Before digital photography, only black and white images could be chemically toned, but today toning can be applied to color images too. The example shown above is an ideal subject for toning, since the amount of color is minimal.

If your image is in Grayscale mode, you must convert it to RGB Color mode first, as shown above. If your image is already RGB, then desaturate by selecting Enhance > Adjust Color > Remove Color.

You create simple toning by using the Colorize function in the Hue/Saturation dialog box. This function applies a single color wash over the highlights, midtones, and shadows, as shown above. See page 120 for more details.

Complex effects can be achieved by using two different colors. The example above uses a yellow in the highlights and a red in the shadows, applied with Color Variations. See page 126 for more details.

Deeper hues, such as the three tones below, make for better toning compared to lighter, pastel colors. If toning colors are too light, they look washed-out when applied to midtone areas.

Pick an image that would benefit from the toning process—one that has a rich tonal range, including whites and blacks, plus some textured elements too.

Start by selecting Enhance > Adjust Color > Hue Saturation. In the bottom-right corner, as shown above, select Colorize. Drag the Hue slider to 40 and reduce Saturation to 25–30. This will create a rich sepia color.

Toning often flattens the contrast a little, so to make it punchy again, open the Levels dialog. Move both highlight and shadow triangles toward the center, as shown above.

Start by clicking and holding the Brush tool icon to reveal the submenu, as shown above. Choose the Color Replacement Tool and set your brush to 100 pixels with 0% Hardness. This will ensure that your brushwork looks more true-to-life.

Rather than use the standard Color Picker to choose colors, open the Color Swatches palette through the Window menu. Begin by clicking on a midtone orange, as circled above. The Swatches palette stays on the desktop, making color changing fast.

Paint with your brush and notice how the underlying image detail remains even after repeated applications with different colors. Keep changing color to make the tinting look realistic and eye-catching.

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After

This effect is created by merging two identical layers. Start by selecting Layer > Duplicate Layer, so your Layers palette looks like the example above. Click on the copy layer so it receives the next edit.

From the Filter menu, choose Adjustments > Photo Filter. From the Filter drop-down menu, choose the Cooling Filter (82) and set it with a 51% Density, as shown above. The image will now be deep blue in color.

With the copy layer still active, choose the Soft Light blending mode, as shown above, to reduce the intensity of the color and enhance the overall effect.

Start by selecting Enhance > Convert to Black and White, as shown above. Ensure that the monochrome version still retains some contrast, without any large areas of white highlights, as these low-contrast areas will not accept the following tone colors correctly.

In the Color Variations dialog, select Highlights, then click the Decrease Blue thumbnail to make the lighter tones yellow.

Next, select Shadows, then click the Increase Red thumbnail to make the darker tones redder. The image now looks warm in tone.

A lith print is typified by its unusual pinkish orange color, mixed with high- and low-contrast areas. To start, open the Hue/Saturation dialog and choose the Colorize option. Next, set Hue to 353 and Saturation to 18, as shown above.

The next move is to split the image into two layers so the two contrast effects can be created independently. From the Layers menu, choose the Background layer as shown. Select the copy layer to receive the next edit.

In the Input Levels section of the dialog, pull both highlight and shadow sliders toward the center, as shown above. This will increase the bright whites and solid blacks in the image.

Next, select the Background layer (bottom of the Layers palette) and open the Levels. This time, pull the Output Levels highlights and shadow sliders to the center, as shown above. This creates a low-contrast layer.

The final step is to merge the effects of the two layers by using a blending mode. Select the copy layer, then pick the Soft Light blending mode, as shown above.

Before

After

The albumen effect is best created using Elements’ excellent skin tone adjuster. Drain the color away first using the Remove Color command, then launch the Adjust Color for Skin Tone dialog, as shown above.

Move the dialog so you can see the whole image and then float the cursor over your image. Click and watch it turn a warm orange color.

There are three sliders in the dialog: Tan, which presents a color range from yellow to brown; Blush, which is a saturation-type tool; and Temperature, which provides either a warming or a cooling effect. The albumen effect was created with the mix above.