1960s/1970s Magazine Photographs Effect

Much as I enjoy Norman's detailed and historically correct rundown, I'm very tempted to just put it like this: make it look like s**t and you're good to go. Let's face it, digital beats analog hands down 😉

Let's start with this:

First compress the tonal range down to the typical five-stop dynamic range of a color transparency. Then blur it a bit. Film didn't have the resolution of a digital sensor and modern lenses. Finish off with a reddish color cast in the shadows:

Looks straight out of a magazine, ca. 1974 😉

Here's how you limit the tonal range, while leaving the midrange unaffected:

Please post an image you want to edit thusly. 

Normally we are presented with an image that has been modified in Photoshop and are asked which of Photoshop’s tools and techniques could replicate the effect.

In the case of your printed image, we would be helped greatly if we were aware of its non-Photoshop production steps so that we could attempt to imitate their effect in Photoshop.

The image was printed and modified using a method that probably originated as a color separated image destined for a letterpress photoengraving from which an electroplate was made and subsequently used on press.

The printed picture was scanned or photographed by you in such a manner that the halftone dot pattern was lost, detail was compromised and the blur that lost the halftone dots also softened the entire image.  

In order to see how the original indirect* separations were handled I changed the Photoshop version Mode to CMYK where an accurate black plate record somehow made the trip. The Black record reveals much about the separations.

*Indirect separations differ from direct separations in that, after appropriate masks are made, direct separations are filtered and screened in one step. Indirect separations require two steps:

1: Filters with Continuous Tone Pan film to produce four black and white negatives.

2: The resultant films are then screened with High Contrast Ortho film allowing for further intentional modification of the film record. This is followed by dot etching for more correction. 

The K channel record confirmed a lot, namely that the separation aim points, curve shapes, masking criteria and controls were far different 50 or 60 years ago. (Side note: The emulsions may have been on glass. Dimensionally stable film bases were introduced around 1960. Depending on your age the stable base terms Estar, Plestar, and Cronar may be familiar to you.)

Look at the difference between K plates: Old method and current generic Photoshop CMYK. Notice how the K of the old method extends into the flesh tones and even the little girl’s white shirt. The shadows are a hammered solid. Ugh.  

NOTE: The super-strong K plate served two purposes: Gray Component Replacement (where the CMY create gray, is removed via masking and replaced with K) for more consistent color rendition on press, and UCR -- Under Color Removal -- (involved replacement of the CMY (that created dark blacks) with K for the sake of economy. Ink is an important line item on a cost sheet. Ink colors (CMY) cost more than Black and on long runs, such as publications, it can be significant.)

Bottom line: in an effort to replicate the effect pictured, changes must be made so that the K channel is closer in local and total contrast to your sample -- which is worlds away from the arbitrary profile of Photoshop’s CMYK and then alter the Curves of the C, M and Y to accommodate it.

In Photoshop it will require changing the generic Black Generation field from the default of Medium to Maximum and building on that, with a duplicate layer of the Black set to Multiply, for starters.

Black Generation can be found in Edit > Color Settings > CMYK > Custom CMYK. Be sure to return any change to your normal setting when you are no longer working on this file. 

P.S. When discussing color separations and print quality, Life Magazine and National Geographic should never be uttered in the same breath. 

See Vintage Filters and Actions

https://www.creativebloq.com/photoshop/photoshop-actions-912784/2

It looks like the effect you want could be achieved by adding a Color Lookup adjustment layer and some noise. You might first want to make sure your original image is a smart object so that the effects you add are non-destructive. To make it a smart object, in the Layers panel, right-click and select Convert to Smart Object. Next, add the adjustment layer. Go to the bottom of the Layers panel, and click on the middle icon (if you hover over it, you'll see a tooltip with "Create new fill or adjustment layer"). In the menu that appears, select Color Lookup... In the Properties panel, it will show a dropdown menu for Load 3D LUT... Click on that and look through the options. You might try filmstock_50.3dl. If the effect is too strong, you can adjust the opacity for the adjustment layer to lessen the effect. Then you might add some noise. Select the image layer again, and go to Filter > Noise > Add Noise... Try out the slider with Preview on to see how much you want to add. I think Gaussian looks better for a grain effect. Because you've applied the effect to a smart object, you can change the amount of noise if you want. Double-click on Add Noise in the Layers panel, and it'll open up the dialog again.