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Do you like aesthetic edits with soft pastel colors and a faded look? In this pastel effect Photoshop tutorial, you'll not only learn how to make aesthetic edits but also how to create vaporwave Photoshop effects with a cool-looking interface inspired by Windows 95.
Tutorial Assets
Before learning how to edit aesthetic photos in Photoshop, you'll need the following resource in order to complete this tutorial:
What You Will Learn in This Aesthetic Photoshop Tutorial
- How to start recording a Photoshop action
- How to make a vaporwave edit Photoshop action
- How to create text layers for an aesthetic effect Photoshop action
- How to create a soft pastel effect in Photoshop
- How to edit aesthetic photos in Photoshop using Smart Objects
If you want to learn these techniques via video, check out our lesson on the Envato Tuts+ YouTube channel:
You can also check out my Vaporwave Aesthetic Photo Template, which creates a similar effect as this pastel effect Photoshop tutorial, but gives you many premade vaporwave gradient Photoshop presets.

1. How to Start Recording the Photoshop Action
Step 1
First of all, press Alt-F9, or go to Windows > Actions to open the Actions panel.

Step 2
Hit the New Group button to create a new group of actions and name it "Aesthetic Edits". Then hit the New Action button and name it "Vaporwave Photoshop Action", and finally hit Record. Now our action will start recording.

2. How to Make a Vaporwave Edit Photoshop Action
Step 1
The next step of this vaporwave Photoshop tutorial is creating a new layer by pressing Control-N using the following settings: 2000 x 2000 px; 300 dpi.

Step 2
After that, go to Layer > New Fill Layer > Color Fill and create a new layer called "Background Color". Set the Photoshop pastel swatches to #331762
.

Step 3
Hit Shift-Control-N to create a new layer, and name it Noise. Once you've created this layer, press Shift-F5 and fill the layer with black.

Step 4
Now, let's add a noise filter to our black layer. Go to Filter > Noise > Add Noise and use the following settings:
- Amount: 8%
- Distribution: Gaussian
- Monochromatic: Off

Step 5
After that, Right Click on the Noise layer and select Create a Clipping Mask.

Step 6
Change the Blending Mode of the Noise layer to Screen.

Step 7
Now let's create the first element of our stripe. Hit U to create a Rectangle Shape. Make sure the Stroke setting is off and create a shape with the following size:
- Width: 1714
- Height: 1272

Step 8
Hit Control-T and use the following settings:
- X: 1000 px
- Y: 983 px

Step 9
After that, Double Click on the rectangle layer in the Layers panel and add a Stroke effect with the following settings:
- Size: 2 px
- Position: Inside
- Blend Mode: Inside
- Opacity: 100%
- Colors: Black
Once you've added the stroke, press the Make Default button.

Step 10
Add a Color Overlay style with the following settings:
- Blend Mode: Normal
- Color:
#c4c7cc
- Opacity: 100%
Press the Make Default button.

Step 11
Hit Control-J to create a duplicate of the layer, and then press Control-T and use the following settings:
- X: 1000 px
- Y: 371 px
- Height: 3.77%

Step 12
Another important step of this vaporwave Photoshop tutorial is creating the layer styles. Remove the Color Overlay style and add a Gradient Overlay style with the following settings and Photoshop pastel swatches:
- Blend Mode: Normal
- Opacity: 100%
- Gradient Colors: from
#8a018f
to#7200d3
- Style: Linear
- Angle: 0
- Scale: 100%

Step 13
Create a duplicate of the layer, and then press Control-T and use the following settings:
- X: 1000 px
- Y: 351.5 px
- Height: 18.89%

Step 14
Add default Stroke and Color Overlay styles and remove the Gradient Overlay.

Step 15
Now, let's make our first button. Make another copy of the layer, and then press Control-T and set the following parameters:
- X: 1835 px
- Y: 374.5 px
- Width: 2.57%
- Height: 478.83%

Step 16
Add a Bevel & Emboss style with the following settings:
- Style: Inner Bevel
- Technique: Smooth
- Depth: 100%
- Direction: Up
- Size: 8
- Soften: 0
- Angle: 135
- Attitude: 75
- Highlight Mode: Screen with white color
- Shadow Mode: Multiply with black color

Step 17
Duplicate the button layer by pressing Control-J and then move it, while holding Shift, 44 px to the left.

Step 18
Now we'll use a custom shape. Open the Custom Shape Picker, and select the arrow.

Step 19
Create an arrow shape with 17 by 17 px size.

Step 20
Hit Control-T and then change the X to 1791.50 px and Y to 374.5 px.

