How do I mute colors in CS3?

<p>The best example of the effect I'm trying to achieve would be similar to the movie Sleepy Hollow (directed by Tim Burton). I know full well that using that as an example, that make-up, lighting, and wardrobe have a lot to do with it. However, in the interviews on the making of Sleepy Hollow, an actor or producer was quoted as saying "Tim Burton should have been a black and white photographer", seeing how the colors were muted in the movie, it makes sense. How do I get that effect thru Photoshop, CS3 in particular (if it makes any difference between versions)? I've tried creating layers, then putting in a b&w conversion layer and playing with layer type and opacities till I wanted to throw the computer out the window, I can't seem to get it. <br>

Anyone done this effect? I hope others know what I'm talking about and can help.</p>

<p>Jerry</p>

<p>Have you tried reducing the saturation as a starting point?</p>

<p>Actually, yes, but it's not the same effect. If you look at the movie, that I used as an example, many of the outdoor scenes or more gloomy scenes actually look like they are heavy on saturation but muted. </p>

<p>I've tried increasing saturation and reducing vibrancy and vice versa. I don't know if it's suppose to be done with dodging and burning, or masking with a neutral grey then dodging and burning with white and black. I am probably missing something either really big or something small that makes a big difference..</p>

<p>I often use this technique, though it might not be what you're after...</p>

<p>Create an adjustment layer using the channel mixer set to monochrome. (it's a check box)</p>

<p>Adjust the channel mixer controls to make a dramatic b&w image.</p>

<p>Set the channel mixer layer from "normal" to "luminosity". Your image will return to full color, but with the effect of the channel mixer added.</p>

<p>Adjust the opacity of the channel mixer layer until the saturation looks the way you want it. If this isn't the right approach, leave the opacity at 100% and add a hue/saturation adjustment layer above the channel mixer layer. Adjust the saturation to your taste.</p>

<p>If you're not familiar with adjustment layers, you'll have to study up on photoshop a little more :)</p>

<p>I haven't seen the movie you mentioned. Can you post a sample of what you're trying to achieve?</p>

<p>BG: Thanks, I'll try that as soon as I can. I've been playing around and haven't tried that and will.</p>

<p>David: I've added a photo from the movie. I don't like using screen shots because there is resolution lost and HiDef doesn't look the same in web color jpg files. Anyway, it should give you an idea, for that matter, anyone that asks.<br>

The photo, I'm sure is copyrighted, it is a still shot and I'm sure all rights reserved.<br><b>Photo removed. Per the photo.net Terms of Use, please do not post images that are not yours.</b></p>

<p>The movie still has a very cool cast and very muted colors. Try overlaying a Cooling Filter (80) at 100% density on top of the photo and then turning down the Saturation -25. That should get you in the ballpark.</p>

<p>There are lots of ways to do this including commercial software such as Tiffen DFX's "Day to Night" filter, NIK's Color Efx Pro "Midnight (blue)", and, as suggested above, the "Photo Filters" built into Photoshop. I've appended a file which demonstrates each of these approaches starting from an old wedding photo that I took. To approximate the still from movie, I tried to find one of my photos that showed a fair-skinned blond, some leaves, some near-white tones (eg, the horse / the wedding dress), etc.</p>

<p>In each case, I found that after the application of the filter, I had to tweak the output by using curves and blending adjustments, particularly, the "blend if (red)" adjustment. The result of my efx are not exactly like the still from the movie that you showed, but, then again, I didn't want to spend any more time tweaking the look just for the sake of this demo. In retrospect, in each case, I would have decreased the contrast and lightest tones to minimize the specular reflections from my flash bouncing off of the wedding dress. In a night scene like the one shown, the lighting is much more diffuse.</p>

<p>HTH,<br /> Tom M</p>

<p> </p><div></div>

<p>Thanks everyone. When I get back to the house later this week I'll be trying all the ideas given here. Seems the blue filter(s) ideas seem to be the closest I've seen next to BG's workflow he sent me. I'm on the road right now and don't have access to my larger monitor that I use for processing, so please don't think I'm being rude about trying things and letting everyone know.<br>

The movie still was just a example, it was the best per se without digging around and possibly insulting another photographer by asking in a forum instead of directly emailing them. I just want to get a workflow for this down for some gothic style photos. The effect, to me, gives a shot that very moody, spooky feeling to it. </p>

<p>Thank you everyone, and I will get back and post what I am able to come up with based on the help....</p>

<p>Jerry</p>

<p>Ok, thanks to everyone, I think I figured out an outline to work from. I have learned that there is no 'template' that will work for all shots, not that I expected it. I basically used something from everyone and got a workflow for the effect.</p>

<p>I do try to do as much as I can with each shot in RAW before moving to an editor, so many of the cooling filter ideas were started there. From there, all adjustment layers to get a general effect, photo filter, then 'black&white' conversion layer using the actual tool instead of the channel mixer-using it as a overlay or soft light layer and manipulating the opacity. From there a hue saturation layer, then combining all adjustment layers into a separate layer (shift+ctrl+alt+E at the same time), from there doing the dodge/burn mask using a brush tool and any other overall adjustments needed. It's not perfect yet, but at least now I have a flow to work from.</p>

