What the Hell is SEPIA?

[Sonny]

Ever clicked the sepia button on Aperture, Lightroom, or your favorite photo app and wondered, “What the hell is sepia?” I bet you have. It’s fascinating how many novice and seasoned photographers alike don’t know exactly what Sepia is. So I figured I’d give you all a little bit of cocktail party ammunition to impress your friends.

What the Hell is Sepia? Photographic Knowledge 101 | Chase Jarvis Blog

[Photogdude]

i think every time someone pushes a sepia button , the computer or i device should smell like rotten eggs.

[kenw]

My sepia process mirrors the original as I learned many moons ago from my dad what sepia was, how it came about and why it was used.

Altho today the preservation aspect is somewhat moot, my process is as follows (never liked the "push the button" technique as often they remove some of the leeway I want.....).

desaturate, or use a good B&W converter if you like; for me simple desaturate works usually

adjust brightness/contrast as required
convert back to RGB/ 16m colors (since it was desaturated, it stays greyscale visually)
adjust color temp to warm as needed
adjust brightness /contrast as needed (i typically flatten it a lot: goose the lows, drop the highs)
adjust saturation as needed

other options would include adding some noise (not done here)

viola. sepia effect.