What RGB value would YOU call sepia.

01/10/2008 12:57:10 PM · #1

I am just wondering what different people think sepia is. Was there a standard in the old days that determined the color that sepia would be when that technique was used?

me

01/10/2008 12:58:58 PM · #2

P.S. I have tried using various warming filters and different intensities and I am not too happy with the results.

01/10/2008 01:03:06 PM · #3

229/182/46 is a good starting point.

R.

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

01/10/2008 01:06:48 PM · #4

Thanks Bear! ... I will check it out.

DrAchoo

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5

01/10/2008 01:11:59 PM · #5

I don't know what the "real" sepia is, but I tend to use a color balance adjustment layer on midtones at about 20/0/-25 after you have converted to B&W.

01/10/2008 01:13:59 PM · #6

Originally posted by DrAchoo:

I don't know what the "real" sepia is, but I tend to use a color balance adjustment layer on midtones at about 20/0/-25 after you have converted to B&W.

He's looking for an absolute RGB value that defines 'sepia" as a tone, as far as I can see, not a technique for turning an image into sepia...

R.

01/10/2008 01:34:23 PM · #7

Yes Bear you are right ... that is what I am looking for ... I tried your values and found it a little too green (yellow) for my liking ...

... Then I just got a brainstorm and took a flash picture of a white piece of paper in sepia mode and droppered it ... It come out at 196 125 59 which I like better but still wanna play with that a bit. I will probably end up with something about half way between what you said and what my camera said.

What I want to do is make a colour image black and white using the channel mixer then use a custom photo filter set to the tone I prefer for the filter to achieve a sepia flavour. Intensity of said filter will give me what I want in different situations after that methinks.

I now have a bracket to play with (a tad too yellow and a tad too brown for my taste) which has narrowed it down considerably. It shouldn't take long now.

Thanks again.

Edited for serious typo which left out half a sentence ...

Message edited by author 2008-01-10 13:38:35.

01/10/2008 01:38:35 PM · #8

Originally posted by Greetmir:

Yes Bear you are right ... that is what I am looking for ... I tried your values and found it a little too green (yellow) for my liking ...

... Then I just got a brainstorm and took a flash picture of a white piece of paper in sepia mode and droppered it ... It come out at 196 125 59 which I like better but still wanna play with that a bit. I will probably end up with something about half way between what you said and what my camera said. Thanks for channel mixer then use a custom photo filter and choose the tone I prefer for the filter.

I now have a bracket to play with (a tad too yellow and a tad too brown for my taste) which has narrowed it down considerably. It shouldn't take long now.

Thanks again.

It's pretty subjective, yeah. I tend to fade my sepia layers so mine is a little more aggressive. We're certainly int he same ballpark, and you'll be able to find one that suits your sensibilities easily.

R.

01/10/2008 01:39:55 PM · #9

I fixed a serious typo ... I dunno how you figured out what I was trying to say ... LOL!

Canon RF 24-70mm f/2.8 L IS

01/10/2008 01:48:43 PM · #10

Originally posted by Greetmir:

I fixed a serious typo ... I dunno how you figured out what I was trying to say ... LOL!

It was implied... I assumed that was what you were doing.

R.

kirbic

Canon EOS R5

01/10/2008 02:38:04 PM · #11

IMO, there is no one tone that can be defined as "sepia." A sepia-toned image contains a range of tones from very dark to very light, all of which have the characteristic tinge. I've personally used Ken Lee's Bronze Quadtones for most of my toned images, but like Ken I've been very frustrated by Photoshop's severe limitations on conversion. The link provided points to Ken's new method of duplicating these results using fill layers, and this is something I'll be looking at.

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

01/10/2008 02:49:44 PM · #12

Originally posted by kirbic:

IMO, there is no one tone that can be defined as "sepia."

Right, it's very subjective. Of course, the original sepia toning was a result of the chemicals used in the processing of the image, and it could vary quite a bit as well depending on the exact ratios employed.

R.

Photologist

Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max

01/10/2008 06:02:47 PM · #13

Originally posted by kirbic:

IMO, there is no one tone that can be defined as "sepia."

"Officially", sepia is as follows:

R: 112
G: 66
B: 20

...or Hex: #704214

(that is, for those that believe wikipedia) :-)