How to add Sepia tone to a color image using Color Balance in Photoshop CS6 (Non Destructive)

Sepia tone means giving a brownish color to the black and white version of the image.It gives a somewhat antique look to the image.
There are  various ways of getting Sepia tone on an image.Here we shall discuss the method that uses Color Balance command to get sepia tone to an image .

                                                   Before                                 After
1) Opening the image in the Photoshop window

Open the colored image in Photoshop CS6 by using the menu File > Open or by using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + O .This will open a dialog box.Select the image by clicking on its name and click on Open button.

2)Converting the image to Black and White

After we see the image in Photoshop window we need to convert it to Black and White.There are various ways of converting it to Black and White.We shall select one of the Non Destructive methods of converting the color image to black and white.Let's use Hue/Saturation adjustment layer.

3) Selecting the Hue/Saturation... option

We need to open the Hue /Saturation  properties window.For this we need to select the  Hue/Saturation option.There are two ways of selecting the  Hue/Saturation option.

a) Select menu Layer > New Adjustment Layer >  Hue/Saturation...
                                       

We can see a dialog box asking the name of the new adjustment layer.By default Photoshop names it  Hue/Saturation1.If we want we can type in any other name or we can leave it as  Hue/Saturation1.Click on OK button after naming the layer.

                              

b) The other way to get the  Hue/Saturation option is by clicking on the Create new fill or adjustment layer icon (half colored circle) in the bottom of the layers panel and selecting  Hue/Saturation... option.

                                                       

4) Hue/Saturation Properties panel

a)Setting saturation value to -100
Now we can see a  Hue/Saturation Properties panel with sliders for Hue,Saturation and Lightness.We need to drag the Saturation slider towards the leftmost corner till saturation value reaches -100.We can observe that the color of the image has become black and white.
                                               

b)Exiting out of Hue/Saturation Properties panel
To hide the Hue/Saturation Properties panel click on the double pointing arrow on the top right of the properties panel.To exit out of the Hue/Saturation Properties panel click on the cross mark on the top right corner of the properties panel or click on the down pointing arrow at the top right corner of the properties panel and select close.

                                      

We can see a new layer with a thumbnail (rectangle divided into two parts and the upper half of the rectangle divided into three parts)added just above the image layer in the layers panel on the right side of the photoshop window.
                                               

The image has now turned to a Black and White image.
                                                                      

5)Selecting the Color Balance... Command 
There are two ways of selecting the  Color Balance option.

a) Select menu Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Color Balance...

We will get a Color Balance Dialog box where we can enter a name for the new color balance layer.By default Photoshop names it Color Balance 1.We can leave it as it is or type in a name .Press OK to exit out of the Color Balance dialog box.

b) The other way to get the Color Balance option is by clicking on the Create new fill or adjustment layer icon (half colored circle) in the bottom of the layers panel and selecting Color Balance option.

6)Color Balance Properties Panel

Now we can see a  Color Balance Properties panel with three sliders for different colors and a dropdown for Tone. 

a)First we have to select the Tone by clicking on the Dropdown .By default we see Midtones.So first lets adjust the midtones values.
To get a Light brownish effect we need to increase the red by dragging the first (cyan/red)slider slightly towards the red(means towards the right). Also we need to increase the yellow by dragging the third(yellow/blue) slider towards yellow(means towards the left).
While dragging the sliders we can see the change in the image .

b)If needed we can adjust the Highlights values by dragging the red and yellow sliders.For this first we have to select Highlights from the Tones dropdown menu.Then we have to add a little red and yellow to the image highlights.



















We observe that the color of the image has become somewhat brownish.
c)We have to experiment with the values a bit and see which of the values give the best look on the image.
d)To hide the Color Balance Properties panel click on the double pointing arrow on the top right of the properties panel.The Color Balance Properties panel will reduce to an icon.
To exit out of the Color Balance Properties panel click on the cross mark on the top right corner of the properties panel or click on the down pointing arrow at the top right corner of the properties panel and select close.
                                     

7)Layers Panel
We can see a new layer with a thumbnail (balance)added just above the image layer in the layers panel on the right side of the photoshop window.

 If we click on the eye in front of the Color Balance 1the eye disappears and the Color Balance 1 layer is invisible.We can see the image as black and white and not as Sepia.If we click on the same icon again the Color Balance layer becomes visible again and we can see the image with the Sepia effect.

8)Saving the image

After we are satisfied with the adjustments we will save the image by selecting the menu File > Save or using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + S.This will open a dialog box where we can write the name of the image.After typing a name click on Save button.