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HOW TO GET A DUOTONE EFFECT TO YOUR PHOTOGRAPHS WITHOUT PSP OR PHOTOSHOP
Have you ever come across a really nice web site that had cool, snazzy photographs in one color? Believe it or not, you don't need the fanciest, most expensive graphic editing programs to recreate this effect. All you need is a high quality photograph and Ultimate FX, a freeware graphics editor.
 

.Tutorial using Ultimate FX
  1. Open in Ultimate FX the photograph (>>)  you would like to make duotone.

    2.  
  2. Go to Image> Color> Grayscale. This will reduce your picture to black and white.

    3.  
  3. Now go to Image> Color> Minimum of Colors

    4.  
  4. When you open this feature, it will be set to a default blue color. Click on the little box to select the color needed. 

    5.  
  5. When you're happy with your color selection, it is time to give your picture a nice juicy, saturated, and contrasty look. Do this by selecting from the drop-down menu in the dialogue box either overlay or hard light.

    6.  
  6. Click "OK" when you like what you see and save.


If you don't get smooth results, you can try this:

     
  1. Turn your picture into grayscale as in step #2.

    2.  
  2. Go to Image>Color>Mixed Colors

    3.  
  3. Play with the sliders to get the colors you need, then select overlay or hard light. Save when you're happy with the results.
FINAL NOTE: If you plan to do a lot of images in a particular color, remember to save the settings for the first image that you do so that you can recreate it for future pictures. 

Also, depending on the quality of the picture, the results may vary from exceptional to mediocre, so you will have to tweak settings a bit for certain pictures in order to make it work.
 

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