Shadow Tints

In this lesson you will mask the highlights and tone the shadows.

Colour Image

Open a colour image from Lightroom in Photoshop.

Convert to monochrome

  1. Open the Layers tab
  2. Select New Adjustment Layer icon.
  3. Choose Black & White . . .

Solid Colour

Black & White Adjustment Layer

Black & White adjustment layer should now be immediately above the Background layer.

Convert colour to monochrome

Adjust the Black & White adjustment layer sliders to maximise the monochrome effect.

Channels

  1. Select the Channels tab.
  2. Command + Click on the RGB Channel icon.

Marching ants

If you did the previous step correctly, you will have selected the image as indicated by the marching ants.
If not then repeat on the RGB channel.

Invert the Selection

Go Select > Inverse.
Note: this will invert the selection to mask the highlights istead of the shadows.

  1. Open the Layers tab again.
  2. Select New Adjustment Layer icon.
  3. Choose Solid Color . . .

Shadow colour

From the Solid Color palette, choose a colour for the shadow tint.

Shadow colour

The colour now needs to be adjusted to maintain full tonality.

Adjust colour

  1. Change the Blend to Color.
  2. Adjust the Opacity to about 20%.

Final image

The image will now have a tinted shadows colour without any colour in the highlights.

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