If you want to know the theory behind today’s tutorial, I think it’s enough to say that Duotone images are basically monochrome grayscale ones, but the use of different colours for specific tone ranges makes them really attractive, sometimes much better than their full-color version. Now, let’s learn how to turn a color picture into a Duotone one…

1. Press Ctrl+O to open an existing picture of your choice.

2. Convert this image to grayscale mode by going to Image>Mode>Grayscale and choose to discard color information when asked.

3. Now, go to Image>Mode, and select Duotone… This option was not available before, but it can be used now, that we got a grayscale image ready to use.

4. In the Duotone Options window that opens, be sure to select Duotone in the Type dropdown menu, before everything else.

5. To obtain realistic results, leave Ink 1 set to Black, and choose a different color for Ink 2. If you leave Preview checked, you can see the changes in real time and browse faster the available colors until you find something to suit your tastes.

6. Enjoy your result!

As always, it’s good to experiment with the settings, and my final advice would be to try adding some blur or noise to the final result. Depending on the image you are playing with, you can get a better result this way. Good luck!