Digital BW, The Print

Hello everyone,

Thanks to all of you who replied to my question.  I tried a suggestion of a
few folks and got good results.  Here is what I did to get a subtle split
tone.  (So far I like cold blacks and warm highlights and midtones)

I simply make a selection for the shadows by going to Selection>Color range.
I then select the shadow area, then I feather about 10-12 pixels and apply
the cold curve with curve mask in layers to the shadows.   Then I apply a
warm curve to the rest ( highlights and midtones) of the photo by selecting
invert.   I'm going to set this up as a Photoshop action so I can do it with
a push of a button.  The results are subtle but it gives a split tone
effect.   The secret is in how much you feather the selection.  Too little
and weird halos will show up around separations in tone.  Too much and
everything will blend together.

Geez... I remember laboring for hours and spending dozens of sheets of
wasted photo paper in the darkroom trying to get this look with toners.  Now
I can do it with a push of a button.   The darkroom provided more extreme
results than what I'm getting now with the computer.. but I'm very satisfied
with my first results.

P.S. if anyone has more suggestions I'd love to hear them.  The results I've
been getting are subtle to my eye.  (Which is OK)  I would like to crank the
effect up a bit.. but I might be pushing against the "color" limitations of
the inkset. I'd like to go "over the top" and then pull the effect back to
my liking.  Ideas? Anyone tried this with Paul Roark's VMS inkset?



Best regards,


Forrest MacCormack

Arlington, VA