Help with PP?

Hey guys. I'd like to know how to post process images to get the colors and tones like in these images:

http://jonasraskphotog​raphy.files.wordpress.​com/2013/06/dscf3056-2.jpg
http://jonasraskphotog​raphy.files.wordpress.​com/2013/06/dscf2816.j​pg
http://www.flickr.com/​photos/mrbokeh/3424426​600/
http://jonasraskphotog​raphy.files.wordpress.​com/2013/06/dscf3040.j​pg
http://www.flickr.com/​photos/pompob/40391979​74/
http://www.flickr.com/​photos/velco/296634756​9/

I'm aware there's a couple different 'looks' in there. I just want to know how to get them approximately. Specifically, I'm looking for that sort of 'vintage' looking, slightly washed out, pastel tone colors - check the links, especially the first and second. The second 'look' I'm going for is the vibrant, cinematic-looking, but still slightly pastel-y colors in the fifth and last links.
I'm not sure what to look for in terms of what channel to boost. etc, so any pointers would be helpful. Obviously, we probably won't be able to figure out exactly how much everything was adjusted, but I know there are a lot of guys here a lot more experienced with post-processing than I am, and hopefully you guys can help me deduce at least most of the process.
Thanks!

"Post process images" using what software?

Lightroom 4

Hundreds of free presets here.
http://www.presetsheav​en.com/category/preset​s/lr4/
Chances are good you will find something at least close to what you want.
There are also many other free preset sites and a gazillion guys who want to sell you presets. My own feeling is that I would never pay for a preset. There is no magic sauce in them, they are only sets of slider positions - something that you can produce yourself if you are willing to (a.) learn the program and what each slider does and (b.) spend the time experimenting until you get to where you want to be.

After you play with free presets, consider taking some time to examine the images that you like and determine what was done to them to get the look. If you understand what was done, then it is simply a matter of implementing those things in whatever software, with whatever controls are available.

Otherwise, you will have no idea what it is you want to do and you will be forever moving sliders around to no avail. There's nothing wrong with copying a style - that's how we all learn, to some degree - however, if you cannot articulate what it is about an image that you would like to copy, how can you expect to be able to do it yourself?

As an exercise, consider trying to describe three elements in each of the two looks or styles you wish to emulate. Be concise - it will force you to think about what it is that you see in the image, and why it appeals to you. "Vintage" is not concise. "Desaturated" or "warm shadow tones" or "boosted local contrast" - those are concise terms, with, not coincidentally, sliders in LR that perform those exact functions.

Once you start deconstructing an image this way, you will have the ability to make the look in any software that has the controls to perform such operations. Otherwise, you are simply going to flail around in the software of your choosing until you get "something" that the software has chosen for you.

kirk

Check out VSCO presets. They're quite pricy but searching online you can find tutorials on how to achieve the same look. I don't have the tutorial I use on this laptop, but basically it's playing around with selective coulours and curves.