Colour grading is an essential technique in digital photography and image editing that allows photographers and creatives to alter the mood and feel of an image through colour manipulation. It involves changing the hues, tones, and saturation levels to produce a desired emotional effect or visual style. Colour grading can transform an ordinary photo into a striking image that tells a compelling story.
In the context of photography and editing software, colour grading differs from basic colour correction. While colour correction aims to fix colour imbalances and restore natural tones, colour grading is a creative process that applies stylised colour effects to enhance the image’s impact. Dramatic colour grading often emphasises contrast between shadows and highlights and uses specific colour palettes to evoke moods like warmth, coldness, mystery, or nostalgia.
Many film and digital photographers use colour grading to create consistent looks across a series of images or to emulate cinematic styles. For example, the popular “teal and orange” look in movies uses complementary colours to make images feel dynamic and engaging. With digital tools such as Photoshop Elements, photographers can experiment with different grading styles to achieve unique artistic effects.
What is Split Toning and Why Use It?
Split toning is a specific colour grading technique where separate colour hues are applied independently to the shadows and highlights of an image. Unlike uniform colour overlays, split toning allows for nuanced adjustments that give greater control over how different tonal areas interact. This separation can create a beautiful balance and depth, enhancing both the dark and light parts of a photo in distinct ways.
Historically, split toning comes from the days of black-and-white photography when prints were chemically toned with different colours to add artistic flair. Today, split toning is popular in digital editing for its ability to produce vintage, cinematic, or surreal looks by blending contrasting or complementary colours.
Using split toning, you might apply a cool blue tint to the shadows to create a moody atmosphere while warming the highlights with soft orange or gold tones. This combination plays on the natural contrast of warm and cool colours, often resulting in a more visually appealing and emotionally resonant image.
Split toning is particularly effective for enhancing portraits, landscapes, and lifestyle photography, as it can subtly guide the viewer’s eye and reinforce the story behind the image.
Why Photoshop Elements is Ideal for Split Toning
Photoshop Elements offers a powerful yet approachable platform for photo editing, especially for photographers who want creative control without the complexity of Photoshop’s full version. It combines essential features with user-friendly tools designed to deliver professional results.
When it comes to colour grading and split toning, Photoshop Elements provides several adjustment layers and filters that enable precise colour manipulation. Unlike some simpler editing apps, it allows you to work non-destructively with layers and masks, giving you flexibility to experiment and refine your edits.
While Photoshop Elements may not have every advanced tool found in higher-end software, its split toning capabilities are robust enough for most creative projects. Tools like Colour Balance, Hue/Saturation, Gradient Maps, and Curves are accessible and effective for crafting dramatic colour effects.
Another advantage of Photoshop Elements is its affordability and compatibility with a wide range of computer systems, making it accessible to hobbyists, students, and professional photographers alike.
The Role of Shadows and Highlights in Colour Grading
To master split toning, you need to understand how shadows and highlights influence the perception of colour and mood in a photograph. Shadows are the darker areas where light is minimal, while highlights are the brightest parts exposed to the most light.
Adjusting colours in shadows and highlights independently allows you to create contrast not just in brightness but also in hue. For example, deepening shadows with cooler tones can add a sense of mystery or drama, while warming highlights can suggest sunlight or warmth.
This separation can also help to balance the image visually. Without split toning, colour shifts might feel flat or uniform, lacking depth and dimension. But when colours differ between dark and light areas, the image gains complexity and richness.
Moreover, controlling shadows and highlights independently can guide the viewer’s eye through the image. Warm highlights often draw attention and can emphasise key subjects, while cool shadows can add atmosphere or recede into the background.
Preparing Your Image for Split Toning in Photoshop Elements
Before applying split toning, it’s important to prepare your image properly. Starting with a well-exposed and balanced photo ensures that colour adjustments will look natural and effective.
First, check your image’s exposure and contrast. If the image is too flat or too dark, use adjustment layers such as Brightness/Contrast or Levels to improve tonal range. A good tonal foundation helps shadows and highlights respond well to colour grading.
Make sure your image is in RGB mode, which is standard for colour editing. This mode supports the full spectrum of colours needed for split toning and other colour effects.
