Suggestions for getting true SEPIA tones for prints?

[LightMatters]

Hi,
I took some family photos, one with an antique writing desk dating to the late 1700's, and wanted to make it sepia in keeping w/the age of the desk.
So here's some background info to work with ...

In Photoshop I used both a sepia photo filter and the sepia setting in HUE/SATURATION. Then I put on the vignette and tried to color match. The first turned out really more mocha and the second more cream. My memory of seeing non-digital sepia images was sort of a rich, deep brown w/a slight hint of a reddish undertone.
Does anyone have ideas for improving the sepia coloring?
And then there's the vignette. I used the color picker and just tried to get close to something that worked in terms of simultaneous contrast. Not sure I did very well in either.
Hints? Resources?
Here's the shooting info:

Shooting Mode: Indoor
TV (shutter speed): 1/8
AV (aperature value) 3.2
Exposure Compensation: 0
ISO Speed: 400 (auto)
Focal Length: 6.6 mm
White Balance: Auto

Thanks!
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[Benco]

If you apply the vignette before you do the sepia adjustment it should work. You could try increasing the soft edge of the vignette, brightening the image and reducing contrast a bit for that faded old photo look too.

 

[KenC]

First, let me say that I really don't like the vignette. I know that wasn't one of the questions, but I had to get rid of that.

OK, as for toning, there are many ways to do it, as there are for everything in PS. The photo filter is pretty good, especially when you go into the color picker as you have. Another thing to consider is a duotone. You convert the image to grayscale first, then duotone. There are preset duotones in PS. I haven't used any of the brown/sepia ones, but you may find one you like. Then you can modify it by changing the curves for the individual colors. The benefit of duotones to me is that you get to vary the tint according to tone, so for example if you want the whites to stay white or nearly white, then you drop the curves for the colors at the low end so you are adding little or no color there. If you want a reddish image to be more brown you need to play with the black curve also - more black gives you more of a brown in the image. To print, usually you would convert to rgb.

Another way is to use curves. In addition to the general rgb curve, there are individual r, g and b curves you can manipulate separately. This is similar to what you do in duotones, with a little less fine control over the colors, but with less effort.

Something else to consider is that you can use a layer mask with the photo filter, or convert it to a smart filter, which adds a mask, and then paint on the mask to control how much of the filter color comes through to various areas of the image.

 

[amolitor]

Traditional toners tended to bond to the silver or at amy rate hang out in the vicinity of the silver particles, which means that the darker the value, the darker the tone. Simple "sepia" filters may just slap a brown translucent layer over the whole thing.

 

[runnah]

When I am asked to do this I add a sepia colored layer in photoshop and mess with the blending settings. Overlay, Multiply and soft light work the best. Also It's best to desaturate the image beforehand.

 

[Pallycow]

There are sooo many variants to sepia. Prints are not like what we see on our screens as the screens are backlit. If you are using a local lab, I'd recommend having them do a test print, most will do it free. If you're using an online lab, just print a 4x6 as a test for color tone, then adjust your image based on that to what you like.

 

[LightMatters]

Thanks, I really appreciate the explanations and ideas! Gives me new directions to explore.