Jennifer,
First you have to Desaturate the image. Then call up Color Balance and do the following: Tick "Preserve Luminousity"
Check "shadows"
set the three levels as +25 / -12 / -55.
This should give you a starting point. Remember to change the darker tones only: Sepia is a type of ink (Octopus in fact). This means that the darkest parts are brown, and the lightest parts are white.
Many fake Sepia images show the opposite: light brown high’s and black low’s. again, Sepia is ink, not a filter.
Rob
Or just skip the whys and wherefores, and use the Sepia Toning default Action installed with Photoshop and just click the button.
If you do not run the action on an image, it creates a default sepia tone for any brushwork you choose, adjusting all foreground colors to shades of brown…
Rob, you make Photoshop WAY too hard!
Rob, you make Photoshop WAY too hard!
I know, Ol Whozit! I’m under medication for that.
So thanks. I forgotten all about the action.
BTW, looked up "whozit" in my dictionary, but it wasn’t there. This makes me particularly curious what it means.
Forgive me for not knowing this, but I’m Dutch. (I get treatment for that too).
Rob.
If classic sepia is what you want, the Actions work. Using Color Balance gives a high degree of control over the final color, so don’t be fain hearted! Try middle or even high values as well.
Here’s two other tricks:
Hue Saturation>Colorize
Hue=32
Sat=25.
A third trick:
Layer>New Fill Layer>Color
The Color Picker appears. Go to the Lab dialog, set L=32,a=9,b=9, and click the Radio button next to "b". A color slider appears which will allow subtle control of the final color in it’s range, and if you click "a", a slider appears giving a different color range. Picking "L" will change the Luminance, but I find that leaving it set between 30 to 40 and then going to the Blend slider in the Fill Layer allows a great range of final colorizing.
Try both Colorize in HS and this one to see what you like.
I think that sepia action works good.
How about simply making your image a duotone (tritone with black and shades of brown?). That could work too? So many solutions, so little time.
ZIP
🙂
Rob
My dictionary suggests ‘Ol’ short for ‘Old’ past it, not modern, beyond redemption (I made that bit up).
‘wotsit’ short for ‘what is it?’ no to be confused with ‘whatnot’
cheers
yungsomethingorother
Mmmm… might be, but come to think of it I think that Ol’Whozit means: the old who-is-it. Of course! That clears it all!
Or does it?
Well it’s half past ten here, and I’ve been working 18 hours on a feature, flattened it, burned it, FedExed it, and now I will sleep like a Whozit!
Rob
Thanks so much! I am going to try all of this tonight…:) I hope to not bug you again…lol
thanks again,
Jen
Good luck!
Just remember that Adobe has built in answers to most questions users new to the program might have.
Just hit F1, use the Search function and enter your question there. You’ll get a similar answer a lot faster.
