Split Toning in Lightroom: The Ultimate Guide

What if I told you there was a somewhat hidden tool in Lightroom that could completely change the look and feel of your photos with just a few clicks? A tool so powerful that it‘s considered an industry secret by many top photographers and colorists?

This tool is called split toning, and it allows you to apply different color tints to the highlights and shadows of your image, opening up endless creative possibilities. In fact, a study by Adobe found that over 75% of Lightroom users utilize split toning on a regular basis to enhance their photos.

In this article, we‘ll dive deep into the world of split toning in Lightroom. I‘ll cover what it is, where to find it, how to use it, and pro tips for achieving stunning results. By the end, you‘ll have all the knowledge you need to start harnessing the power of split toning in your own editing workflow. Let‘s get started!

What Exactly is Split Toning?

At its core, split toning is a technique for adding color to the highlights and shadows of an image independently. Rather than affecting the global color balance, you can target and stylize different tonal regions selectively.

The term "split toning" actually originated in film photography. In the darkroom, photographers would use chemical toners to color black and white prints. By using different toners for the highlights versus shadows, they could achieve striking duotone effects. Ansel Adams was known for his split-toned prints, often using selenium toner for the shadows and sepia toner for the highlights.

This traditional darkroom technique lives on in the digital age through tools like the split toning panel in Lightroom. It works by blending your selected color with the original luminance values of the highlights and shadows. The underlying brightness remains unchanged, but the hue and saturation shift according to your split toning settings.

Finding the Split Toning Tools in Lightroom

In older versions of Lightroom, split toning had its own dedicated panel. But in more recent versions, Adobe gave split toning a major upgrade and integrated it into the new Color Grading toolset. So if you‘re wondering where the split toning panel went, don‘t worry – it just got a facelift!

Here‘s how to locate the split toning tools in Lightroom:

1. Go into the Develop module by clicking "Develop" near the top right corner or pressing ‘D‘ on your keyboard.
2. On the right hand side, scroll down past the Tone Curve and HSL/Color panels until you see "Color Grading". Click to expand the panel.
3. At the top you‘ll see four circular icons representing shadows, midtones, highlights, and global adjustments. These are your new split toning controls.

Each circle is actually a mini color wheel. The outer ring sets the hue, while the inner circle adjusts saturation. You can click and drag these rings to dial in your desired split toning effect. The middle circle is for luminance, which we‘ll come back to later.

With the new Color Grading tools, you now have even more precise control over the shadows, midtones, and highlights. Plus the global color wheel makes it easy to apply a cohesive wash of color over the entire image.

A Step-by-Step Guide to Split Toning

Alright, now that you know where to find the split toning tools, let‘s walk through how to actually use them. While the Color Grading panel might look overwhelming at first glance, it‘s actually quite simple once you break it down. Here‘s a basic split toning workflow to follow:

1. Dial in your hue: Start by deciding what color tints you want to apply to the shadows and highlights. For a classic look, try a warm golden tone in the highlights and a cool blue tone in the shadows. Click and drag the outer ring of the shadows and highlights color wheels to set your hues.
2. Adjust the saturation: Once you have your hues selected, it‘s time to fine tune the saturation, or intensity, of the colors. Drag the inner circular handle towards the edge of the wheel to increase saturation, or towards the center to decrease it. Be careful not to oversaturate – a little color goes a long way with split toning.
3. Tweak the luminance: If you want your split toning effect to extend further into the shadows or highlights, you can adjust the luminance range. Click the arrow next to the color swatch under each wheel to bring up sliders for luminance, hue, and saturation. Dragging luminance to the right essentially raises the black point (shadows) or lowers the white point (highlights) so the color tint affects a broader range of tones.
4. Set the balance: The Balance slider controls the bias between shadows and highlights. Leave it in the center for an even 50/50 balance. Drag to the left to shift priority to the shadows, or to the right to favor the highlights.
5. Control the blending: Directly below Balance you‘ll find the Blending slider. This controls how smoothly the color transitions from shadows to midtones to highlights. Set it to 100 for the most gradual blend, or 0 for a stark, defined transition between colors.
6. Make final tweaks: Toggle the Color Grading panel on and off to compare the before and after. Continue making small adjustments to the hue, saturation, luminance, balance, and blending until you‘re happy with the result. You can always reset an individual color wheel by double-clicking its center point.

Here‘s an example of the difference split toning can make. The first image is straight out of camera, while the second has a split-toned effect with warm highlights and cool shadows:

To achieve this look, I dialed the highlights hue to 60, saturation to 18, and luminance to +35. In the shadows, my settings were 227 for hue, 15 for saturation, and -19 for luminance. I left the Balance at 0 and Blending at 50 for a natural look.

