How to Add a Vintage Style to Images In Blogger using CSS

To get that vintage Instagram effect for your pictures you don't have to use a program, now you can use CSS and get a similar result! We will apply a shadow inside the image, add a border, we will put a color in it, and on top of our image, we will add another semitransparent image with a grunge style that will give a vintage touch.

You can see the example in this picture below, moving the cursor changes to normal but keeps the edge.

Obviously there will be images that will fit better these effects than others, but regardless of that we do, there should be made a few observations:

1. It is made with CSS styles so as some of you might already know, it will not recognize browsers, specifically Internet Explorer, so using IE browser does not show any effect.
2. Hovering around the image will change with a transition effect, but only in Firefox.
3. The images are not centered, you will have to align to left (default), or right.

Having clarified the above, let's start adding the CSS code to our template.

Adding a Vintage Effect to Blogger Images

Step 1. Go to Template > Edit HTML

Step 2. Select the "Expand widget templates" box

 Step 3. Search for the following piece of code:

]]></b:skin>

Step 4. Just above it, add the following CSS code:

/* Vintage Images
----------------------------------------------- */
.vintage img {
padding:0;
float:left;
}
.vintage {
border:10px solid #000;
position: relative;
float: left; /* Change to right if you want the images to be aligned to the right */
margin-right: 20px;
margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.vintage:before {
content: "";
display: block;
position: absolute;
top: 0;
bottom: 0;
left: 0;
right: 0;
background-color: rgba(255,102,0, 0.6); /* sepia */
background-image:url(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBrhj1thgShXP7LVg3nVpqG1B0LUKmr63RWFnt0VaAK7vYnOAbDCMsXnzgRPRDZTt02MPJs48xDuF4Hx_qKItwnJi0MZr6-nywSUkkh6gf-PgtfAqYl4AiZkgqNi6nPtf-TjqV45JUYDc/s0/grunge.png);
background-size: cover;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 50px #000, inset 0 0 50px #000, inset 0 0 50px #000;
-moz-transition: all 1s;
-webkit-transition: all 1s;
-o-transition: all 1s;
transition: all .1s;
}
.vintage:hover:before {
background: none;
box-shadow:none;
-moz-transition: all 1s;
-webkit-transition: all 1s;
-o-transition: all 1s;
transition: all .1s;
}

Note: In the first code, you see in bold the line that corresponds to the color of the image, you can change it to any other color, these are some examples of traditional vintage:

background-color: rgba(0,0,255, 0.5); /* blue */
background-color: rgba(0,255,0, 0.5); /* green */
background-color: rgba(0,255,255, 0.5); /* cyan */
background-color: rgba(255,0,0, 0.5); /* red */
background-color: rgba(255,0,240, 0.5); /* violet */

If you want the image to not change to its original state on mouse hover, then remove the last code:

.vintage:hover:before {
background: none;
box-shadow:none;
-moz-transition: all 1s;
-webkit-transition: all 1s;
-o-transition: all 1s;
transition: all .1s;
}

Step 5. After you've made your changes, click on Save Template

Step 6. Finally, add this code inside your posts each time you want to apply the vintage effect to an image (switch to HTML tab if you want to use this code inside your post)

<div class="vintage">
<img border="0" src="URL of the image" /></div>
<div style="clear: both;"/>

And add the URL of the image to where is the text in blue.

And that's it, with this little experiment you can have your vintage-style images using CSS only. Enjoy!

How to Add a Widget Below First Post in Blogger

This tutorial will show you how to make a gadget/widget to appear just below the first Blogger post.

First, you must understand that the usual gadgets provided by Blogger can be added only in the areas where the design section permits. Still, we can show any element, for example, an AdSense ad, an image, a flash file, a video etc.

So what we will do in this tutorial is to display an item under the first post, this means that it will not be visible below the other entries. This is great when you use any automatic summary, although it is not a requirement.

Well, this is easy to do and we will use the isFirstPost conditional tag for that element to show it under the first entry.

Adding An Element Below First Post

Step 1. First, go to your Blogger Template and click on the Edit HTML button:

Step 2. Check the "Expand Widget Templates" box:

Step 3. And find this line:

<b:include data='post' name='post'/> 

Step 4. Just below it add this code:

<b:if cond='data:post.isFirstPost'>
<div align="center" style="margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:10px;">
Here goes the code of the element you want to show
</div>
</b:if>

Note:

- The bolded text indicates to where you should paste the code of the element (eg. AdSense ad, a widget). 

- In red are the top margins (margin-top) and the bottom margins (margin-bottom), this is in case you want the element to move towards or away from the entries, also you can add any style like a background color, border etc..

Step 5. Preview to make sure everything is okay, then Save your Template.