Sepia tones are a popular adjustment to photographs and digital art, with the cool brown tones often adding distinction to otherwise ordinary pictures. Adding a sepia tone of your own isn't difficult, taking only a few minutes, no matter which graphics editing software you are using. For the purpose of this instruction, options will be explored in three of the most popular graphics editing software packages: Adobe Photoshop, Corel Paint Shop Pro, and the open-source Graphic Image Manipulation Program (GIMP.)
Instructions
Photoshop
1. Open the image that you wish to add a sepia tone to, then use "Save As..." to make a copy of it. You'll have a back-up in case you have problems with your sepia tone, and find yourself unable to undo it.
2. From the "Image" menu, open the "Adjustments" menu, and select "Desaturate." This will remove all color information from the image while leaving it in your current color mode. The image will appear in black-and-white as though you had switched it to grayscale, but you will still be able to use color in the image.
3. Open the "Layers" menu. Choose "New Adjustment Layer," then select the "Photo Filter" option. Choose "OK" in the "New Layer" option box after confirming that the layer has no color, is in Normal mode, and features 100 percent opacity. When the "New Layer" option window closes, a new window will open for the "Photo Filter" options.
4. Choose "Sepia" from the filter choices in the "Photo Filter" options window. Make sure that the "Preserve Luminosity" check box is selected. Begin altering the "Density" percentage, checking the sepia tone that different percentages create. A percentage of 50 will make an even sepia, but take the time to try different options, as well, to make sure that you get the exact sepia tone that you're looking for. When you are satisfied, click "OK," and the change will be applied.
Paint Shop Pro
5. Save a back-up copy of your image by the same means as Step 1 of the Photoshop instructions. Once you have saved the copy, open the "Colors" menu and select the "Gray Scale" option. This will remove the color information from your picture.
6. Open the "Colors" menu again, and select "Increase Color Depth," then select the "16 Million Colors" option. This will allow color to be used again with your black-and-white image.
7. Open the "Colors" menu a third time. This time, select the "Adjust" menu option, then choose "Red/Green/Blue." An options window will open.
8. Set the "%Red" option to a number between 15 and 20, then set the "%Blue" option to a number between -15 and -20. Adjust these two numbers in order to experiment with different sepia shades. Press the "OK" button when you are finished in order to finalize the change to sepia tones.
GIMP
9. Create a back-up copy of your image using the "Duplicate" option found in the "Image" menu. Desaturate the image that you're working on by opening the "Image" menu and opening the "Colors" menu, then select the "Desaturate" option. This will remove the color information while leaving you in RGB color mode.
10. Double-click on the "Foreground Color" swatch in order to open the "Color Selection" box. Adjust the "R," "G" and "B" options until "R" is set at or around 162, "G" is between 125 and 135, and "B" is at 100 or just above. As with the other methods, adjust these numbers until you find the sepia tone that you most enjoy.
11. Press "Ctrl" and "L" to open up the "Layers" option window, choosing "New Layer" from the available options. Name it whatever you like, and choose the "Foreground" option from the "Layer Fill Type" selection menu. Click "OK," and the new layer will be created (and will turn the entire image to your foreground color.)
12. Change the Mode to "Color" on the "Layers, Channels & Paths" window, making sure that your sepia tone layer is selected when you do so. Your image will appear again, this time tinted by the foreground color of the other layer.
13. Adjust layer opacity in order to vary the intensity of your sepia tone. When you've achieved the tone intensity that you desire, flatten your image and save it.
Tags: sepia tone, Colors menu, This will, color information, Image menu