Sepia equivalents

Talk about Pixelmator Pro, share tips & tricks, tutorials, and other resources.
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2019-06-26 13:23:39

I have recently changed from the ordinary Pixelmator to Pixelmator Pro. I previously used the 'sepia' adjustment at 10% to slightly warm up B/W images (basically to make them look as if they were printed on slightly warm toned paper). Does anyone know what the equivalent amount of sepianess is in Pixelmator Pro? It looks like it's closer to 20% than 10%, but I'm not sure.

If there was some variant of the eyedropper which showed the exact pixel values at a point I could probably work it out, but I could not find that: perhaps it's there somewhere?

Thanks
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2019-06-28 09:15:16

If you open up the Colors window, click the second tab, and choose RGB sliders from the pop-up menu, you'll be able to pick colors using the eyedropper in that window and see RGB and hex codes for each color.

(To me, it looks like maybe closer to 30% even in some images, but it might also depend on the image. The shades of sepia are also a little bit different — I could try to find out the exact color codes if necessary).
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2019-06-28 09:49:37

Thanks, now I can see the actual colour values I can at least make a start.
by Andrius 2019-06-28 09:24:19 (To me, it looks like maybe closer to 30% even in some images, but it might also depend on the image. The shades of sepia are also a little bit different — I could try to find out the exact color codes if necessary).
Yes, it looks like 30% is closer, but in fact I think that nothing I can do with the new sepia adjustment really precisely replicates what the old one did, as the amount of sepianess added clearly varies based on brightness: there's more skew in the mid-tones and less in the highlights and shadows (which is right: that's what happens with actual sepia toner), but the actual amounts are slightly different I think.

I think 30% is close enough that my new images will not look noticably different than the old ones though: I only see the difference if I try toning the same image and then compare them side-by-side.
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2019-06-28 10:11:16

You can use Color Monochrome adjustment to pick your own shade of Sepia.

Sepia is basically Color Monochrome with fixed color sRGB(120.0 / 255, 90.0 / 255, 40.0 / 255).
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2019-06-28 10:20:28

by tfb 2019-06-28 06:50:34 Yes, it looks like 30% is closer, but in fact I think that nothing I can do with the new sepia adjustment really precisely replicates what the old one did, as the amount of sepianess added clearly varies based on brightness: there's more skew in the mid-tones and less in the highlights and shadows (which is right: that's what happens with actual sepia toner), but the actual amounts are slightly different I think.

I think 30% is close enough that my new images will not look noticably different than the old ones though: I only see the difference if I try toning the same image and then compare them side-by-side.
Just had a revelation — the old Sepia effect is (almost certainly) based on Core Image, whereas this one is our own custom creation that uses our special color model. However, lucky for you, there's a Sepia Tone effect that, I believe is the same as the Sepia effect in the original Pixelmator. A quick check has given me identical (or close to identical) results. You'll find it by choosing Format > Effects > Color Adjustments > Sepia Tone (or by adding it using the Effects tool itself).
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2019-06-28 10:31:42

Thanks! I've now got three presets: one colour one which does 30% sepia, one which does 10% of the colour monochrome with the appropriate colour, and one which uses the old sepia effect. I can now spend some time mucking around and seeing which one looks closest (I think, in fact, they all look fine, possibly with some slight adjustment down as it's easy to make them too strong). They don't really need to be identical to the old preset, they just need to be close enough that new images don't look jarringly different: I just need to make my B/W images look as if they were printed on the paper I use for B/W prints.

Thanks for the help, this has been really useful (especially learning about the colour tool).
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2019-06-28 10:39:01

Wahey, glad to hear that helped!
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2019-07-13 16:38:00

Just a followup to this: I've just converted a bunch of photographs using the old sepia effect at 10%, and they look absolutely fine. I also am finding Pixelmator Pro nicer to work with than Pixelmator was, so that's good as well. It remains stupidly good value!
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2019-07-17 08:51:29

by tfb 2019-07-13 16:38:00 It remains stupidly good value!
:smile: Agreed!