It’s also recommended to work on a duplicate layer or use adjustment layers rather than editing the original photo directly. This non-destructive approach preserves your original data and allows you to tweak the effect later.
Finally, consider cropping or straightening your image to perfect composition before colour grading. An engaging composition combined with dramatic colour grading maximises the photo’s impact.
Basic Tools for Split Toning in Photoshop Elements
Photoshop Elements includes several key tools that facilitate split toning and dramatic colour grading.
The Colour Balance adjustment layer lets you shift the colours in shadows, midtones, and highlights independently. You can push shadows toward cooler blues or greens and highlights toward warmer oranges or reds, adjusting the sliders to find the perfect balance.
Hue/Saturation adjustment layers allow you to control the intensity of colours, either boosting saturation for vibrant effects or reducing it for muted, filmic looks.
Gradient Maps are powerful for split toning because they map colours across the tonal range of the image. By creating a gradient that moves from one colour to another, you can assign different hues to shadows and highlights with smooth transitions.
The Curves adjustment layer is useful for refining contrast and brightness after colour adjustments. Proper contrast enhances the drama of your colour grading.
Layer masks are vital for controlling where your adjustments apply. Painting on masks with black or white reveals or hides effects selectively, letting you target specific areas with precision.
Understanding Colour Harmony in Split Toning
Choosing the right colours for split toning depends on colour harmony principles. Colour harmony refers to aesthetically pleasing combinations of colours that work well together.
Complementary colours, found opposite each other on the colour wheel, create strong contrast and visual interest. For instance, blue and orange, purple and yellow, or teal and red are popular complementary pairs used in dramatic colour grading.
Analogous colours, which sit next to each other on the wheel, produce harmonious and subtle effects. Using shades of blue and green, or orange and red, can create a warm or cool mood without strong contrasts.
Split toning with complementary colours emphasises drama by juxtaposing warm highlights against cool shadows or vice versa. This technique can evoke tension, depth, and vibrancy in your images.
On the other hand, analogous colours offer a more cohesive and gentle feel, ideal for portraits or scenes where emotional subtlety is desired.
Understanding these colour relationships helps you select hues that enhance the mood you want to convey with your photographs.
Examples of Dramatic Colour Grading Styles with Split Toning
Dramatic colour grading can take many forms depending on the chosen colours and intensity.
One popular style is the cinematic teal and orange look. This involves cooling the shadows with teal and warming the highlights with orange or amber. The result is a dynamic and visually striking image often used in movies and commercial photography.
Another approach uses deep blues and purples in the shadows with golden or yellow highlights. This creates a moody, mysterious effect suitable for night scenes or artistic portraits.
For vintage or nostalgic vibes, you might apply muted sepia or warm browns to the highlights while keeping shadows in cooler greys or faded blues. This simulates aged film or prints.
High contrast black-and-white photos can also benefit from subtle split toning, where faint colour tints in shadows and highlights add dimension without overwhelming the monochrome feel.
The key to dramatic colour grading is balancing intensity with harmony, ensuring the colours enhance rather than distract from the image’s subject and story.
Colour grading through split toning is a versatile and creative way to dramatically alter the look and feel of your photographs. By understanding the roles of shadows and highlights, using Photoshop Elements’ adjustment tools, and applying colour harmony principles, you can craft unique and engaging images.
Photoshop Elements provides an accessible platform to experiment with split toning, allowing photographers to explore different moods and styles without complex workflows.
In the next part of this series, you will learn a detailed, step-by-step guide on how to apply split toning effectively using Photoshop Elements. This will include practical instructions on using adjustment layers, blending modes, and masks to create stunning, dramatic colour grades.
Preparing Your Workspace in Photoshop Elements
Before diving into the split toning process, it's important to set up your workspace for efficient editing. Photoshop Elements has a streamlined interface, but a few tweaks can improve your workflow.
Start by switching to Expert Mode in the workspace. This mode gives you full access to layers, adjustment tools, and masks — all essential for split toning and dramatic colour grading. Make sure the Layers panel is visible on the right-hand side. If it's not, enable it by going to the Window menu and selecting Layers.
