Duotone Effect In Photoshop
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The duotone effect in Photoshop replaces every color in a photo with two colors, one for the shadows and one for the highlights.
The technique in this tutorial uses a Gradient Map adjustment layer. Gradient Maps allow you to map colors to an image based on the image’s luminance values. This is what creates the duotone effect.
Photoshop also has a Duotone image mode. Usually, the Duotone mode is reserved for use with commercial printing presses, so the tutorial only stops there briefly before moving on.
This is for anyone who wants a two-color look for a web banner or any other graphic design project. You need no experience with adjustment layers to follow along.
By the end, you will know how to turn any photo into a duotone image and pick the two colors. You will also fine-tune the result and cut out the subject to place it on a white background.
The video was recorded in Photoshop 2015.5 (version 17.0), and every tool it uses still works the same way in the current version.
Key Takeaways
- A Gradient Map reads only the brightness of each pixel. Black areas take the color on the left end of the gradient, white areas take the color on the right end, and the midtones blend between them.
- Duotone mode stays grayed out until you convert the image to Grayscale. Once applied, it replaces the three RGB channels with a single Duotone channel.
- Any two colors work. Photoshop assigns them by brightness, not by hue, so the color on the left end of the gradient always lands in the shadows.
- A Gradient Map set to Luminosity keeps the photo’s original colors, Color keeps its original brightness, and Normal gives the full two-color result.
- To reshape the duotone, adjust the luminance values underneath it with a Black and White adjustment layer. Its sliders change the duotone only while the Gradient Map above it is turned on.
Table of contents
- What You Will Learn
- Requirements
- Step 1: Convert the Image to Grayscale
- Step 2: Apply a Duotone Mode Preset
- Step 3: Create the Duotone Effect in Photoshop with a Gradient Map
- Step 4: Pick the Two Colors for the Duotone
- Step 5: Try Different Blend Modes on the Duotone
- Step 6: Control the Duotone with a Black and White Adjustment Layer
- Step 7: Mask the Subject with Select and Mask
- Step 8: Add a White Background and Fade the Original
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Conclusion
- Related Links
What You Will Learn
- How to convert a photo to Grayscale and apply a Duotone mode preset
- How to build a duotone with a Gradient Map adjustment layer
- How to find the Photographic Toning and Special Effects gradient presets
- How to change the look with blend modes and Opacity
- How to fine-tune the shadows and highlights with a Black and White adjustment layer
- How to mask the subject and place it on a white background
Requirements
Before you start
- Photoshop 2015.5 (version 17.0 or later) or the current version
- A photo with a clear subject. The video uses a photo of a woman.
Step 1: Convert the Image to Grayscale
Go to Image > Mode > Grayscale. Photoshop asks if you want to discard the color information. Click Discard.
This step is required because the Duotone mode only works on a grayscale image. Skip it and the menu item stays grayed out.
Note: The Duotone mode is a quick way to see a two-color version of your photo. Most of this tutorial uses adjustment layers instead, starting in Step 3.
Step 2: Apply a Duotone Mode Preset
Go to Image > Mode > Duotone. The Duotone Options dialog opens with a list of presets, and each preset applies a different pair of colors.
Pick any preset from the list. To change one of its colors, double-click the color swatch. This opens the Color Library window.
Notice that the library uses Pantone Solid Coated. This feature was designed for printing presses, so the colors are Pantone inks. Select a color, then click OK in both dialogs.
Open the Channels panel. The three RGB channels are gone, replaced by a single Duotone channel.
Note: You can take the result back into RGB through Image > Mode > RGB Color. If you plan to print on a commercial press, stay in Duotone mode.
For the rest of the tutorial, go to File > Revert to return the image to its original state.
Step 3: Create the Duotone Effect in Photoshop with a Gradient Map
Open the Adjustments panel (Window > Adjustments) and click the Gradient Map icon. This creates a new adjustment layer above your photo.
The Gradient Map maps color onto an image based on its luminance values. The default gradient runs from black to white, so the darkest points stay black and the lightest points stay white.
Change the gradient and the mapping changes with it. Pick a gradient that runs from red to green, and anything that was black turns red while anything that was white turns green.
That is the whole trick behind the duotone effect in Photoshop: two colors on a gradient, mapped to the shadows and highlights of your photo.
In the Properties panel, click the gradient bar to open the Gradient Editor. This is where you choose the two colors.
Tip: Two Gradient Map layers can grade a photo in two directions at once. The Homecoming poster color grade uses one for the background and one clipped to the subject.
Step 4: Pick the Two Colors for the Duotone
The Gradient Editor shows a set of preset gradients. Click the gear icon to load more sets.
Choose Photographic Toning and click OK. This set holds a long list of toning gradients, and every one of them works as a duotone.
The Special Effects set has one gradient worth knowing about. It creates a chrome-looking effect. It is not the goal of this tutorial, but it is the gradient to reach for when you want chrome.
When you are done exploring, click the gear icon again, choose Reset Gradients, and click OK.
Click the preset that runs from purple to orange, then click OK. That is the gradient the rest of the tutorial uses.
Anything that is black will be purple, anything that is white will be orange, and the tones in between will be a transition between the two.
Note: In the current version of Photoshop, gradient presets live in the Gradients panel (Window > Gradients), organized in groups. The Photographic Toning and Special Effects sets sit under Legacy Gradients, which you load from the Gradients panel flyout menu.