Step 21
Add a Color Overlay layer style with Black Color, and then create a duplicate of this shape.

Step 22
Go to Edit > Transform > Flip Horizontal and move the layer 43 px to the right.

Step 23
Select the top stripe layer, create a duplicate of it, and then press Control-T and use the following settings:
- X: 1000 px
- Y: 414.5 px
- Width: 99.18%
- Height: 478.83%

Step 24
Put this layer on top of all other layers, and then add a default Stroke style and Color Overlay with the following color code: #e7e8ea
.

Step 25
Create a duplicate of the layer and then transform it with the following settings:
- X: 167.5 px
- Y: 371.5 px
- Width: 2.88%
- Height: 111.63%

Step 26
Add default Stroke and Color Overlay styles to the layer.

Step 27
Create a copy of this layer, and then let's transform this layer:
- X: 171 px
- Y: 375 px
- Width: 85.71%
- Height: 85.71%

Step 28
Create another duplicate of the layer and transform it with the following settings:
- X: 170.5 px
- Y: 374.5 px
- Width: 64.30%
- Height: 11.90%

Step 29
Add a Stroke with 1 px size and black color.

Step 30
Add a Drop Shadow effect and use the following settings:
- Blend Mode: Multiply
- Color: Black
- Opacity: 100%
- Angle: 135
- Distance: 1 px
- Spread: 15
- Size: 3 px

Step 31
Now we need to select the first shape we've created, create a duplicate of it, and put it above the white menu layer. After that, press Control-T and use the following settings:
- X: 978.5 px
- Y: 999.5 px
- Width: 96.67%
- Height: 89.23%

Step 32
Make the layer style effects of this layer Invisible, and then Right Click > Convert to Smart Object.

Step 33
Select the white menu shape again, duplicate it, and then move it to the top of the layers. After that, transform it with the following settings:
- X: 1828.5 px
- Y: 1002.5 px
- Width: 2.53%
- Height: 2834.8%

Step 34
Add the default Stroke and Color Overlay layer styles, and then create a duplicate of the layer. Transform the copy to the following settings:
- X: 1000.0 px
- Y: 1589.5 px
- Width: 3953.5%
- Height: 3.69%

Step 35
Select the button layers (both button and icon) and press Create a Group of Layers. Then create a duplicate of this group.

Step 36
Move the duplicate of the group to the top of all layers, and then transform the layer using the following settings:
- X: 1828.5 px
- Y: 456.0 px
- Width: 100%
- Height: 100%
- Angle: -90

Step 37
Create another duplicate of the group, and then transform the group to:
- X: 1828.5 px
- Y: 1547.0 px
- Width: -100%
- Height: -100%

Step 38
Create one more duplicate of the group, and then press Control-T and set the following settings:
- X: 1787.0 px
- Y: 1589.5 px
- Width: 100%
- Height: 100%
- Angle: -90

Step 39
Create the last duplicate of the group, and transform it to:
- X: 172.0 px
- Y: 1589.5 px
- Width: 100%
- Height: 100%
- Angle: -90

Step 40
We almost are done with the interface. Now let's select the Smart Object and add a default Stroke Layer Style.

This is what our interface should look like now:

3. How to Create Text Layers for an Aesthetic Effect Photoshop Action
Step 1
Another step of this tutorial on how to make a picture aesthetic in Photoshop is creating text layers. Select the Horizontal Type Tool and set the following settings:
- Font: VCR OSD Mono
- Size: 6.61
- Color Black

Step 2
Create a new layer on top of all layers using Shift-Control-N, and type "Load".
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Step 3
Press Control-T and use the following settings:
- X: 208.4 px
- Y: 413.25 px

Step 4
Create another layer and type "Save", and then transform it to:
- X: 312.4 px
- Y: 413.2 px

Step 5
Create one more layer and type "Edit", and use the following transform settings:
- X: 417.4 px
- Y: 413.2 px

Step 6
Create a layer and type "Filters", and then transform it to:
- X: 534.4 px
- Y: 413.2 px

Step 7
Create another layer and type "Options", and press Control-T and use the following settings:
- X: 697.4 px
- Y: 413.2 px

Step 8
Create the last layer and type "aesthetics.jpg", and transform it to:
- X: 999.4 px
- Y: 373.2 px

Step 9
Add a Color Overlay layer style with white color.

