Just Like Film

A few days ago I got a request by email to explain to you guys how I did create the black and white look on my last Flickr upload.

Well here it is, the first thing that you need to install before you’ll be able to work yourself through the tutorial is Exposure 3 from Alien Skin Software. You don’t need to buy it you are able to download a free trail version with all the full options for 30 days. I guess some of you thought that I did this with the black&white adjustment option from Photoshop, but that will take to much time and effort (adding textures, grain, dust etc.) to get the same result.

This is difference between the simple Photoshop B&W option and the result with Exposure 3

To get started you will need a SOOC image, this was mine

Open the photo in Photoshop and go to the Alien Skin Exposure 3 “Black and White film…” plugin that you can find in the “filter” menu.
Go to Settings>Effects and select “Dust & Scratches – ilford HP5″
Change the “Age” settings like you see on the screenshot below and hit “OK”

Go to the adjustments window and select the “Hue / Saturation” tool. Switch the option “colorize” on and move the Hue slider to 192, the Saturation slider to 29 and the Lightness to +6 as you can see on the screenshot below.
Set the blending option to “Exclusion” and the Fill opacity to 25%.

Open the photo in Photoshop and go to the Alien Skin Exposure 3 “Black and White film…” plugin that you can find in the “filter” menu.
Go to Settings>Color Toning (use on RGB images) and select “Gold Split”
Go to Color and set the “Overall Intensity” to 43%
Change the “Age” settings like you see on the screenshot below and hit “OK”

Go to Layer > New fill layer > Solid color > OK
Enter the following RGB code: R69 G64 B87 and finish with OK, set the layer fill opacity to 22% and set the blending option to “Exclusion”

And here is the final result, a black and white photo that looks like it’s taken with film.

Here is the screencast of the tutorial that shows you exactly what you have to do to get a result like this in 4 minutes, music by Kina Grannis, World In Front Of Me.