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Be Creative:Liven up your Photoswith Special Effects

Infrared & Negative Imageand Channel Swapping

Demonstrated Here

By Pat Samuel

August 2008

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Swap Color Channels

Original Photo from Digital Camera

Here I Swapped theRed and Green Channels

See notes at end for how to

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Custom Channel Swapping

Green tail lights with green foliage maintained – Used Paint Shop Pro to change Red Channel Output to Green = 100, left others at default

May be too garish for some, but an unusual effect. I swapped the Red & Green Channels, but in Blue Output Channel, set all 3 colors to Zero. See notes at end.

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Compare “Infrared” vs Ordinary Black & White

A Black & White version (Grayscale) of original color photo

Here I created an Infrared effect (note white foliage) See notes at end for how to

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Change Colors with Negative Image

Here I applied the “Negative Image” command to original color photo.

See Slides at End for How To

After creating the “Negative Image” above, I converted to Grayscale

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Negative Image – More Color Choices These Pics created using Microsoft Photo Editor where have many choices with Negative Image command.

Top Left created by using Red & Green Channels only.

Bottom Right created by using the Blue Channel only.

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Sweet Puppy changes to

Fierce Bulldog - using

Negative Image

Top Left – Original color photo

Bottom Right – Created using Negative Image Command

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Infrared with People PicsOriginal Photo Infrared Version

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Hide Your Sins with Negative Image

Original Photo

Beautiful Tulips, but gardener never did her Fall cleanup (see brown foliage on left).

All the mess is rendered invisible on next slide using Negative Image.

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Apply Negative Image – No Mess Visible

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How To: Simple Channel Swapping – Slide #2

Many simple, free photo-editing apps like XnView and IrfanView allow you to swap channels with just a click of the mouse.

This screenshot illustrates XnView. RGB (Red Green Blue) is the normal channel shorthand for an ordinary color photo. If you want to swap the Red & Green channels as I did on the auto pic in Slide #2, just click RGB > GRB.

If you click RGB > BGR (swapping the red & blue channels), the result will be Blue tail lights, Orange sky & Green foliage.

See next slide for Channel Swapping in more sophisticated photo editing programs & some understanding of what the one-click process in XnView is doing.

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How To: Customized Channel Swapping

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Customized Channel Swapping requires a Photo Editing program sophisticated enough to have a Channel Mixer function . I used PaintShop Pro , choosing Adjust > Color Balance > Channel Mixer. Near top of dialog box, you can select either the Red, Green or Blue Output. See screen shots next slide.

In a normal color photo:In the Red Output, Red=100, others = ZeroIn the Green Output, Green=100, others = ZeroIn the Blue Output, Blue = 100, others = Zero

For the picture in upper left of Slide #3, where tail light appears Green instead of Red, I changed only the Red Output Channel, by making the following settings:

In the Red Output, Green=100, others = Zero In the Green Output, Green=100, others = ZeroIn the Blue Output, Blue = 100, others = Zero

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Channel Mixer Settings – Normal Color Photo

Default Color Channel Settings in PaintShop Pro

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How To: Custom Channel Swapping – Slide #3

To create the color effects in the photo on the bottom right of Slide #3, I used PaintShop Pro with the following settings in the Color Mixer:

In the Red Output, Green=100, others = Zero In the Green Output, Red=100, others = Zero In the Blue Output, all colors including Blue set to Zero.

To create the RGB > GRB photo in bottom right of Slide #2 in PaintShop Pro, use the following settings in the Channel Mixer:

In the Red Output, Green=100, others = Zero In the Green Output, Red=100, others = Zero In the Blue Output, Blue=100, others = Zero.

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How To: Create a B/W Infrared Image

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Although purists use specially adapted Infrared Cameras, you can create an Infrared effect using software only. You will need a Photo Editing app that includes a Channel Mixer function.** I used PaintShop Pro where I chose Adjust > Color Balance > Channel Mixer. Be sure to check the Monochrome only box at bottom. Then set Red=100, Green=200, and Blue = Minus 200. See Screen Shot on next slide.

The fake Infrared images on Slide #4 and #8 were made with the above settings. Both illustrate the characteristic white foliage of an Infrared photo (also known as the “Woods effect”).

You can experiment with different settings – one photographer recommends setting Red to Minus 20, Green to 200, and Blue to Minus 80 and then applying a Gaussian blur to increase the Woods effect.

**Other software with a Channel Mixer function : Adobe Photoshop ($600), Adobe Photo Elements ($100), and the free GIMP.

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Channel Mixer Settings for Infrared Pics

Use these settings in the Channel Mixer to produce a black & white (grayscale) Infrared type image.

Red = 100 Green = 200 Blue = ‑200

Be sure you check off the Monochrome box at bottom.

What Image will look like with these settings

Original Image

PaintShop Pro

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How To: Create Negative Images

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All the photo editing software I have used enables one to create a Negative Image.

In PaintShop Pro, Choose Adjust > Negative Image.In the free IrfanView, choose Image > Negative.In the free XnView, choose Image > Map > Negative.

This will generally give you an Orange Sky and foliage that is a sort of purple and/or white as is illustrated in Slide #5. If your photo has people in it, the results may be quite weird – hair turns white and blobby.

Microsoft Photo Editor gives you more choices of color combinations for your negative images. Choosing Effects > Negative pops up a dialog box allowing you to Check Off all 3 colors (resulting image will look just like the ones created in other software using Negative Image). But you can Check Off just one of the colors OR Check Off any combination of two colors. Each will result in a different effect.

See next slide for Screenshots and more info.

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Negative Image Choices in

Microsoft Photo Editor

Placing a check mark by all 3 colors in the Effects > Negative dialog box will result in the same Negative Image you get in other photo editing programs (see Slides #5 and #7).

But you can Check Off just one of the colors OR Check Off any combination of two colors. Each will result in a different effect.

In Slide #6, I created purple sky & blue house by checking off the Red & Green only.

The yellow and blue people pic in Slide #6 was created by checking off only Blue.

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More Info & Examples

At http://www.flickr.com/groups/technique/discuss/61255/ we find directions and samples of how to take a photo from a regular camera and make it look like an Infrared photo. Be sure to read the comments and follow the links for more examples.

PaintShop Pro tutorial includes varied settings for the Color Channels, use of Gaussian blur and Pantones at http://blog.georgegumpert.com/2007/05/07/photoshop-tutorial-faking-infrared-photography/

Sample infrared pictures at http://www.aspexdesign.co.uk/infrared.htm created with PaintShop Pro and use of the Clarify command.

If you want to convert your digital camera to a true Infrared camera, Lifepixel.com can do this for you. For prices, sample infrared pics, and tutorials, visit http://www.lifepixel.com

For print articles, with pictures, focusing on how to take pictures with a digital camera converted to Infrared, see Bob Krist, “My Conversion” in Outdoor Photographer, Nov. 2007 & Dan Richards, “The New Infrared Revolution” in Popular Photography, Jan. 2008.