Digital Print Toning- Part 1
For some time I have been attempting to find a method to digitally 'tone' prints as an equivalent to the chemical toning methods I employed in the darkroom.
Chemical toning processes, using selenium, sepia, poly-toner, hypo alum, gold, tea, etc., to both intensify particular tonal ranges as well as modify print colour was a standard part of my darkroom print refinement. These processes, when used well, were a vital part in producing fine prints.
Most digital toning process tend to produce rather bland and 'flat' images compared to the vitality of a chemically toned print.
I had a breakthrough last week (during a long bout of the very bad cold syndrome... so I suppose something productive came about despite feeling decidedly unwell), that involved adding colour through digital masks for highlights, mid tones and shadows. The added colour was analysed from scans of my darkroom prints and this process ensured an accurate version of the chemical print colour achieved in the darkroom... further control and refinement was achieved using layer blending methods ... all now set up with suitable actions for convenience ...
Here are some of the results... an 'untoned' print is at the bottom for comparison...
Chemical toning processes, using selenium, sepia, poly-toner, hypo alum, gold, tea, etc., to both intensify particular tonal ranges as well as modify print colour was a standard part of my darkroom print refinement. These processes, when used well, were a vital part in producing fine prints.
Most digital toning process tend to produce rather bland and 'flat' images compared to the vitality of a chemically toned print.
I had a breakthrough last week (during a long bout of the very bad cold syndrome... so I suppose something productive came about despite feeling decidedly unwell), that involved adding colour through digital masks for highlights, mid tones and shadows. The added colour was analysed from scans of my darkroom prints and this process ensured an accurate version of the chemical print colour achieved in the darkroom... further control and refinement was achieved using layer blending methods ... all now set up with suitable actions for convenience ...
Here are some of the results... an 'untoned' print is at the bottom for comparison...
Ilford Gallerie / Nelsons Gold / Hypo Alum
Ilford Gallerie / Hypo Alum
Ilford Gallerie / Selenium / Tea
Agfa Portriga 1
Agfa Portriga 2
Agfa Record Rapid / Selenium (split toned)
Agfa Record Rapid / Selenium
Ilford Gallerie / Untoned
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