Step 5: Try Different Blend Modes on the Duotone
Before fine-tuning, try a few blend modes on the Gradient Map layer. Each one combines the two colors with the original photo in a different way.
| Blend mode | What it does |
|---|---|
| Normal | The full duotone. Only the two gradient colors remain. |
| Luminosity | Keeps the original colors of the photo and uses the luminance values of the gradient colors. |
| Color | Uses the gradient colors but keeps the original luminance values of the photo. |
| Soft Light | Tints the photo with the gradient colors and adds a gentle amount of contrast. |
| Overlay | The same tint as Soft Light, with stronger contrast. |
Lower the Opacity of the layer to soften any of these. A full guide to what each mode does is in Blending Modes Explained.
For the rest of the tutorial, set the blend mode back to Normal and the Opacity to 100%.
Step 6: Control the Duotone with a Black and White Adjustment Layer
Turn the Gradient Map layer off for a moment by clicking its eye icon. Remember how the map works: it looks at the luminance values below it and applies the colors on the gradient.
That means you can change the duotone by changing the luminance values of the original image. The tool for that is a Black and White adjustment layer.
Click the Black and White icon in the Adjustments panel. Make sure the new layer sits right above the Background layer and below the Gradient Map. It turns everything black and white.
Use the color sliders to make tonal adjustments based on color. Drag Reds to the left to make the reds darker, or drag Yellows to the right to make the yellows brighter.
You will not see any change in the duotone until you turn the Gradient Map back on. Once you do, watch how the two colors shift as you move the sliders.
Note: The Gradient Map is applied based on the luminance values of the layers below it. Keep the Black and White layer below the map, or the sliders will have no effect on the duotone.
The Black and White adjustment layer does more than this one job. See how to make black and white photos in Photoshop for a full walkthrough of its sliders.
Step 7: Mask the Subject with Select and Mask
Select the Background layer, then select the Quick Selection Tool. Click and drag over the woman to make a selection around her.
You do not have to be too precise for this. Take a little more time on your own projects, but a rough selection is good enough here.
With the selection active, click the Add Layer Mask icon at the bottom of the Layers panel. The background disappears and only the woman stays visible on that layer.
Click Select and Mask in the Properties panel. Raise the Smooth slider just a little so the edge is not so jaggy, then click OK.
Note: In an older version of Photoshop, the button is called Refine Edge. It does the same job here.
For a cleaner cutout, especially around hair, follow the Select and Mask workspace tutorial.
Tip: In the current version of Photoshop, Select Subject or the Object Selection Tool gives a better starting selection with less work than the Quick Selection Tool.
Step 8: Add a White Background and Fade the Original
Turn all the layers back on. Then click the Create new fill or adjustment layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel and choose Solid Color.
Set the color to white and click OK. Drag the Solid Color layer below the masked layer of the woman.
The white fills in behind her, and the image now has more of a graphic design effect. From here you can apply text and other elements to the side of the image, like a web banner.
One more option brings a hint of the original background back. Select the masked layer with the woman and press CtrlJ (Windows) or CommandJ (macOS) to duplicate it.
Click the lower copy, then click its layer mask thumbnail. In the Properties panel, click Invert. The background becomes visible again on that layer.
Lower the Opacity of that layer. The faded background separates the foreground from the background a little more, while the woman on the top copy stays at full strength.
Frequently Asked Questions
A duotone is a photo whose colors have been replaced with two colors. One color fills the shadows, the other fills the highlights, and the midtones blend between them. In Photoshop you create it with a Gradient Map adjustment layer or with the Duotone image mode.
Duotone only works on a grayscale image. Go to Image > Mode > Grayscale first and discard the color information. The Duotone option then becomes available.
A Gradient Map maps colors onto an image based on its luminance values. The left end of the gradient replaces the darkest tones and the right end replaces the lightest tones. Every tone in between gets a blend of the colors along the gradient.
Select the Gradient Map layer and click the gradient bar in the Properties panel to open the Gradient Editor. Pick a different preset, or click a color stop under the gradient bar and choose a new color. The image updates as you work.
In older versions, they load from the gear icon in the Gradient Editor. In the current version of Photoshop, open the Gradients panel, open its flyout menu and choose Legacy Gradients. The Photographic Toning and Special Effects groups then appear in the panel.
Normal gives the pure two-color result. Luminosity keeps the photo’s original colors and only borrows the brightness of the gradient, while Color does the opposite. Soft Light and Overlay tint the photo and add contrast, and lowering the Opacity softens any of them.
Add a Black and White adjustment layer between the photo and the Gradient Map. Its color sliders brighten or darken tones by their original color, and the Gradient Map reads those new luminance values. Drag a slider right to push that color toward the highlight color, or left to push it toward the shadow color.
Yes. The Duotone image mode was designed for commercial printing presses and uses Pantone Solid Coated inks. For a home printer or the web, a Gradient Map in RGB mode is easier to edit and prints without any extra setup.
Conclusion
The duotone effect in Photoshop comes down to one Gradient Map adjustment layer and two colors. Everything else, from blend modes to the Black and White layer, is a way to fine-tune that result.
The Duotone mode is there when you need Pantone inks for a press. For everything else, the adjustment layer route keeps the original photo untouched.
Watch the video to see each step in motion, and comment on the video if you have a question.
Selections and Masking Mastery
Complete course includes 2.5 hours of step-by-step lessons, 6 structured modules, downloadable practice files, and custom Photoshop brushes. Everything you need to master selections and masks in one place.
Keep going
Next, build a two-color look from the channels instead with the Duotone Double Exposure Effect in Photoshop tutorial.
Related Links
Final Image
Drag the slider to see before and after
Nice pic And Article
Thank you!
Great effect and easy to use. Thank you.
You’re welcome!
I like your tutorial video on youtube ,easy to understand ,how to create anything with photoshop. I use photoshop CC 2019. Thanks for tutorial. Have a good day !.