Split-toning with Photoshop

When or how this was invented I don't know.I'm saying this because there are so many things that where invented way before the age of computers,or Photoshop. So terms as air brushing skin,masking where all invented in the dark room.In fact the first image manipulation done in the dark room dates back since 1886, I guess.Sepia toning was a method to preserve photographs.It got its name from a pigment extracted from the common cudler fish,found in the English channel,on its Latin name Sepia Officinalis.the pigment extracted from the fish was meant to colorize the picture to add more warmth to it.While adding warmth to an image with the help of other chemicals they replaced the metallic silver from the picture.This made an image more durable in time.In fact the oldest pictures that lasted until today where all sepia toned.That is why it became so popular to use a sepia type of color in pictures and movies to invoke that feel of something old.
Split toning,on the other hand means the use of two tones in an image.As you could see in the image above,I used blue for the darker tones in the image and orange for the lighter tones.To basically make the image look more artistic.Warm light shining through the trees of a cold forest.So a combination of a cold color with a warm color is common practice,makes a nice contrast.I guess this would have been very hard to make in the dark room but with Photoshop it is a piece of cake!
So lets get started!

Here is the original image.Well I like it more colored then as split-toned,but this is the image I chose to work with.
I will create a new adjustment layer by clicking on the new adjustment layer button located at the bottom of the layers panel.It is that round button half black half white.From the fly-out I will choose hue and saturation.

When the hue and saturation dialog pops up first check the colorize radio button,highlighted with red in the image below.Then move the Hue slider until you get a bluish color that you like.You could play a little with the saturation slider to make the color more intense or maybe less intense.I don,t recommend to use the Lightness slider as this will mess up the images lightness.

Next,create an other hue and saturation adjustment following the steps we just took earlier.Re-colorize the image to a warm color,some yellow with an orange tint.

This time I only checked colorize so I can guide myself after the Hue sliders color spectrum.Since we already had our image in one color meaning blue,there was no real reasons to check the colorize box.But if you don't check colorize Photoshop does not assign a starting color to the colorization process,so you can't guide yourself after the color spectrum.
Now its time to make the magic happen! Double click on an empty space of the second hue and saturation adjustment layer, not on its thumbnail or name, an empty space,or you can just go in the upper most menu(File,Edit,Image...) to Layer/Layer style/Blending options.A dialog box will pop up.

The areas of interest are those highlighted with red.Here is where using the lower or the upper one just does the same thing.I usually go with the lower one.It is easier to understand for me.Here is how it goes.I think like this.I don't want to see the effect of this layer on the darker areas of the underlying layer.This is why I use the Underlying layer slider.Grab the black triangle and drag it to the right.This will make this layer disappear from the darker tones of the underlying layer.This generates an abrupt transition between the two colors. Hold down Alt then click and drag one side of the triangle.This will split the triangle into half.Now you can move these separately to adjust the transition.Now we have a smoother transition between colors.The upper slider does the same thing.There too you will use the black triangle.In this case you have to think this way:"I don't want to see this layer on the underlying layers darker tones."And here is the end result.it does not look like the result you have seen at the beginning but I like this one too.So have fun with this effect and TAKE CARE!