Sepia Technique???

[kimberley]

anyone have a great sepia technique?

Im not really liking my sepia, I have photoshop elements and paint shop pro....


thanks kimberley

[srwatters]

What I've done is download some actions, like the midnight sepia, and tear them apart to see exactly what they are doing. I've settled on converting to LAB color, copying the lightness channel, converting back to RGB, then using the channel mixer to add the yellow/red back in. There must be a ton of ways to do it. Another favorite is to use the variations tool under image->adjust, but that's in PSCS2.

Good luck.

[lucian]

I use "Virtual Photographer" with PhotoShop Elements. It's free.

Virtual Photographer

Below is a sample. This was taken on VPS III a few years ago and the 8x10 hardcopy was scanned. I resized in PhotoShop Elements 1 and used the Virtual Photographer plug-in to make the sepia. Camera was a Fuji GW670II and fill flash from a Sunpak 555.

[jerrykr]

Virtual Photographer, a second vote, and it works with Elements 2. Have not tried it in PSE3 yet, assume it will work. VP has lots of other color toning possibilities too, and it's free. BTW: for sepia, I like to use VP's "aged" instead of sepia.

[Redmouse]

Not the best subject for sepia, but it was handy. This was done a bit differently than the usual action.

1. Convert to B&W. (Your choice of conversion technique)
2. Create a new adjustment layer for curves
3. Load custom tone ([url]http://www.redmousez.com/uploads/apps/psfilters/rustica%201.acv]Link 1[/urll], Link 2 and Link 3)
4. Adjust toning using the curves adjustment layer according to your taste.
5. If the tone is too harsh, go back to the curves adjustment layer and load one of the other custom tones til you find one to your liking.


*I'm no pro nor do I claim to be. This method was just something I stumbled upon while trying to learn how to use curves.






edit: I just noticed you were using Elements. This was done in PS CS2. I've never used Elements before so I don't know if it will work.