Tint to perfection with gradient maps
Learn how to use this powerful tonal tool for all kinds of colour shifts and tinting tweaks.
Gradients are normally thought of as a feature for graphic designers. After all, why would photographers need a tool that creates a straightforward blend from one colour to another? Used in combination with Gradient Maps, however, gradients can become a powerful tool for toning and tinting your photos.
A gradient map works by mapping colours onto the tonal range of your image, from shadow tones on the left of the gradient to highlight tones on the right. So you can tint the shadows with one colour, and the highlights with another. This means you can use gradient maps to create all kinds of interesting tonal effects, from vintage washes to stylish colour shifts.
If you’ve used other toning tools like the Split Toning controls in Camera Raw or Lightroom, you’ll be familiar with the concept of tinting the shadows and the highlights with different colours. But Gradient Maps allows you to take this idea much further. You don’t just get to choose from two colours: you can have as many as you like. There are plenty of options, too, from the array of gradient presets to the powerful Gradient Editor, which lets you create your own.
1
WHAT ARE GRADIENT MAPS?
In a Gradient Map, each pixel has a brightness value, from black through to white. You can map one colour to the blacks and another to the whites, with a blend of colours in-between. Here I made a blue-turquoise-yellow custom gradient (see tip 3): 1st stop, location 0, colour #260a56; 2nd stop, location 54, colour #99a3a2; 3rd stop, location 100, colour #fbea9a.
2
APPLY A PRESET After adding a Gradient Map Adjustment Layer (click the Create New Fill Or Adjustment Layer icon in the Layers panel), click the dropdown here to choose between lots of gradient presets. Most aren’t all that useful for toning photos, but some are designed for the purpose. In the Legacy Gradients folder is the Photographic Toning set, which mimic darkroom processes like Sepia, Selenium and Cyanotype.
3
USE LAYER FEATURES After adding a Gradient Map Adjustment Layer, you can take advantage of all the features of using layers. For example, you can tone down the strength of the effect simply by lowering the layer Opacity. If you like you can selectively hide the effect over parts of the frame for a spot colour effect – highlight the mask thumbnail and paint with black on the areas you want to hide.
4
CUSTOM GRADS Click the gradient preview in the Properties Panel and the Gradient Editor will open up. Here you can customise your own gradients, add in different colours or change the parts of the tonal range that are affected. Beneath the gradient are an array of little colour boxes, called stops. Doubleclick a stop to alter the colour, or drag the stop to change its position on the tonal range, from black on the left to white on the right.
5
COMBINE ADJUSTMENTS It’s usually best to add a Gradient Map as an Adjustment Layer: this gives you the option to combine the effect with other Adjustments. For a splittone effect like ours here, you can control things with a Black & White Adjustment Layer. Placed below the Gradient Map layer, the B&W layer lets you change the brightness of different colour ranges, which allows you to lift the face and the backdrop here.
6
CHOOSE COLOURS The colour picker pops up when you choose colours for a custom gradient map. It can be very useful for tweaking existing gradients. For example, you could use one of the excellent presets in the Photographic Toning set, like Sepia-Blue. If you find the blue is a little intense, you can go into the Gradient Editor and doubleclick the blue stop then use the S box in the colour picker to reduce the saturation of the blue.