Specifications

The Digital Fine Print Course

Editing a Fine Print

Colourizing Monochrome Images

A monochrome RGB image can be colorized (toned) by many methods such as RGB

Curves and/or Color Balance adjustments. A Color blended ‘toning layer’ modified via

Layer Style options is one of the more eloquent, accurate and adaptable methods.

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Photoshop’s Color Picker can be used to accurately spec-

ify the required colour. This also facilitates small

changes being made to the toning colour (hue) without

disturbing other image qualities such as contrast or sat-

uration. Note that LAB colour numbers (L*36 a*1 b*13)

provide an unambiguous description of the ‘toning’

colour independent of the working space/profile used.

Original Monochrome RGB Image

Toning Layer at 100% Opacity

Finished imageColorize Layer Blending Options (Style) Layer Palette

A new layer is filled with the ‘toning’ colour and blended

on Color above the original monochrome RGB image.

Adjusting its Layer Opacity (to 80%) and Layer Style to

remove the ‘colour’ from the shadows (0 to 35) and high-

lights (185 to 255) completes the toning process.