<p>Before anyone says anything, yes, I know there is motion blur in the attatched photo. I only had a moment to get the shot and not being a street photographer, I didn't have the camera set up correctly, ISO was too low and the VR was turned off. She was very willing since she loves photography and the next time I see her I'll get a better shot. She had such a perfect skin tone I had to get a shot. The picture does need work, but I'm still working the layers to find the 'sweet spot' that works for me.</p>

<p>Thanks again,<br>

Jerry</p><div></div>

<p>Good to see you back. Does going in a really dramatic direction do anything for you?</p>

<p>T</p><div></div>

<p>Thanks Tom. To be completely honest, it would depend on the photo. In this case, that is a little more than I was aiming for. The pic I used isn't really what I would call finished but gives an idea on the effect on the colors I was looking toward.<br>

Thanks again,<br>

Jerry</p>

<p>Hi Jerald - That's exactly why I asked :-) . Everyone has their own POV and visual preferences. Notwithstanding the minor technical quibbles, I quite like your shot of the woman, and as soon as I saw it, I immediately started to visualize how I would like it to look and ideas on the way I would post process it. As you can probably tell, I am into the basic idea behind this thread, and would love to see more examples of both images suitable for such color changes as well as examples of post processing techniques to make such changes.</p>

<p>Cheers,</p>

<p>Tom M.</p>

<p>PS - BTW, sorry about the harshness and JPG artifacts in my last tweak. Photo.net really compresses images, so, my attempt to restore a bit more sharpness to your image really brought out all the JPG and other artifacts.</p>

<p>Thanks Tom. I'm glad I'm not the only one that likes that effect. I'll probably go back to that photo of mine in the next few days and re-tweak it, I don't like how her face turned out. She has a fantastic porcelin complexion and I missed the mark on dodging and hue. But the colors did turn out the way they were suppose to--solid but at the same time almost matte, not desaturated. When I get the final tweaks on that photo where I want them, in the next few days or so, I'll list here the actual layers I used.<br>

'Tom, let me know if you find any tweaks yourself. If you like, I can email you a jpg of the original image to work on. What I like most about the effect I'm aiming for is that it is dramatic in a subtle sort of way without looking over saturated or cartoonish.</p>

<p>Jerry</p>

<p>Here are a couple of tuts you can pick apart to get that look you're after:</p>

<p>http://www.tutorialguide.net/photo_manipulation_tutorial.html</p>

<p>http://www.tutorialguide.net/creating_old-looking_images_tutorial.html</p>

<p>Pay particular attention to steps 3-6 in the first tut in how he gets that odd color effect and forget about the blurring and the funky compositing he includes. The thing about steps 3-6 (especially applying Exclusion blend mode with a color fill) over just desaturating the image is that he's using opposing cool and warm colors to do the desaturating which is how it's done by renaissance painters and cross process film labs to give depth as in the "Sleepy Hollow" movie. This is why just desaturating doesn't cut it. </p>

<p>Here's another tut but to get the same effect just not as rich looking. It's referred to as a "Bleach Tint Effect" or as the film industry calls it "Bleach Bypass":</p>

<p>http://freeonlineclasses.net/photoshop-tutorials/photo-effects/tinted-color-bleach/showall.html</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Thanks Tim.</p>

<p>I looked at those links and I'm going to give them a go. I've been mislead on what 'bleach bypass' really is. I was always lead to the assumption that it was the same as using bleach on the final print (b&w) to dodge the highlights after fixing and before toning, instead of dodging at the easel.</p>

<p>I remember an article, some time ago, that Capture NX has a 'bleach bypass' filter included. I wonder if that is a similar effect or something different that was labeled that for a different reason.</p>

<p>Thanks again Tim. It's time to get offline and try some more ideas.</p>

<p>Tim, are you sure you have the name, "Bleach Tint Effect" correct? I used "Google Images" to search for "bleach tint", and only got hits for hair stylists ;-). When I added the word "photoshop" to the search, ie, {"bleach tint" photoshop}, I got zero hits. When I then used the same terms in regular (ie, non-image) Google, I did get 11 hits, but none of them seemed very relevant.</p>

<p>When I then searched Google Images using {"tinted color bleach" photoshop}, all I found was a large number of tiny (ie, 50x50 pixels) thumbnails that all see to be related to various versions of the same or very similar tutorials with this name.</p>

<p>However, when I searched for {"bleach bypass" photoshop} using either Google Images or regular Google, I got over 5000 image hits and 10,000 hits in regular Google. I'm pretty sure "bleach bypass" is the much more common term.</p>

<p>Hi Jerald - Yes, there are bleach bypass effects in NIK Color Efx Pro, in Tiffen DFX, and in a plugin by Red Paw called "Bleach Bypass". You can easily find any of them by Googling. I have all of the above plugins, and the effect is quite different from the "Bleach Tint Effect" that Tim pointed out, ie, much more contrast, often blown out highlights, not just a bit of coloration as in the tutorial Tim spotted. There are some nice examples here: http://www.redpawmedia.com/bbpro.html. Move your mouse over the images to see b4 and after versions.</p>

