IR editing

lucky_13

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Billy
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Hey is it possible to convert a standard raw image to IR using lightroom or photoshop?
 
Not true infrared but you can get some good ir like effects, are you talking black and white or colour?
 
I've written tutorials for both colour and B&W.. let me know which and I'll dig them out.

As above.. you can't make a genuine IR image from a regular RAW file, no. You can simulate it... but it's pretty crap compared to the real thing.
 
I've written tutorials for both colour and B&W.. let me know which and I'll dig them out.

As above.. you can't make a genuine IR image from a regular RAW file, no. You can simulate it... but it's pretty crap compared to the real thing.

I can understand it's not going to be as good as the real thing, I was just thinking to create some sort of recreation of it as an experiment and see where it takes me :-)
 
B&W Infra Red Effects
This technique will allow you to re-create the effects of real black and white infra red (shown below).

RvOK2D0.jpg



To get the best effect, use an image that has lots of green leaves, vegetation, trees etc.

Load up a suitable image in Photoshop.

Once loaded, go to the layers palette and add a channel mixer
adjustment layer (shown below)

EiwzAUu.jpg


The channel mixer dialog box will now appear. Set it as shown below.

NPQ1dSQ.jpg


Remember to tick the monochrome box in the bottom left corner.


There is a preset for Black and White IR film in the “preset” menu at the top, and it will set it using these exact values, but doing it manually will help you learn how to use the channel mixer.

A good rule of thumb when using the channel mixer is to never have the RGB values totalling more than 100. In fact PS will warn you if you exceed this value. This will help retain detail in both shadows and highlights.

If setting manually, or using an older version of Photoshop, set output channel to grey, Red to -70, green to +200 and blue to -30. If the image is too light or dark, you can adjust the constant slider to compensate.

Once the channel mixer is set like above, Press OK and go back to your layers palette and select the background layer (the picture).

Once the background layer is selected, click the click the channels
palette and select the green channel.


5kpp41k.jpg


With the green channel selected, choose Gaussian Blur from the filters menu. (filters>blur>gaussian blur) Select a value of around 4 pixels.

3T6il9H.jpg


Click OK to finalise the blur filter. You should now have an image that looks like the one below.
 
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vCpavyw.jpg


We now need to fade back the blur effect by using the fade command from the edit menu.(see image below).

HdGQ7sH.jpg


Select a value of fade around 20 to 30 %

U1jYE36.jpg


Once OK has been clicked, then select the RGB channel from the
channels palette.


sgac5Lx.jpg


You should now have a picture that simulates B&W Infra Red film like below.

YdGM6qy.jpg


End.
 
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Colour Infra Red Film Effects.

This technique simulates the effect of Kodak colour infra red film.
Foliage tends to go red/magenta on this emulsion. Below is a shot on REAL infra red film.

QXF4PJD.jpg


This can be simulated well on a similar kind of colour image that again contains leaves, trees etc.


The first thing to do is convert the image into CMYK. This technique
will not work in RGB. (image > mode > CMYK Color)


Once in CMYK, we need to copy colour information from one channel to another. Select the Channels palette, and then select the Yellow channel.

Press command +A (ctrl+a on a PC) to select the whole image for the yellow channel. Copy that channel by pressing command+C (or use edit/copy). We then paste this into the magenta channel by selecting that channel and then pressing command + V to paste it into the magenta layer.

Then select the CMYK channel.
The image should now start to look like a colour IR shot. We still need to tweak the image slightly using the channels mixer.

gtlZ70W.jpg


Select the channel mixer from the layers palette window as shown above.

Once the channel mixer is open, adjust the Cyan and Yellow channels as shown below.

jnSupuO.jpg

IhZiy5r.jpg


Pay no attention to the value warning that will appear after adjusting the yellow channel. The colours are meant to be out of kilter here….We’re simulating quite a special effect.


The image should now start to look very close to a real colour infra red shot. However, if skin tones were present in the image (like the one used here) then we may have to restore skin tones by using the
history brush.



In your history state window, click on the history state where the
image was first converted to CMYK (see below).

qmjeCZR.jpg


Then we can “paint” the original skin tones back in using a history brush. The history brush is located just below the normal paintbrush in the tools palette.


The last thing to do is convert the image back to RGB before any
further editing. Doing this will flattern layers, and PS will warn you
about this. To avoid the dialog, flatten the image first, then convert
back to RGB.

Finally, do a curves adjustment later if any excess yellow still exists.

You should now have an image like the one below.

N8eKU21.jpg


IR film tends to render people's eyes as black... this can be added yourself if required.
 
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All of the above is for Photoshop.
 
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