Advanced Imaging Tutorials 2

I return to the Advanced Imaging Tutorials with a toning approach based on a technique called Lith printing. I derived my work from an old Darkroom Techniques magazine and a little web wandering. I also offer up a Photoshop Action Set that includes five actions that can give you a quick digital rendition of a very high contrast and nasty chemical process.

The Download is here: Mono-Polychromatic Effects.atn

Lith printing is the process of making a print from a "normal" negative by overexposing and under-developing it in Lith developer. The end result is essentially monochromatic, but can contain colors such as olive, caramel, pink or red. Often the colors show up only in the midtones, leaving the shadows black and the highlights white. The only action in this download that comes close to a typical Lith coloration is the Action B&W Mid Tone Color 2 Lith.

Lith printing tends to make the shadows hard and the highlights soft. These Photoshop processes or at least my attempts don't really capture the magic of a chemical process, but they do serve as a starting point and possibly an end for creative mischief in the world of mono and polychromatic digital toning. The essence of these actions is a 2 layer Multiply that combines a highlight clipped layer with a reduced contrast layer. I won't go into the details much more than that, but I will point to some adjustments you can do after the Actions have been run that are needed in most cases to tune the image in. It is important to choose an image that has a full tonal range and not keyed too high.

Using these Actions

The first three: Pinky Lith, Rusty Lith and Yellow/Green Lith are similar except for the coloration added in the Black & White & Toning Adjustment Layer. Double Clicking on that layer will allow you to play with the Black and White controls as well as the color which unlike true Lith printing, tones the image across the full tonal range. The Contrast Curve Adjustment Layer gives you access to the final contrast setting. Adjusting Opacity on either of these layers is critical in balancing per your objectives color and contrast. The last two Actions pull color away from the Black & White Adjustment Layer and give it to the top Layer named Mid Tone Color which has a Blend-If setup on Grey to only allow middle values to pass. In B&W Mid Tone Color 1 Lith, the Opacity of Mid Tone Layer brings in some the original Color if the image had colors as well as a color overlay setup in the Photo Filter Adjustment Layer above it. The Mid Tone Color 2 Lith only allows one color which is setup in the Saturation Adjustment Layer paired to it. By choosing Colorize in the Saturation Adjustment Layer, the original colors are desaturated. Playing with Opacity amounts on the image Layers is highly recommended as well.

Here's an example of running the last Action; Mid Tone Color 2 Lith on an image without any follow-up tweeks.

Before

Affter

Enjoy !!