<p>Thanks also for your kind offer to send me the original file that we were talking about a couple of days ago. Check your email later today.</p>

<p>Cheers,</p>

<p>Tom M</p>

<p>Sorry about the misnomer, Tom. I should've checked the title of that tutorial which I misquoted. Didn't mean to send you on a Google search snipe hunt. I didn't do a search to find that <strong>"Tinted Color Bleach"-(not "Bleach Tint Effect")</strong> link. I just stumbled upon it clicking on lists of tuts on that Tutorial Guide which I have bookmarked for another tut. And to be honest I'm not even sure if that's how I really found it now that you've brought it to my attention.</p>

<p>Thanks for the Red Paw Media link. To bad for me it's Windows only, but at least I can provide the link for others asking about this in the future.</p>

<p>Geez! I just noticed those plug-ins on that site are now free! How the heck are programmers suppose to make a living giving software away. Wonder what the catch is.</p>

<p>Thanks Tim and Tom. I'm going to try the red paw link definitly.</p>

<p>Tim: That first link you sent seems to be missing some steps. He comes close but then in step 5, he adds a copy of the base image and a gradient map on that. Problem is, that unless the opacity is changed, it cancels out all the previous steps. Try it as he has it written and you'll see what I mean. The final link does work well, but really works better with a gradient map. </p>

<p>Tom, never got an email from you. I'll keep looking, being I'm on the road I only have broadband here and there, so be patient, I will get back to you.</p>

<p>Well, that redpaw bleach-bypass filter works. In the end I used it with several other layers, by itself it doesn't really do want I was aiming for. Here is an example, the saved raw and after the post-processing.<br>

the original raw: <a href="http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q167/jerry_2412/Forsaken%20series/_DSC3729orig.jpg">http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q167/jerry_2412/Forsaken%20series/_DSC3729orig.jpg</a></p>

<p>After post-processing: <a href="http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q167/jerry_2412/Forsaken%20series/_DSC3729.jpg">http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q167/jerry_2412/Forsaken%20series/_DSC3729.jpg</a></p>

<p>Jerald, ck your inbox. I just got back in town and sent you an email.</p>

<p>Tom</p>

Jerald, what does it look like with just the filter applied? You indicated you had to do additional edits to get the final to look as it does here. Just wondering how close the filter gets without much fiddling around.

<p>Tim: I'll have to go back and save a version with just the filter. I tried just the filter first and then went back, after I saw the results, and adjusted the image before re-applying the filter, then dodged as needed. The image, with only the filter, overdid the highlights and literally bleached out the midtones, leaving me with inky deep shadows in the lower tones and burned out higher tones. It almost left me without any real midtones. I know that's what the effect is suppose to do, but I didn't want it to go that far. If you look at the links, in the final you can still see the reflection of the broken glass, using the filter alone, the trees and darker tones of the house were almost inked black when preserving those reflections. To keep some detail in the trees and keep the reflection in the glass, either the effect was so low it wasn't noticable, or the highlights were nuked everywhere else.</p>

<p>Using a levels adjustment layer, a hue/saturation adj layer, and a gradient map adj layer I was able to better control the range of tones and keep details in shadows and highlights, as well as letting the filter mute the colors but keep them solid. After that I was able to apply a standard grey layer mask and dodge in for the midtones as I liked.</p>

<p>Please keep in mind, I wasn't looking for a exact duplication of the movie sleepy hollow. That was just the easiest and closest example I could find at the time. Bleach-bypass was indeed the basis, as it turns out, but I was aiming for something a little more, or less. I wanted to maintain a 'grungy, eerie, spooky' look that has colors but that were muted as though looking at a neutral matte surface. Basically muting the colors but not de-saturating them.</p>

<p>Hi Jerald - After seeing the b4-after pair of images that you posted earlier today, I think I finally have a reasonable idea of the effect you are trying to achieve.</p>

<p>I think there is a one step solution that will get you extremely close: Power Retouche Pro's (PRP) "Black Definition" plugin:<br /> http://www.powerretouche.com/Blackdefinition_plugin_tutorial.htm</p>

<p>I applied this plugin to the "before" version of the old house, and doing absolutely nothing else to the image, obtained the attached version, ie, one layer, one click. The settings I used for the plug-in were:<br /> Grey include 45%<br /> Color include = 100%<br /> Adjust blacks = 100</p>

<p>The reflection in the window in the PRP version is darker than in your version, but that obviously can be brought back using a layer mask with a spot of grey over the window.</p>

<p>What do you think?</p>

<p>Tom M</p>

<p>PS - PRP offers free demos of their plugins, so you can try it yourself to see if you like it.</p>

<p>PPS - FYI, I forgot to mention that I did sharpen the image when I resized it back down to 700 px for posting on photo.net, but that shouldn't throw off the tonal values.</p><div></div>