Open your image by going to File > Open and choosing a photo that has a strong tonal range. Images with clear areas of shadow and highlight are ideal for split toning, as they allow you to apply contrasting colour tones effectively.
It's a good idea to save a copy of your original file before making changes. Use File > Save As to preserve an unedited version, then work on a new duplicate. This lets you go back to the original if needed.
Next, assess the image's brightness and contrast. Use Levels or Brightness/Contrast adjustments to make sure the image has good separation between dark and light areas. A balanced image provides a strong foundation for split toning and ensures that colour shifts are visible and well-distributed.
Starting with Colour Balance Adjustments
The Colour Balance adjustment layer is one of the most direct ways to begin split toning in Photoshop Elements. This tool lets you add different colour casts to the shadows, midtones, and highlights of your image.
To add a Colour Balance layer, go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Colour Balance. In the dialogue box, name your layer for easy reference, then click OK.
Once the layer is added, you’ll see three tone options: Shadows, Midtones, and Highlights. Begin with Shadows. Push the sliders slightly toward the cooler colours like blue, cyan, or green. These tones often help give shadows a cinematic or moody appearance.
Next, select the Highlights and move the sliders toward warmer colours such as red, yellow, or magenta. This contrast between cool shadows and warm highlights creates a dynamic, dramatic look.
Be subtle with your adjustments. Even small colour shifts can have a big visual impact. Avoid pushing the sliders too far, as excessive colour balance changes can make the image look unnatural or overly stylised.
Colour Balance is a great way to set the tone of your image early in the process. It gives you a broad, general colour shift that can later be refined using more advanced techniques.
Applying Gradient Maps for Split Toning
Once your base tones are established, use Gradient Maps for precise colour grading. Gradient Maps work by mapping a gradient of colours onto the brightness values in your image. Dark areas receive one colour from the gradient, while bright areas receive another.
To apply a Gradient Map, go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Gradient Map. Choose a gradient that suits the mood you want to create. For dramatic colour grading, popular choices include gradients that move from deep blue to golden orange or from dark purple to pale yellow.
You can also create custom gradients. Click on the gradient bar in the properties panel to open the Gradient Editor. Choose a dark colour for the left side of the gradient (shadows) and a light colour for the right side (highlights). Adjust the midpoint if you want more emphasis on shadows or highlights.
Once applied, the image may look overly saturated or stylised. This is normal. Change the blending mode of the Gradient Map layer to Soft Light or Overlay to blend the colours more naturally with the image. You can also reduce the layer opacity to control the strength of the effect.
The Gradient Map allows for precise control over colour transitions and is a key tool in split toning. By using complementary or contrasting colours, you can enhance the depth and emotion in your photo.
Refining the Look with Hue/Saturation
Hue/Saturation is another useful tool for split toning and fine-tuning the overall colour effect. It allows you to adjust the hue, saturation, and lightness of specific colour ranges or the entire image.
Add a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer by going to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Hue/Saturation. You can adjust the Master setting to affect all colours or target specific ranges such as Reds, Blues, or Yellows.
If your colour grading introduced a hue that is too dominant, use the Saturation slider to reduce its intensity. Alternatively, you can enhance certain tones by increasing saturation in specific ranges.
The Hue slider lets you shift colours slightly to find a more pleasing or dramatic combination. This is particularly useful when you want to push the colours toward a more stylised palette without affecting the image’s natural balance.
Hue/Saturation also allows for subtle creative touches. You can desaturate the entire image slightly to give it a vintage or cinematic feel while preserving the split-toned look.
Use layer masks with Hue/Saturation adjustments to apply the effect selectively. For instance, you might want to reduce saturation only in the background while keeping the subject vibrant.
Using Curves to Adjust Contrast and Tone
Once the colour grading is in place, refining the contrast with a Curves adjustment layer can bring out the details and enhance the mood further. Curves allow for precise control over the tonal values of your image.
Add a Curves adjustment layer by going to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Curves. In the Curves graph, the horizontal axis represents the brightness levels from shadows (left) to highlights (right), and the vertical axis represents the output levels.
