Step 17

Move the Time Indicator to 0:00:04:00 and click on the Keyframe icon.

Creating the second stop keyframe for the shape layer

Step 18

Move the Time Indicator to 0:00:05:00 and then move the shape 755 px to the left while holding Shift.

Creating the last keyframe for the shape layer

Step 19

Our animation is almost ready, so now let’s create a fade in/fade out effect to make it look smoother. Create a new layer using Shift-Control-N and then Fill it with any color.

Creating the new layer

Step 20

Change the Fill option of the layer to 0%.

Changing the fill of the layer

Step 21

Go to the timeline panel and hit the Transitions button. After that, drag and drop the Fade With Black transition to the start and end of the layer.

Creating the fade effect

Step 22

Right-Click on the transitions and change the duration to 0.5.

Changing the duration of the fade inout animation

5. How to Render the Animation for Instagram

Step 1

To save your animation for Instagram, you need to click on the icon in the upper right corner and select Render Video.

Rendering the video

Step 2

Set the following settings in the Render Video panel:

Format: H.264
Size: Document Size
Range: All Frames

Setting the parameters for instagram upload

6. How to Replace the Image Used in the Template

Step 1

If you want to change the images used for your animation, Right Click on one of the “Placeholder” layers that we created first, and choose Edit Contents.

Opening the placeholder layer

Step 2

Place your new image above the old one, press Alt-F4 to close the placeholder, and then select Save.

Saving the new image

Awesome Work, You’re Now Done!

In this way, we can create an animated polaroid effect in Photoshop using smart objects, shapes, and image filters.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this tutorial, and feel free to contact me for any help with the tutorial. You can also check my Animated Polaroid Slideshow Instagram Stories Template with a similar effect and an awesome vintage video overlay in my portfolio on GraphicRiver.

httpsgraphicrivernetitemanimated-polaroid-slideshow-instagram-stories23822362