Sepia Toning

[gbdurfee]

I hope I'm in the correct forum now for asking a question about color. What Ed said about grayscale converting is interesting, but I don't know what it means. So, I ask the following questions and ask if they are in any way related:

My questions today would be - is there an easy way to get sepia back into a picture if you turn it from color to grayscale to work on it – or to just get sepia period, or is that what you are doing in channels? And, I'm having trouble with colors (in Image adjust color). Like in the black skin tones I can't get the brown I need out of the color adjustments. It's like the reds that get into aging pictures I can tone those down, but once again can’t find browns. Kids stuff?

[Doug Nelson]

There are many, many ways to do various tones, including sepia toning. Here are some of the simplest:

Hue/Saturation adjustment layer...turn 'colorize' on...move hue slider control back and forth until you get the tone you want...move the saturation back and forth until you get the saturation you want...move the brightness...well, you know the rest

There's a sepia toning action that ships standard with Photoshop...you might have to use 'load actions' if you don't already have it loaded

Make a new layer, fill it with your favorite sepia color...switch blend mode to color...play with opacity

Let's hear some other favorite sepia toning techiques, guys. Especially if someone has a duo-tone technique.

[Nezbitten]

Re: Sepia Toning

You could try 3 ways to change a black and white photo to sepia on my blog, with full instructions. This may help.

Photo retouching man

[TommyO]

Re: Right place?

...if you turn it from color to grayscale to work on it

Well, another suggestion would be not to convert it to grayscale. It is often better to only desaturate a merged layer. But, either way, you still have to add back that sepia tint.

I like Doug's suggestion of adding the color fill layer, using color blend mode, and adjusting opacity. That is a very traditional method.

But, after Adobe added the black & white adjustment layer, you also have it as another choice. Within its' dialog, there is a tint button and slider that works wonderfully at its defaults.

...Like in the black skin tones I can't get the brown I need out of the color adjustments. It's like the reds that get into aging pictures I can tone those down, but once again can’t find browns.

One way to work with skin tones is to work with the numbers, the RGB or CMYK values. Look at a skin tone you would like to achieve, then mask and rework the problem skin to get to those values. There are many threads on RetouchPro on this subject. I'd suggest doing an advanced search for them. Many people prefer to work in CMYK for skin tone matching. However, unless you do it often, it may not be as intuitive.

There are also some plug-ins out there that help with skin tone adjustments, if you prefer that route. The company "onOne" is quite popular. They used to make "SkinTune", but I think it's now part of a larger plug-in called "PhotoTune".

[Southbay]

Re: Sepia Toning

I use these most often. Pay for them if you like them.

http://www.thelightsrightstudio.com/TLRB&WToning.htm

These are good, but limited in selection. Not free.

http://www.pixelgenius.com/photokit/index.html

[TerryB]

Re: Sepia Toning

The one I use consistently:
B&W adjustment layer> check Tint box> massage the Hue and Saturation sliders 'till you're happy

[Mike Needham]

Re: Sepia Toning

I often use Image>Adjustments>Variations or a Solid Colour Adjustment layer with Blend Modes or Opacity adjustment. Occasionally, just occasionally I turn it to greyscale and then Tri-tone it

[Boneappetit]

Re: Sepia Toning

The one I use consistently:
B&W adjustment layer> check Tint box> massage the Hue and Saturation sliders 'till you're happy

This is a good one. I've been trying to get that nice sepia tone after the D&B technique, and this is a quick way to do it... thanx for posting.

[spotter]

Re: Sepia Toning

I look back at the original and take a sample of dark brown for a fill layer then a sample of light brown for another and lay them one after the other over the finished B&W.Then I overlay the black and white again over it to add more black into the shadows. If you save the original and sit it alongside with windows ,tile, ,it is good for matching colours closely.

[4personnen]

Re: Sepia Toning

Hi, just my first post here so...I often use tints on my BW pictures that were often taken in color so my routine is usually use the channel mixer with the "monochrome" ticked. and then add a "solid color" layer with the blending mode set on "color" so I can always change my tint if I change my mind.. One of my other way is make a new "gradient map" that is a bit more tricky but can make miracles when your image is too contrasted (because you choose what is your "white" and what is your "black"). To me, worth a try, as it's completely versatile and non destructive.

[Boneappetit]

Re: Sepia Toning

Hi, just my first post here so...I often use tints on my BW pictures that were often taken in color so my routine is usually use the channel mixer with the "monochrome" ticked. and then add a "solid color" layer with the blending mode set on "color" so I can always change my tint if I change my mind.. One of my other way is make a new "gradient map" that is a bit more tricky but can make miracles when your image is too contrasted (because you choose what is your "white" and what is your "black"). To me, worth a try, as it's completely versatile and non destructive.

Very simple and yet very practical. Thanx for posting this.