To add contrast, create a gentle S-curve. Click to add a point in the shadows region and drag it slightly downward. Then, add a point in the highlights region and drag it slightly upward. This increases the separation between light and dark areas, making the colour grading more pronounced.
If your image has lost detail due to colour adjustments, you can use Curves to bring back shadow or highlight information. Drag points carefully to recover tones without flattening the image.
Curves can also influence the colour tone if you adjust individual colour channels (Red, Green, Blue). For example, you can increase the blue in the shadows or reduce red in the highlights to fine-tune your split toning.
Use small, deliberate changes in Curves to avoid over-editing. Too much contrast or colour shift can result in an unnatural or heavy-handed look.
Masking and Blending for Selective Toning
One of the most powerful features of Photoshop Elements is the ability to use layer masks to apply adjustments selectively. This means you can target split toning effects to specific areas of the image, such as the background, subject, or sky.
Every adjustment layer comes with a built-in mask. By default, the mask is white, which means the effect is applied across the entire image. To hide the effect in certain areas, select the mask and paint with black using a soft brush. Painting with white will reveal the effect again.
For example, if you find that the split toning is making skin tones look unnatural, you can mask the adjustment layer to exclude the subject’s face. This allows you to apply colour grading only to the background or other areas.
You can also use gradient masks to smoothly blend effects between different parts of the image. This is helpful when you want a gradual transition from warm highlights to cool shadows without hard edges.
Layer masks are essential for maintaining control and flexibility in your workflow. They allow for more precise and polished results, especially in portraits and complex compositions.
Saving and Exporting Your Graded Image
Once you're satisfied with your dramatic colour grading, it's time to save and export your image. Always keep a layered version of your file in Photoshop Elements format (PSD) so you can return and make adjustments later.
To save a high-quality version for sharing or printing, go to File > Save As and choose a format like JPEG or TIFF. Set the quality to maximum and consider embedding the colour profile to ensure consistent colours across devices.
When exporting for web or social media, you may want to resize the image to a smaller dimension and apply slight sharpening to maintain clarity after compression.
It’s also helpful to save multiple versions if you’ve created different looks or colour variations. Label your files clearly to keep track of the styles you've created.
Reviewing the Process and Troubleshooting
Colour grading is both an art and a science. If your result doesn't look as expected, step back and evaluate each layer. Toggle adjustment layers on and off to identify which one might be overpowering the image.
Common issues include oversaturation, unnatural skin tones, or banding in gradients. Address these by reducing saturation, using masks to protect sensitive areas, and adding a slight noise or grain overlay to smooth transitions.
Don’t be afraid to undo changes or return to an earlier version. Building a flexible workflow with adjustment layers makes it easy to iterate and experiment.
Finally, step away from your image for a while and return with fresh eyes. Sometimes the best way to assess colour grading is after a short break, giving you a clearer perspective on what needs refinement.
This step-by-step guide has walked you through the core techniques of applying split toning and dramatic colour grading in Photoshop Elements. From setting up your workspace and applying colour balance to refining with gradient maps, masks, and curves, you now have a solid workflow for enhancing your images creatively.
In the next part of the series, we will explore advanced techniques, including working with multiple blend modes, using targeted colour selections, and incorporating artistic filters to deepen the visual impact of your edits.
Exploring Advanced Split Toning Concepts
Once you've mastered the basics of split toning in Photoshop Elements, it's time to explore more advanced techniques that allow for greater control, creativity, and personalisation. At this level, you're no longer simply applying colour; you're crafting a visual mood and signature style. Advanced split toning helps you direct the viewer’s emotional response, build atmosphere, and stylise images to fit a specific narrative or aesthetic.
These techniques go beyond simply shifting shadows and highlights to warmer or cooler hues. They include selective toning, multi-layer grading with different blending modes, the use of colour theory for stylised results, and targeted colour manipulation. When used thoughtfully, these methods enhance the impact of your images while maintaining clarity, balance, and depth.
Combining Multiple Adjustment Layers for Depth
Layer stacking is one of the most effective ways to refine and control dramatic colour grading. In Photoshop Elements, this involves using several different adjustment layers—each handling one aspect of the tone or colour—then stacking them strategically to build a layered colour grade.
