Photoshop Lesson 8 | Toning an Image

Whether you are starting with a colour image or a black and white image you can change the tone of your image really easily. You can change a photo from black and white to black and sepia (or pink or green or blue etc) you can even go a little more outrageous and change an image from the original to a rainbow of colours. Here is how you do it.

Open your image in Photoshop. Select Image – Adjustments – Gradient Map.

A little control box will pop up with a sample gradient from one colour to another.
Take a look at this image – and then read the explanation points that follow…

gradient-in-action

1. This is your original box that will pop up when you have selected the Gradient Map option. Clicking on the little arrow next to the colour bar will bring up a list of pre-set colour options for you to play with and adjust your image. Make sure that the little ‘preview’ box is ticked so that you can see the results on your image while you make changes.

2. Clicking on the colour bar will bring up the gradient editor window which holds points 3 – 7.

3. Presets: The box of colourful mixes are your presets. You can select any of these pre-made colour mixes to use on your image. By clicking the little circled arrow you can bring up a list of other presets (4) selecting from that list will change the box of Presets to the one you have selected.

4. This is a list of the pre-made presets for you to play with if you don’t want to make your own custom one.

5. Should you decide that you don’t want to use a preset and you would rather use your own colour choice then 5 and 6 are the points you need. Clicking on number 5 will allow you to change the opacity of your chosen colour (the see-thru-ness).

6. Clicking on option 6 will bring activate the colour box (7) and allow you to select your own colours. There are two colours in a gradient – both colours can be selected at the bottom of the bar – the red square and the turquoise square in this image.

7. This is where your colour will show up. Let’s say you click on the red square that number 6 is pointing to – then this block will turn red and you can click on that red and then change the colour to something else. Same for the turquoise box. Clicking on the turquoise box will turn this box turquoise at which point you can change that colour.

And that is how your play with different Gradient Maps in Photoshop.

gradient