4. How to Create a Soft Pastel Effect in Photoshop
Step 1
Now we're ready to create the pastel gradient Photoshop effect. Let's start with the Smart Object, select it, and then go to Filter > Noise > Add Noise and use the following settings:
- Amount: 8%
- Distribution: Gaussian
- Monochromatic: Off

Step 2
Right-Click on the Smart Object and select Edit Contents.

Step 3
Now we need to put the Place function inside our action. You could place any image inside the Smart Object, not just the one you create a link to. To do it, in the Actions panel, hit the icon in the top-right corner and select Insert Menu Item.

Step 4
Once you've pressed Insert Menu Item, you need to go to File > Place (in the latest version of Photoshop: Place Linked or Place Embedded. There is no critical difference in these options—the first one places just a link to your image, while the second puts the image inside your PSD, so it might take up more space on your computer.)

Step 5
Now you need to stop the action. After that, go to File > Place and put the image you want to use inside the document.

Step 6
Once your image is placed, hit the Record button again.

Step 7
Now Close and Save the smart object layer.

Step 8
Now let's add pastel gradient Photoshop filters. Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layers > Gradient Map and create a pastel pink gradient map with soft yellow and green colors:
#a6e6c3
color with the location at 0%#a198fe
color with the location at 25%#e9e6bb
color with the location at 75%#cb7abf
color with the location at 100%

Step 9
After that, set the Blending Mode to Lighten and the Opacity to 18%.

Step 10
Now let's make our image look faded. Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Exposure and set the Offset to +0.0500.

Step 11
Now let's create a pastel pink gradient fill. Go to Layer > New Fill Layer > Gradient fill and use the following settings and pastel color code Photoshop settings:
- Style: Linear
- Angle: 90
- Scale: 100%
#de38ed
color with the location at 0%#91f5f6
color with the location at 100% (don't forget to change the Opacity of this point to 100%)

Step 12
Change the Blending Mode to Soft Light and the Opacity to 70%.

Step 13
Now go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Channel Mixer and use the following settings:
- Output channel: Red, Red: 0%, Blue: 100%.
- Output channel: Blue, Blue: 0%, Red: +100%.

Step 14
Change the Opacity to 25%.

Step 15
Let's go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Brightness/Contrast and use the following settings:
- Brightness: 0
- Contrast: 30

Step 16
And for the last adjustment layer, we need to create a pastel Gradient Map with the following pastel color code Photoshop settings:
#cb7abf
color with the location at 0%#89aaff
color with the location at 50%#a6e6c3
color with the location at 100%
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Step 17
Change the Blending Mode to Lighten and the Opacity to 15%.
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Step 18
And now for the last step of this tutorial on how to make aesthetic edits in Photoshop. Select all the adjustment layers while holding Shift and then Right Click > Create a Clipping Mask.
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This is what our image should look like now:
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5. How to Create a Pastel Effect in Photoshop Using a Smart Object
Step 1
To create other aesthetic edits with a vaporwave filter Photoshop action, we can just close our image and start the action again. Or, even easier, just Right Click > Edit Content on the smart object and then place any other image you want to use.
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Step 2
Don't forget that you could change the color of the background just by Double-Clicking on the "Background Color" layer. Let's change the pastel gradient background to #e5b1e4
color.
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Step 3
And finally, let's make the Gradient Map 1 and Gradient Map 2 layers invisible to make the vaporwave gradient Photoshop effect look a bit different with our new picture. You could also easily change this layer to a pastel gradient background using the gradient fill layer if you want the background not to be painted in just one color.
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This is what our second image will look like with the changes listed above:
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Awesome Work, You're Now Done!
Today we've learned not only how to create a pastel effect in Photoshop, but also how to create a vaporwave Photoshop action with Windows 95 inspired interface elements. By now, you should know how to create and transform shapes, how to make photos with a pastel Photoshop effect by using adjustment layers, and how to make pastel gradient Photoshop filters.
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I hope you've enjoyed this tutorial, and feel free to contact me for any help. If you want to know how to make a picture aesthetic in Photoshop in a few clicks, you can also check my Vaporwave Aesthetic Effect Photoshop Template, which creates a similar effect and gives you a wide selection of vaporwave filter Photoshop presets, in my portfolio on GraphicRiver.
Do you want to learn not only how to make aesthetic edits in a Photoshop action, but some more related stuff? Check out these awesome tutorials:
- Photoshop ActionsHow to Create a Light Leak Photoshop Color Effect
- Adobe PhotoshopHow to Create a Fog Effect Photoshop Action
- Photoshop ActionsHow to Create a Vintage Fade Effect Photoshop Action
- Photoshop ActionsHow to Create a Light Leak Photoshop Action
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