For example, you might start with a Colour Balance layer that introduces a gentle blue to the shadows and a warm tone to the highlights. Then, you can follow it with a Gradient Map layer that adds a cinematic effect using a carefully chosen gradient. After that, you could include a Hue/Saturation layer to fine-tune any overpowering tones or to desaturate background elements.
Each layer should serve a specific purpose. Don’t try to do everything with one tool. When stacking multiple adjustments, keep each layer's opacity manageable—typically between 10% to 50%—to blend the colours naturally. You can then use masks to localise each layer’s effect to particular areas.
Stacking also allows you to create subtle variations across a series of images. By turning individual layers on or off or modifying their properties, you can maintain a consistent visual identity while adapting the tone to different lighting or subjects.
Using Blend Modes for Creative Colour Effects
Blending modes alter how a layer interacts with the layers below it. Photoshop Elements offers several blend modes that can enhance colour grading effects when used in combination with gradient maps or solid colour layers.
The Overlay and Soft Light modes are particularly useful in split toning. When used with Gradient Maps or Solid Colour fill layers, these modes apply colour contrast that respects the luminance of the original image. Overlay adds strong contrast and works well for bold cinematic effects, while Soft Light is subtler and better for refined looks.
Multiply darkens the underlying image and is effective for applying cool, moody tones in shadows. Screen lightens the image and can help enhance the glow in the highlights with warmer tones.
To apply a blending mode, select the layer in the Layers panel, then choose the desired mode from the dropdown at the top of the panel. You’ll see an immediate change in the interaction between layers.
Use blending modes thoughtfully. An effective trick is to duplicate a Gradient Map layer, apply a blend mode like Overlay or Soft Light, and then reduce its opacity to around 30%. This builds an extra level of contrast and colour without overpowering the image.
Selective Colour Toning with Masks
Using masks for selective toning allows you to isolate areas of the image for customised colour effects. For instance, you may want a subject’s skin tones to remain natural while applying dramatic split toning to the background.
To do this, add a mask to your adjustment layer. Then, with a soft brush and black selected as your foreground colour, paint over the areas where you want to hide the effect. The brush opacity can be lowered to around 20% to feather the transition between toned and untoned areas.
This technique is especially useful for portraits. Skin tones are often sensitive to colour changes, and split toning can make them look unrealistic if applied uniformly. By masking out the subject while keeping the tone of the background, you preserve a natural look while still creating atmosphere.
You can also invert the mask to apply the toning only to the subject and leave the background untouched. This is useful when you want to emphasise a person or object using creative colour contrast.
Layer masks allow for infinite adjustments. You can refine them with multiple passes of the brush, feather the edges, or use gradients for smooth transitions. Selective toning through masks is a hallmark of professional-quality grading.
Targeting Specific Colours Using HSL Adjustments
Targeted adjustments using Hue/Saturation allow for nuanced control over individual colour channels in your image. This is useful when certain hues become too prominent or need enhancement during split toning.
In your Hue/Saturation adjustment layer, use the dropdown menu to select a specific colour range, such as Reds, Yellows, Blues, or Greens. You can then shift the hue, saturation, or lightness of that range independently from the rest of the image.
For example, if blue shadows become too intense, you can select the Blues and reduce their saturation slightly. If warm highlights appear too yellow, you can shift the hue toward orange or red to achieve a more cinematic tone.
This method allows for precise control and avoids making blanket adjustments that may distort natural colours or tonal balance. It's especially useful when working with photos that have complex colour compositions or where preserving realism is essential.
This is also where your understanding of colour theory comes into play. You can harmonise or contrast specific tones in the image by adjusting one colour range while leaving others intact.
Incorporating Artistic Filters for Texture and Mood
Although not directly part of colour grading, applying artistic filters can enhance the emotional impact of your split-toned image. Adding subtle grain, noise, or texture can evoke film aesthetics and improve colour transitions by reducing digital banding.
To apply grain, go to Filter > Noise > Add Noise. Choose a small amount—typically between 2% and 5%—and select Gaussian and Monochromatic. This gives a soft filmic grain that adds realism to the image and smooths out colour gradients.
