Duotone Tutorial
Ever notice how most digital black & whites look sort of washed out? That’s because they’re using what an off-set printer would call an “unsupported” black. When a graphic designer wants a pure, rich black they use a black “supported” with additional inks making a dark silky black instead of a sort of dark grey that would appear if you used just black ink.
Well, the same principle applies to black and white photos. By blending additional inks into your black and whites you get a richer tonal range which gives you more details in your highlights… a complaint many film shooters have about digital images.
Take a look at these for example, a black and white made by just desaturating the colors vs. a duotone (or tritone) image. As you can see by using additional inks you can create black and whites with a lot more visual appeal.
Good news is duotones are very easy, and I made a quick video tutorial to show you how. Enjoy!
If you don’t already have a copy of Adobe Lightroom I highly recommend it. Available at B&H (with a $50 discount through 1/2/11)
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17 Comments
19 December 10 at 11:46pm
1
Jake, nice tutorial. My question is could you achieve the same duotone look with Lightroom 3 Split Tone option or do you need the more advanced capability and options availabe in CS. Thanks Phil
19 December 10 at 11:52pm
2
Thanks for taking the time to put this tutorial together. I look forward to experimenting with DuoTones in Photoshop. I have used the Split Toning in Lightroom and this looks more flexible. Do you ever use the split toning in Lightroom?
20 December 10 at 12:01am
3
I've never used split-toning in Lightroom 3, I'll have to check that technique out. Thanks
20 December 10 at 1:04am
4
Great tutorial Jake. I was gonna ask the same question as Philip. Let us know what you find out.
20 December 10 at 7:03am
5
Thank you for this fantastic tutorial. I tried it out right away and I love, love, love it!
20 December 10 at 11:44am
6
Hey thanks man! I assume once done you just convert back to RGB or Grayscale for print right. I'm off to try this out right now.
21 December 10 at 8:01pm
7
I love the video tutorial, Jake! You should keep doing these. I tend to have trouble getting the results I want in Photoshop (I know my way around Lightroom 2 really well and can do most of what I want using it, but sometimes you just can't avoid Photoshop). Videos like this are great for learning some basic, yet essential, skills which makes it easier to turn more complicated ideas into a reality.
22 December 10 at 1:46am
8
Thanks for sharing this! This effect is kind of what I want but didnt know how to get it. Kind of accidently Ive managed to reach something close to this at a critical project, but I didnt know what I did that time =)
30 December 10 at 12:36am
9
Jake. I hate you. Every time I am blissfully, and naively happy with my editing process you show me something else (like neck wrinkles -grrr) and I have to re-evaluate everything. Shame on you. Before this moment I was strangely proud of my black and whites... Kara :D
05 January 11 at 12:38am
10
I tried it out and it seems you have to convert to 8 bit mode first? For that reason alone it makes me a little unhappy. Also I didn't fall in love with any of the presets, even after messing with the ink curves. Maybe if I create my own presets . . . Thanks for the heads up.
05 January 11 at 1:46am
11
@Jessica - there really isn't a reason that you'd need 16-bits of information for a four ink (maximum) print process. So you can rest easy and allow your unhappiness to alleviate some. :-)
06 January 11 at 2:27pm
12
Wow! Thanks so much! This is a very helpful tutorial. I'm so glad i've come across your site ;) Please, keep up the great work!
14 January 11 at 11:55pm
13
Due to the converting to 8 bit, is there any way to save as jpg file to post on web? Loved the tutorial you are my favorite photographer
15 January 11 at 7:14pm
14
@JakeS Yes, 8-bits save just fine as JPGs. I generally use the "Save for Web" feature in photoshop.
27 January 11 at 11:06am
15
[...] bin ich auf folgendes Tutorial gestoßen: Dualtonung von Jake Garn. Im Grunde geht es darum das wenn man ein Foto einfach so in ein Schwarzweißbild umwandelt, es [...]
19 February 11 at 4:42am
16
Just found you through a link. You have now been bookmarked. Love the tutorial and am going to try this out now. Thank you Lynda
26 March 11 at 3:49pm
17
Hi Jake, Thanks for those inspiring images & tutorials. Regards, Sean