Jump to content
You must now use your email address to sign in [click for more info] ×

38 Gradient Maps for Color Grading


smadell

Recommended Posts

Today, let’s have fun with Gradient Maps…

Gradient Maps are a great way to color grade photos, since they map dark, light, and midtone values according to a pre-defined gradient. This can easily define a “look” for photos that might otherwise be hard to accomplish.

Although I am not a user of Photoshop, our “arch rival” has a wonderful group of gradient maps called “Photographic Toning” that are specifically designed to color grade photos. Although you have to drill down through a few panels and dialog boxes to find them (and you sort of have to know they’re there in the first place) they are a truly nice addition. Also, they are easily obtained by anyone.

But, as they say, there’s the rub. Affinity Photo cannot import Photoshop gradient maps. Affinity Photo can store pre-defined gradients in the Swatches studio, but for some unknown reason the stored gradients are not available from the Gradient Map studio panel. Gradient Maps can be stored as presets, and can be chosen from the Adjustments panel, but I don’t believe they can be easily exported from one computer and brought into a different one.

So… after a long couple of days of transcription, I have created a set of Macros that apply each of the 38 Photographic Toning gradient maps. Since macros are easy to store, and to share, I am making them available for anyone who wants them.

There are actually 2 sets of Macros included - each as an easy-to-import Category from the Library panel. The first group of Macros is called “Photographic Toning Gradients” and these are named according to the gradient map they apply. Each macro creates a Gradient Map layer, applies the appropriate color values, and names the layer according to the gradient map it applied. The second set of macros is called “Photographic Toning Gradients - reduced.” This category also applies the gradient maps in a similar fashion, but then reduces the opacity of the layer to 30%. This reduces the effect of the Gradient Map, and produces a much subtler effect.

Here is an image that shows the full-strength versions of all 38 gradient maps.

5a04a43b17041_PhotographicToningGradientMaps(small).thumb.jpg.b0d0ba4265557d03420c2f5de6fc34fb.jpg

And here is a photo to which I’ve applied a full-strength gradient map, and also a reduced-strength gradient map.

5a04a44c194ef_PhotographicToningExamples.thumb.jpg.f202958f036b5b903c50a0c59e3aba07.jpg

These macro categories are included in the ZIP file attached to this post, along with a Letter sized JPG that includes samples of the gradient maps. Also included in the ZIP file is another macro category that includes one more macro. It’s called “Obama Hope Poster” and, as you might have guessed, it turns any photo into an Obama Hope-style poster. Just because…

Please enjoy them!

Photographic Toning Gradient Maps.zip

Affinity Photo 2, Affinity Publisher 2, Affinity Designer 2 (latest retail versions) - desktop & iPad
Culling - FastRawViewer; Raw Developer - Capture One Pro; Asset Management - Photo Supreme
Mac Studio with M2 Max (2023}; 64 GB RAM; macOS 13 (Ventura); Mac Studio Display - iPad Air 4th Gen; iPadOS 17

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks, folks. I hope you enjoy them.

Affinity Photo 2, Affinity Publisher 2, Affinity Designer 2 (latest retail versions) - desktop & iPad
Culling - FastRawViewer; Raw Developer - Capture One Pro; Asset Management - Photo Supreme
Mac Studio with M2 Max (2023}; 64 GB RAM; macOS 13 (Ventura); Mac Studio Display - iPad Air 4th Gen; iPadOS 17

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

I’m really glad you’re enjoying them. Have fun!

Affinity Photo 2, Affinity Publisher 2, Affinity Designer 2 (latest retail versions) - desktop & iPad
Culling - FastRawViewer; Raw Developer - Capture One Pro; Asset Management - Photo Supreme
Mac Studio with M2 Max (2023}; 64 GB RAM; macOS 13 (Ventura); Mac Studio Display - iPad Air 4th Gen; iPadOS 17

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 months later...
  • 2 months later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Just learning to use Gradient Maps for Toning. So I found these Toning Maps today and downloaded them. After I unzipped them, I went to Affinity Photo 1.6.7 and tried to download them from the MACRO tab, just like I had in other macros. However, both of the macros in the zip file were blurred out, so I couldn't download them. Any suggestions? I have an older (mid-2009) Mac Book Pro running macOS 10.11.6 (El Cap). What may I be doing wrong? Everyone else seems to have no problem.

Wei

Here's what I unzipped:

Photographic Toning Gradients - reduced.afmacros

Photographic Toning Gradients.afmacros

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You need to open them in the Library tab, not the Macro tab.

Acer XC-895 : Core i5-10400 Hexa-core 2.90 GHz :  32GB RAM : Intel UHD Graphics 630 : Windows 10 Home
Affinity Publisher 2 : Affinity Photo 2 : Affinity Designer 2 : (latest release versions) on desktop and iPad

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 months later...
  • 1 month later...
On 11/10/2017 at 7:56 AM, smadell said:

Today, let’s have fun with Gradient Maps…

Gradient Maps are a great way to color grade photos, since they map dark, light, and midtone values according to a pre-defined gradient. This can easily define a “look” for photos that might otherwise be hard to accomplish.

Although I am not a user of Photoshop, our “arch rival” has a wonderful group of gradient maps called “Photographic Toning” that are specifically designed to color grade photos. Although you have to drill down through a few panels and dialog boxes to find them (and you sort of have to know they’re there in the first place) they are a truly nice addition. Also, they are easily obtained by anyone.

But, as they say, there’s the rub. Affinity Photo cannot import Photoshop gradient maps. Affinity Photo can store pre-defined gradients in the Swatches studio, but for some unknown reason the stored gradients are not available from the Gradient Map studio panel. Gradient Maps can be stored as presets, and can be chosen from the Adjustments panel, but I don’t believe they can be easily exported from one computer and brought into a different one.

So… after a long couple of days of transcription, I have created a set of Macros that apply each of the 38 Photographic Toning gradient maps. Since macros are easy to store, and to share, I am making them available for anyone who wants them.

There are actually 2 sets of Macros included - each as an easy-to-import Category from the Library panel. The first group of Macros is called “Photographic Toning Gradients” and these are named according to the gradient map they apply. Each macro creates a Gradient Map layer, applies the appropriate color values, and names the layer according to the gradient map it applied. The second set of macros is called “Photographic Toning Gradients - reduced.” This category also applies the gradient maps in a similar fashion, but then reduces the opacity of the layer to 30%. This reduces the effect of the Gradient Map, and produces a much subtler effect.

Here is an image that shows the full-strength versions of all 38 gradient maps.

5a04a43b17041_PhotographicToningGradientMaps(small).thumb.jpg.b0d0ba4265557d03420c2f5de6fc34fb.jpg

And here is a photo to which I’ve applied a full-strength gradient map, and also a reduced-strength gradient map.

5a04a44c194ef_PhotographicToningExamples.thumb.jpg.f202958f036b5b903c50a0c59e3aba07.jpg

These macro categories are included in the ZIP file attached to this post, along with a Letter sized JPG that includes samples of the gradient maps. Also included in the ZIP file is another macro category that includes one more macro. It’s called “Obama Hope Poster” and, as you might have guessed, it turns any photo into an Obama Hope-style poster. Just because…

Please enjoy them!

Photographic Toning Gradient Maps.zip

Thanks, they will be useful.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Thank you for putting the time and effort in to convert these gradient maps. Much appreciated.

High-End Photographic Prints

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...
  • 4 months later...
  • 3 months later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Guidelines | We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.