You can also experiment with blur filters, such as Gaussian Blur, applied selectively to background areas. This enhances depth and draws attention to the subject, especially in portrait work.
Some users also incorporate the Artistic or Stylise filters from the Filter menu to give a painterly, vintage, or dreamlike quality. Be careful not to overuse these, as they can overpower the subtleties of your split toning.
By layering texture with your colour grading, you introduce complexity and character into the image, which is particularly effective in storytelling or editorial-style photography.
Developing Your Colour Grading Style
Developing a personal style in colour grading takes time, experimentation, and study. As you gain confidence with split toning, start analysing your preferences. What colour combinations do you return to? Which blending modes or masks feel intuitive? What moods are you naturally drawn to create?
Review the work of other photographers and filmmakers whose styles you admire. Try replicating their colour grading as an exercise, then adjust it to suit your vision. This helps build your visual vocabulary and helps you understand how colour influences storytelling.
Save your favourite combinations as presets or templates. In Photoshop Elements, while there’s no formal preset system for adjustment layers, you can save a PSD file with all your favourite colour grading layers intact. Open it when you want to apply that style to new images by copying the adjustment layers into new projects.
Over time, your grading choices will become part of your photographic identity. Whether your work leans toward warm, nostalgic tones or high-contrast cinematic vibes, your split toning will reflect your artistic intent.
Using Split Toning in a Series or Portfolio
When working on a photography series or building a portfolio, consistency is key. Split toning can help unify different images by establishing a common visual language across varying subjects and scenes.
Create a master grading file that contains your preferred tone curve, colour balance, and gradient map. Apply these adjustments across multiple images, modifying only where necessary to accommodate differences in exposure or lighting.
Consistency in grading can enhance the professional appearance of your work and give your audience a stronger connection to your visual style. This is particularly important for storytelling projects, editorials, or social media branding where cohesion matters.
Try grading entire sets with the same toning concept in mind. For example, a winter photo series might use cool shadows and soft highlights, while a travel story set in a tropical environment could benefit from warm, vibrant split tones.
Common Pitfalls in Advanced Colour Grading
As you explore advanced split toning, it's important to avoid a few common mistakes that can weaken your results.
One issue is over-processing. Adding too many adjustment layers, increasing saturation too high, or over-sharpening after grading can make the image look unnatural. Always toggle your layers on and off to check progress and revert when needed.
Another problem is neglecting natural colour balance. While creative grading allows for stylisation, it shouldn’t come at the cost of losing connection to the image’s context. Skin tones, skies, and natural environments should retain some realism unless the creative intent supports extreme stylisation.
Avoid flattening the tonal range too early. Split toning works best with strong shadows and highlights. If you apply toning to a flat or low-contrast image, the colours may appear washed out. Always prepare your image with good exposure and contrast before applying colour grades.
Lastly, be careful with selective edits. Poor masking or abrupt transitions can draw unwanted attention. Use feathered brushes and gradual changes to keep the image seamless and cohesive.
Applying Split Toning Across Different Genres of Photography
Split toning can dramatically affect how your images are interpreted, and it becomes even more powerful when tailored to specific photography genres. Each genre has its own visual language and mood expectations, which colour grading can either enhance or creatively subvert.
In portrait photography, split toning helps emphasise emotion and subject depth. Using cool tones in the shadows and warm tones in the highlights can create a moody yet flattering atmosphere. It’s particularly effective in natural light portraits, where sunlight hitting the subject can be enhanced with warm tones, while cooler shadows provide balance and contrast.
In landscape photography, split toning can be used to elevate natural light effects. For sunrise and sunset scenes, you might apply magenta or orange to the highlights and cool blue or teal tones to the shadows. This can make the lighting feel more dramatic, even if the original capture was subtle.
Street photography benefits from more stylised or cinematic colour grading. Split toning with teal shadows and amber highlights can give urban scenes a storytelling flair, adding depth and atmosphere to everyday environments.
Still life and product photography often use more controlled and minimal colour grading, but split toning can still introduce a desired mood—cooler tones for sleek, modern aesthetics or warmer tones for organic, vintage looks.
