Home / Vintage photo frames and retro photo themes
Vintage photo frames and retro photo themes
Twelve themes with ready-made looks, plus a workshop for any decade. Pick one and put your photo in it.
- PortraitsStudio oval frames, yearbook pages, instant prints and silver portraits: four looks for pictures of people, from the days when having your photo taken was an occasion.Neighbourhood studio · Instant print · Yearbook day · Silver portrait
- School DaysA lanyard memory card, a ruled notebook page with a taped photo, a progress report with a PASSED stamp and a picture-day page: four looks for school nostalgia.School memory card · Notebook page · Report card · Picture day
- Weddings and CelebrationsA wedding album page, a four-pose photo booth strip and an anniversary print: three looks for the days worth keeping.Wedding album · Photo booth strip · Anniversary print
- Festival CardsA vintage Christmas wreath, a glowing Diwali card, a New Year night sky and a Valentine heart: four greeting cards with your photo front and centre.Christmas card · New Year card · Diwali card · Valentine card
- TV and Home VideoA one-channel television, a home-video tape and a screen from the future: three looks built around the glowing screens people gathered round at home.One-channel TV · Home video · Screen of 2100
- Music and MagazinesA record sleeve, a handwritten mixtape and a glossy magazine cover: three looks for people who always wanted to be on the front.Record sleeve · Mixtape · Magazine cover
- Cinema and PostersHand-painted film posters, flat-colour travel posters, contact sheets and silent-film stills: four looks for people who like a bold title and a dramatic frame.Matinee poster · Railway poster · Contact sheet · Silent film still
- Film and DarkroomAn orange colour negative on a light table, a contact sheet with a circled favourite and a print with pencil notes: three looks from the days of the darkroom.Colour negative · Contact sheet · Darkroom print
- Travel and PaperA Sunday front page, a roadside postcard, a scrapbook page and a holiday slide: four looks for trips, news and things stuck in an album.Front page news · Greetings postcard · Travel scrapbook · Holiday slide
- Parties and SnapshotsFlash photos, early digital cameras, filter apps and sun-faded prints: four looks for casual pictures from friends, trips and everyday life.Flash party · Early digicam · Filter feed · Sun-faded print
- Y2K and DigicamA small digital camera screen, a flip phone picture message, an old computer window and a chat profile card: four looks from the years when everything was silver and a little blurry.Digicam screen · Flip phone MMS · Old PC window · Chat buddy card
- Games and CollectiblesAn arcade high-score screen, a pocket game display, a collector card and a postage stamp: four looks for people who grew up swapping, saving and playing.Arcade high score · Pocket screen · Collector card · Postage stamp
- By decadeNo theme, just time: nine decade looks from 1900 to 2100, with a handful of frames. Slide to any year and see what a photo might have looked like.Every decade, nine looks
How the themes work
Every theme pairs a colour treatment from a decade with a frame drawn from scratch: a television, a record sleeve, a postcard, an album page. Pick a ready-made look, then edit the words on the frame and slide the time line to move it earlier or later. The frame stays where it is while the look changes, so you can compare the same record sleeve in 1965 and in 1985.
Where the ideas come from
Many looks are inspired by the habits of a particular place, such as Indian neighbourhood studios, American yearbooks and roadside postcards, or European railway posters. The description says so wherever it applies. Nothing copies a real brand, publication or archive.
Do you want a theme added?
Family functions, sports days and more places are on the list. Use the short form on the By decade page to tell us what you would like first.