An intermediate level Photoshop CS tutorial teaching how to use the Gradient Map color toning to get an effect of a faded colored photo. I strongly recommend that you use your own shots for learning the techniques—it is more interesting to see the effect on your shots and you can share your results with us.

Step 1. Converting the image to back and white

1. Open your colored image in Photoshop CS.
2. Click the Create New Fill or Adjustment icon   at the bottom of the Layers palette and select Channel Mixer.
3. Select the Monochrome checkbox at the bottom of the Channel Mixer window and click OK.

Step 2. Adjusting the image color

1. Click Create New Fill or Adjustment  and select Hue/Saturation.
2. In the Hue/Saturation window, Select the Colorize checkbox.
3. Drag the Hue slider to the right or left till you get the desired hue.

Step 3. Gradient Map color toning

1. Click Create New Fill or Adjustment  and select Gradient Map.
2. In the Gradient Map window, select the desired gradient or use the Gradient Editor to create a new gradient and click OK.
3. Click the mask of the Gradient Map layer and use the Gradient Tool (black to transparent gradient) to hide colorization at the corners of the image.

Download the PSD file for this tutorial.