Understanding the visual expectations and emotional tone of each genre helps guide your split toning choices for stronger, more purposeful storytelling.
Telling a Visual Story Through Colour Grading
Colour grading, and specifically split toning, is not just about making an image look better—it’s about reinforcing the narrative. Every image tells a story, and your colour choices influence how that story is received.
For example, if your photo is meant to communicate isolation or melancholy, applying cool tones like blue or green to the shadows can underscore that feeling. If your goal is to portray warmth, joy, or nostalgia, using golden or amber highlights helps support that emotional message.
In a single image, this can enhance a moment. In a series, it creates continuity and a sense of visual storytelling that flows from one frame to the next. Consider how films use colour grading to set the tone of scenes—this same method can be applied to your photo projects.
Before you apply any grading, ask yourself: What do I want the viewer to feel? Let that answer guide your colour choices. You might even sketch out a mood board of colour palettes to inform your grading process.
Great storytellers in photography don’t just capture a scene—they enhance and shape it using visual cues like light, composition, and colour. Split toning is one of the most powerful tools available for crafting that narrative arc.
Creating and Reusing Custom Grading Templates
If you’ve developed a split toning setup that you love, it’s efficient to save it as a reusable template. While Photoshop Elements doesn’t have a preset system like Lightroom, you can still create your grading files and apply them across multiple images.
Start by saving your fully edited PSD file with all adjustment layers intact. Name the file descriptively, such as “Cinematic Split Tone - Blue/Gold.” When working on a new image, open this file, select the adjustment layers, and drag them into your new image document.
This method allows you to maintain consistency across projects and quickly apply a base look that can then be customised to suit the specific image.
To take this further, you can create several template PSD files, each representing a different mood or grading style—cinematic, vintage, noir, dreamy, high-contrast, and more. Over time, this library of custom grading setups becomes a valuable part of your workflow.
Always remember to fine-tune the adjustments for each new image. Lighting, subject matter, and colour balance vary between photos, so a grading setup might require small tweaks to look its best.
Balancing Realism and Stylisation in Split Toning
One of the challenges in dramatic colour grading is maintaining a balance between creative stylisation and visual realism. While pushing colour for artistic purposes is encouraged, it’s important not to lose the natural qualities of your subject, especially in portraits or documentary-style photography.
To strike this balance, frequently toggle your adjustment layers on and off to compare the original image with the graded version. Ask yourself if the edit enhances the scene without distracting from it. In some cases, adding a subtle warming or cooling filter instead of a full gradient map can achieve a more natural result.
You can also use layer opacity to dial back strong effects. Reducing an adjustment layer’s opacity from 100% to 30–50% often results in a more believable and elegant grade.
Additionally, be mindful of how your grading affects key visual elements such as skin tones, natural light, and colour integrity of objects. Over-grading skin can lead to unnatural hues. In those cases, masking out the skin or using a separate correction layer helps maintain a balanced tone. Stylisation should enhance the story, not overwhelm it. Split toning is a powerful tool, but like all creative techniques, its effectiveness depends on moderation and intent.
Adapting Colour Grading for Print and Digital Use
How your image appears on screen versus in print can differ significantly. If your work is destined for printing, make sure your colour grading translates accurately to physical media.
Start by calibrating your monitor so that the colours you see are consistent with how they’ll appear on paper. Use soft proofing techniques or simulated print previews when available to estimate how certain tones will render in CMYK versus RGB.
Images graded with deep blues or saturated reds may shift in print due to the limitations of ink and paper. If your split toning includes subtle transitions, make sure there’s enough tonal separation to remain visible when printed.
For online display, consider exporting at different resolutions and viewing the images on various devices. Screens with different colour profiles can dramatically alter how your split-toned image is perceived.
Use sRGB colour space for web sharing to maintain consistency, and save high-resolution versions in Adobe RGB or TIFF format for archival or print submissions. Always embed the correct colour profile when saving.
Being aware of the end medium ensures your grading decisions look intentional and professional, whether viewed on a phone screen or hanging on a gallery wall.
