Replicating a warm tone paper look

[hoffy]

Greetings all,

I have a negative that I dearly wanted to print optically, but unfortunately there were a lot of scratches on it, which really didn't want to have to touch up. I have decided instead to scan, fix in Photo shop and then have the print done by a local professional shop. I am yet to decide whether I am going to have it printed chemically or via inkjet (this place does both).

What I want to do, though, is try to replicate a very subtle warm tone look, similar to if I was using Ilford Warm Tone photographic papers. If I print chemically, I am quite restricted in what papers I could use, so I am thinking that it might be easier if I try and do this at the file level.

I have seen a few efforts of this done in the past, but to me, often the results are that the whites are still white, not that subtle cream that I would expect.

Does anyone have any methods/advice on how to achieve this using Photoshop?

Cheers

*Disclaimer time - yes, this is a miniature format negative - I figured I would ask hear, as frankly, its not allowed on APUG....

[Corran]

Get to know the duotone function.

[Ken Lee]

You might find this article helpful: http://www.kenleegallery.com/html/tech/bronze.php

[hoffy]

Thanks Ken. That looks exactly what I am after!

[ic-racer]

Have the computer shop make a large format negative of your 'photoshopped' digital file, then print the negative as you usually would.

[Christopher Barrett]

That Fill Layer looks like a good way to go, reducing opacity to vary affect. I've traditionally done the same thing with an HSL adjustment layer.

ie...

http://christopherbarrett.net/forum_images/Screen%20Shot%202014-09-14%20at%208.11.00%20AM.jpg

Alternately, most of the new high end printers from Epson and Canon have a black and white mode for printing with just the grey inks. When you use that mode, you can also shift the hue in the print dialog. I have been doing this lately and it produces a more monochrome (toned) image.

Are there any silver papers still around that match the feel of Agfa Portriga? Man, I miss that paper!

[Regular Rod]

...

Are there any silver papers still around that match the feel of Agfa Portriga? Man, I miss that paper!

Me too, and Record Rapid that was so subtle and toned so delicately with Eastman Kodak Selenium...

:(

RR

[Jim Noel]

"Are there any silver papers still around that match the feel of Agfa Portriga? Man, I miss that paper!"

Not since they took all the cadmium out of photographic products.

[Ken Lee]

One foreseeable issue with printing with OEM inks is longevity. When we print by mixing a variety of inks, there is a likelihood of them fading at different rates, causing color shift over time. This has been studied and documented at Aardenburg Imaging (http://www.aardenburg-imaging.com/).

While we can't be certain about longevity, I have found a small measure of solace in making warm-toned inkjet prints using carbon pigments on 100% rag paper. The Eboni hextone ink set (http://www.kenleegallery.com/html/carbon/index.php) gives a nice look which varies with choice of paper (http://www.paulroark.com/BW-Info/).

[Tyler Boley]

your choices would be made much more clear by deciding first what form you want your final to be.. a chemical print like a digital type C, or and inkjet print. If an inkjet print, then what sort of surface- fine art matte or a photo surface?
Each of these has different options, some overlap, but it would be best to start there and work backwards.

[hoffy]

More then likely, I will go with a C type print with a pearl/semi gloss finish.

[Christopher Barrett]

Another option you have available is a digital silver print. I know at least one of the providers for that offers a toning option... you could probably get more control with toning in P'shop to a C-Print, but the silver prints will give you greater permanence, they can even do fiber base, which I'v been dying to try.

Here's a link to one place (http://www.digitalsilverimaging.com/printing) (I've no experience with them). I believe someone on the forum may provide these services as well.

[paulr]

For an ink print, I'd do it through quadtone rip (create a custom color curve).

If that's too much work, I'd create a hue/saturation/brightness adjustment layer and click the colorize option. Move the hue slider to pick the color, and then dial back the saturation for the final look. The closest things to my toned prints on the old Portriga or on Fortezo is a hue in the neighborhood of 33, dialed back to somewhere between 4 and 7% saturation.

If you also want to do filter effects on the black and white conversion, you can do this with the channel mixer.

There's an adjustment layer called Black and White which combines both these functions, but I find it less straightforward to use.

These tools are compatible with 16 bit mode, are non-destructive, and provide instant feedback.

[Tyler Boley]

More then likely, I will go with a C type print with a pearl/semi gloss finish.

Since it will be a color print, you'll have to try various methods of getting the color you want into the file, as others have noted. This might include adding an extremely light hue to the base whites, people have mentioned Portriga, it's base was actually a very slight pink. There are a number of ways to do this, I prefer a curve. Some techniques over complicate things. Your real challenge will be getting exactly what you want back from the LAB. If your monitor is not well calibrated, or their process not exacting, those carefully selected near neutral warms might be a bit of a crap shoot.
Paper and/or ink options don't apply here, since it's a type C. There may be toning and/or paper options if you went with a digital to silver output. Bob Carne who posts here often knows these processes well and offers them at-
http://www.elevatordigital.ca/
He would be well worth talking to

[hoffy]

OK, I have had a play.

Before (warts and all)
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5590/15243717851_50bb3f1a3f_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/pe33ez)NotToned (https://flic.kr/p/pe33ez) by Ashley The Hoff (https://www.flickr.com/people/23607252@N06/), on Flickr

After (including the spotting and de-scratching)
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5571/15060125170_dfbc251420_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/oWP5ww)Toned (https://flic.kr/p/oWP5ww) by Ashley The Hoff (https://www.flickr.com/people/23607252@N06/), on Flickr

This is what I have done.
To get a reference colour, I scanned in an existing Warm Tone print with my 18% Grey card behind it. In PS I set my mid grey point from the grey card and got a colour sample from the image border. IN RGB terms, this came out as 247,247,237 (or around that).

I have then gone to work on the image - Set to 16 bit colour, fixed the damn scratches and dust (I had already fixed most of the scratches many months ago). I also patched a small section of the sky that was totally blown out.
I then applied a Solid Colour Fill layer and set those RGB levels. I then set the opacity back to around 30%.

My plan is to now take it into the shop and get an 8x10 done, just to see how it comes up.

Cheers