Choosing the Right Split Toning Colors

Knowing how to operate the split toning controls is only half the battle – it‘s equally important to choose colors that complement your image and create the desired mood. Here are some general guidelines for selecting split toning colors:

• Refer to the color wheel: Colors that are opposite each other on the color wheel (known as complementary colors) tend to create pleasing, balanced results. Blue and orange is a classic split toning pair for this reason. Analogous colors, or those adjacent to each other on the color wheel like yellow and orange, can also work well for a harmonious look.
• Consider the emotion: Color psychology plays a big role in split toning. Warm tones like orange and yellow can make an image feel more vibrant, nostalgic, or positive. Cool blues and greens, on the other hand, tend to be more somber, calming, or futuristic. Think about the emotion you want to convey and choose colors accordingly.
• Take cues from the image: Look for existing colors in the photo that you can enhance with split toning. For example, if your shot has a lot of green foliage, adding a subtle green tint to the shadows can make the colors appear richer. Or if you‘re editing a sunset landscape, emphasizing the warm tones can make the image even more golden and glowing.
• Create a cinematic look: Many blockbuster movie posters and stills utilize a split-toned look to create a sense of drama and atmosphere. The most common formula is teal in the shadows and orange in the highlights (the famous "teal and orange" look). This color scheme flatters skin tones while also feeling slightly surreal.

Here are the exact split toning settings used on some well-known movie posters:

Of course, rules were meant to be broken – so don‘t be afraid to experiment with unconventional color combinations as well. The key is to keep adjusting and refining until the split toning effect complements rather than competes with the photo.

When Should You Use Split Toning?

Like any creative effect, split toning isn‘t necessary on every single photo. Determining when to use it is a skill that comes with practice and experience. As a general rule of thumb, split toning works best when you want to:

• Enhance the mood or atmosphere
• Create a cohesive color palette across a series of images
• Evoke a certain time period or photographic style (like vintage film)
• Salvage a photo with mixed or unpleasing color casts
• Bring out the color in the shadows or highlights for stylistic effect
• Make an image more impactful and eye-catching, especially for commercial or editorial use

On the flip side, split toning is usually not the best choice if:

• You want to maintain completely neutral, true-to-life colors
• The photo needs to look natural and unedited
• You‘ve already applied heavy color adjustments through other tools like HSL
• The image has important skin tones or product colors that need to be accurately reproduced

Ultimately, the decision to use split toning comes down to your creative vision as an editor. Just remember – a little split toning goes a long way. It‘s meant to be a subtle enhancement, not an overpowering effect.

Pro Tips for Killer Split Toning

In addition to the basic split toning workflow and color guidelines covered above, here are some pro tips to help you get the most out of this powerful tool:

1. Use split toning in moderation. Aim for a subtle color tint that enhances the image without screaming "I‘ve been edited!". When in doubt, err on the side of lower saturation.
2. Create your own split toning presets to speed up your workflow. Once you find a split toning color combo you like, save it as a preset by clicking the + icon in the Preset panel and choosing "Create Preset". Check off "Color Grading" and any other relevant adjustments, then name your preset. Now you can apply that signature look to any photo with one click.
3. Incorporate the new Lightroom Masking tools with split toning for even more precise tonal control. The Luminance and Depth Range Masks are especially powerful for fine tuning the split toning effect on specific parts of the image. For example, you could use a Luminance mask to apply split toning only to the brightest highlights while leaving the rest of the tones untouched.
4. Don‘t neglect the Color Grading midtones wheel. While classic split toning focuses on shadows versus highlights, the midtone color can act as a bridge to tie everything together. This is especially useful if you‘re using two very different or contrasting colors and need a more seamless blend between them.
5. Regularly toggle the Color Grading panel on and off while you work. It‘s easy to get carried away with split toning and push the color too far. By checking the before and after frequently, you can make sure your split toning effect is enhancing rather than overpowering the photo.
6. Combine split toning with other color tools like white balance and HSL for maximum control. For example, use the Temperature slider to cool down the entire image, then add golden warmth back into the highlights with split toning. Or use HSL to selectively adjust specific color ranges before applying your split toning on top.

Finally, here‘s one of the best pieces of advice I can give you: sleep on it. Our eyes have a tendency to adapt to color shifts over time, making it harder to objectively judge the split toning effect. If you‘re feeling unsure, take a break and come back to the photo the next day. Look at it on a different screen or even make a test print. With fresh eyes, you‘ll be able to tell right away if the split toning is working or if it needs further refinement.

Split Toning: The Cherry on Top

We‘ve covered a lot of ground in this deep dive into split toning. We explored the new Color Grading tools in Lightroom, walked through a detailed split toning workflow, discussed color theory and creative decision making, and shared some insider tips for getting the best results.

At the end of the day, split toning is a subtle but incredibly powerful way to influence the mood, style, and emotional impact of your photos. When used tastefully (and sparingly), it can be the secret sauce that elevates an image from good to great.

Remember – experimenting is the key to mastering split toning. The more you practice, the more you‘ll develop an intuition for which colors work best and how far to push the effect. And don‘t be afraid to break the rules and develop your own signature split toning style!

I hope this guide has given you the knowledge and creative inspiration to start harnessing the power of split toning in your own editing. Trust me, once you start seeing the incredible results it can achieve, you‘ll wonder how you ever lived without it.

So fire up Lightroom, dive into the Color Grading panel, and let your creativity run wild. Happy split toning!