Reviewing and Iterating on Your Edits
Colour grading, especially dramatic split toning, benefits from review and revision. Sometimes, the emotional or visual impact of an edit becomes clearer only after some distance from the project.
Once you’ve completed your grading, step away for a while—an hour, a day, or even a few days—then return to the image with fresh eyes. Evaluate whether the mood feels authentic and whether the colours are contributing to or detracting from the image’s message.
Consider inviting feedback from trusted peers or mentors. Often, others can spot colour imbalances or emotional inconsistencies that may go unnoticed in a solo workflow.
Don’t hesitate to make changes. Photography is iterative by nature, and your split toning skills will improve as you rework images and try different approaches. Saving multiple versions of your file can help you track your evolution and compare different versions side by side.
Over time, this reflective process will sharpen your instincts and build a strong sense of visual storytelling through colour.
Final Workflow Tips for Dramatic Colour Grading
Establishing a smooth and repeatable workflow makes the colour grading process more enjoyable and effective. Begin with a structured approach:
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Prepare the image: correct exposure, crop, straighten, and fix any distractions or blemishes.
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Apply foundational tone adjustments: Levels, Curves, or Brightness/Contrast to enhance dynamic range.
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Add colour adjustments: start with Colour Balance or Gradient Maps to define your split tone.
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Refine: use Hue/Saturation, selective masking, and blending modes to finesse the effect.
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Review and iterate: take breaks, re-evaluate, and test for different display formats.
Organise your layer stack logically. Group similar layers, name them clearly, and use folders for major tonal blocks (like shadows, highlights, mood effects). This keeps your file tidy and helps you troubleshoot easily.
Create a naming convention for saved files that reflects their mood or grading style. For example, “Winter_Tone_BlueOrange_v2.psd” makes it easier to track variations over time.
A clean, thoughtful workflow frees you up to focus on creativity and makes dramatic colour grading feel like a purposeful art form rather than a technical chore.
Wrapping Up: The Power of Split Toning in Your Artistic Toolkit
Mastering split toning in Photoshop Elements gives you the power to control emotion, atmosphere, and visual style with remarkable precision. What starts as a simple adjustment of shadow and highlight colour evolves into a deeply creative practice that touches every part of the photographic process—from concept and capture to editing and presentation.
Whether you’re aiming for cinematic drama, moody storytelling, or nostalgic softness, split toning provides the flexibility to adapt your images to your vision. With a strong understanding of tools like Gradient Maps, Colour Balance, Hue/Saturation, and blending modes, and with the support of a clear workflow, you can produce stunning results with confidence.
As with any art, experimentation and iteration are key. Try new combinations, analyse your favourite visual styles, and push your creative boundaries. In time, you’ll not only improve your technical skills but also find your voice as a visual storyteller.
This concludes the four-part series on mastering dramatic colour grading with split toning in Photoshop Elements. You now have the knowledge, tools, and strategy to explore this dynamic technique across your photography projects.
Final Thoughts
Dramatic colour grading using split toning in Photoshop Elements is more than just a stylistic touch—it's a form of visual communication. It gives photographers the power to influence how their work feels, how stories are interpreted, and how viewers emotionally connect with an image. From subtle atmospheric shifts to bold cinematic statements, split toning is a creative force that transforms ordinary scenes into compelling works of visual art.
Throughout this series, you’ve explored how to build a strong foundation with adjustment layers, develop layered edits using blending modes and masks, and refine your vision through genre-specific techniques and storytelling intent. You’ve also learned the importance of restraint, precision, and consistency when applying these tools, especially when aiming for a professional finish.
Perhaps the most important lesson is that impactful colour grading doesn’t come from presets or shortcuts—it comes from understanding how colour influences mood and knowing how to apply that knowledge purposefully. When you start seeing split toning not as a technical feature but as an expressive brush in your artistic toolkit, your photography will evolve in meaningful ways.
Keep experimenting, reviewing your edits critically, and refining your style over time. Let your colour grading support the story you're telling, not distract from it. And always stay curious—there’s no limit to the creative potential that thoughtful colour work can unlock.
With consistent practice and intentional choices, split toning can become a signature part of your photographic voice.