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Simple Photoshop Sepia Effect Photoshop Tutorial

May 16, 2006 by Oli · 8 Comments Post to TwitterPost to Yahoo BuzzPost to DiggPost to RedditPost to StumbleUpon




Sometimes you want that yellowing-old-photograph look for your image, but the tired old plugins just aren’t working for you; everything looks like it was run through a filter instead of aged by the hands of time. Maybe you’re looking for a mix of the original colors and the fading past. Here’s a simple tutorial to help you find your way to just the right blend of old and new.


We will be starting off with this photo :
sepia effect
Which you can get from SXC.hu

1. Paste two copies of the same original image into a new composition.

2. Image -> Adjustments -> Desaturate both the layers :
sepia effect

3. Filter -> Blur -> Gaussian Blur… on the upper layer. Not much-a couple of pixels should be more than sufficient, unless you’re working with something very high-res.
Sepia effect

4. Layer -> Layer Style -> Color Overlay… on the upper layer. Choose a suitable sepia brown/orange shade; Web color combination #DC8631 should do fine. Set the Blend Mode to Soft Light.
Sepia effect

5. Set the blending mode of the layer itself to Soft Light. This will give you a final result of an image with a soft, golden-burnished glow.

6. In theory, you could be done here, but why not adjust to taste for a real old-fashioned photo feel? Select the lower layer, and use Image -> Adjustments -> Hue/Saturation… to take down the colors in the original. Reducing them by around 75 is suggested for the sepiatone effect, but experiment and see what works for you.

A few passes with this technique, and you’ll find that time travel is as easy as firing up Photoshop in the comfort of your own home. Ah, technology!

Sepia effect



Comments

8 Responses to “Simple Photoshop Sepia Effect Photoshop Tutorial”
  1. murph - says:
    May 23, 2006 at 3:41 am

    cool, thanx

  2. SirRyan - http://www.des-clan.us says:
    May 26, 2006 at 4:22 am

    Great tutorial, super fast, it just doesnt’ get any better.

  3. neckripper - says:
    May 26, 2006 at 12:26 pm

    Nice one. Simple n fast!

    Tnx!

  4. mughal - says:
    May 28, 2006 at 5:48 pm

    i want my buildings views in water color and poster color
    effect in photoshop
    can u help me?
    thanks
    b.regards
    mughalgate@yahoo.com

  5. kena - http://www3.photo2vcd.com says:
    May 29, 2006 at 9:06 am

    Great.
    I have a question, can i only change the color of the ship and leave the water blue?
    Thanks.

  6. Black Tiger - http://www.resimsite.com says:
    August 28, 2007 at 10:01 pm

    nice tutorial

  7. Andly - http://www.giannirusso.info says:
    September 3, 2007 at 11:42 am

    Nice tutorial.
    In CS3 version there is a tool “black and white” to do a very fast black and white and/or sepia tone. Just a second!!

  8. Rick Wetzel - http://www.wetzelandcompany.com says:
    December 12, 2007 at 8:59 pm

    Here’s how I do it. The extra texture really adds a lot
    http://www.wetzelandcompany.com/MonthlyTip17.html

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