Create a bleach bypass effect in Photoshop - how it works

With the "Bleach Bypass Effect", Steven Spielberg, for example, created a low-contrast, low-saturation look in "The Soldier James Ryan". This effect can be easily reproduced with Photoshop. You can read how this works in this practical tip.

Create a bleach bypass effect with Photoshop

The "bleach bypass effect" or "bleaching omission" ensures hard contrasts with the most matt color possible. It only takes a few steps to recreate it in Photoshop.

• Load an image and duplicate the background layer. Then set the layer mode »Copy into«.
• Add a "Hue / Saturation" setting level and reduce the saturation to "-50".
• Now add another level of "Levels" and bleach the image by pulling the middle slider a little to the right.
• The actual effect is already created. With the "Gradation curves" setting level, you can darken the image even more and highlight highlights more vividly.

How to open Photoshop files in Paint.NET can be read in this practical tip.