What is silkscreen printing?

What is silkscreen printing?

I cannot guess how many times this question, or variations silkscreen imaging questions have been asked. We always send the readers in the direction of "Spot Colors" in Photoshop primarily because CMYK (process color) is not appropriate for flat-color printing and requires a huge investment in equipment.

But indulge me for just a moment with this brief explanation of screen printing (serigraphy) because some of our readers today may not be familiar with this printing process. If you are familiar with the process, jump on over to the separations tutorial

serigraphy: It is not known for sure how or when serigraphy or screen printing was first invented, but art historians like Anthony F. Janson trace this art form as far back as 4,000 years in China, and thereafter throughout Asia and Japan. Silk fabric, being a primary product in those cultures, had the unique qualities of being able to be stretched very tightly, and of being somewhat resistant to staining. Someone discovered that they could stretch single-thread silk fabric very tightly across a frame and inks would flow freely through the fabric onto a substrate like other fabric or paper. They established techniques to block the flow of ink in certain areas of the silk, while allowing the ink to freely flow through open areas. Thus they could block the screens with ornate designs and print those designs repeatedly. The art of serigraphy was born. (Here, you can learn more about serigraphy)

Today's Flat Color Screenprinting:

At right, I've drawn a very stylized diagram of how very basic screen printing works. This is a simple two-color print we'll be using in our tutorial today.

ONE: At the top of the stack we see the Film. This is a film positive, which is clear with the exception of the image to be printed which is opaque. (black) There are other methods, like painting directly onto the silk with a "hold-out" solution, but for this tutorial we're using a film, or vellum printed on a computer.

TWO: Next, a photo-sensitive material called "photo mask" or "photo stencil", which behaves much like photo film, is exposed to strong light using the film positive as a mask. In this process the light-exposed areas of the photo-sensitive "gel" emulsion becomes hardened. The emulsion areas of the stencil which are protected by the opaque areas of the film remain unexposed and thus soft. In the "development" stage of the process, the exposed areas of the stencil remain hardened, while the unexposed areas of the stencil soften and wash away, forming the image areas where the inks will pass through.

THREE: The "photo stencil" is embedded (either before or after exposure) into fabric stretched very tightly across the printing frame. After the stencil dries, the "Screen Frame" is pressed against the substrate (a shirt in this scenario) and ink poured onto the surface of screen is dragged across the design using a squeegee. The results is ink deposited on the shirt. And that's how screen printing works.

Now, there are many, many variations and technical modifications to this process but this is the basic way it works. Even though it's such a simple process, it can reproduce an amazing amount of detail when done correctly. Some of the Chinese designs produced thousands of years ago demonstrate this primitive process with incredible beauty. I, personally, have used this exact scenario to run tens of thousands of prints.

Since this is not a screen printing tutorial, let's move on to making the films and separations. If you want to get into screen printing for a hobby or a business, I recommend Roni Henning's excellent orientation into the process.

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Fine-Tune Image by Modifying Adjustment Layers

Fine-Tune Image by Modifying Adjustment Layers

Although there are a dozen ways to lighten or darken small portions of an image, the use of adjustment layers and masks has made the technique easy and non-destructive.

In our photo of the young African "Jack Fruit" girl, we see a need to lighten only portions of the image in order to balance the overall look for clarity. The surrounding foliage and water is just about the correct exposure, however the platter of jack fruit is seriously shadowing the little girl's stern expression. We'll need to lighten her just a bit, without disturbing the rest of the image.

Adjust for target settings: Initiate a new Adjustment Layer for Levels. (Layers > New Adjustment Layer > Levels)
Move the right slider toward center, and the center slider toward the left. The beauty of the Adjustment Layer is it can be infinitely tuned until just the right look is achieved.

Notice however that during the process, we've made the scene too light -- -- taking away the richness of foliage along the banks of the Nile. That will be easy to fix by modifying the adjustment layer's mask.

Modify the Layer Mask: As with most adjustment layers, a mask is applied to the right of the layer thumbnail. Here's where all the action will take place
Click on the Mask
Fill it with black

Paint White to Reveal: Now, use an appropriate brush size and opacity and begin painting white into the mask to reveal just those areas that need lightening.

We have pre-tuned the Levels in this adjustment layer to provide the desired lightness of the girl. The BLACK completely hides those adjustments. As we paint white into the mask, those adjustments once again come into play.

Notice, I'm painting along the platter, down the arm, and within the face. (See the white shapes in the black layer mask at the far right above.) I'll also just lightly touch areas of the little boy's features to lighten them as well.

Before finishing, I want to add a slight bit of "richness" to the overall scene with a Contrast/Brightness Adjustment Layer. Now the image is ready for flatening and further use.

The pros might take a somewhat different approach, using curves or further modifications. You should experiment with the above techniques to see if that's the cure -- or if you want to investigate other options.

For that, you need to buy
Adobe Photoshop Restoration & Retouching by Katrin Eismann. She is the world's leading expert, and will easily show you how to get spectacular results on such a retouching job.

Good luck, and thanks for reading.

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Clip from one... add to the other

Clip from one... add to the other

Quickly publishing a newsletter can be difficult at times -- particularly when depending on photos sent in by readers. You never really know what you're going to get, so you've got to be prepared.

This photo story was all about kids having their photos taken while traveling and wearing a special tshirt. This entry came in two photos, taken at the same spot but of individual kids. One was even exposed differently. But due to space in the newsletter, we couldn't really show both photos, so I had to quickly turn the two into one.

The obvious first step is to cut out the subject in one photo so it can be imposed into the second. We want the best color and exposure to be the recipient photo, so the one on the left becomes the target. Now, the boy in the orange shirt must be trimmed out and moved into the target photo.

First step is cutting out the subject.

Working very carefully, we begin cutting out the subject using the Lasso tool. I quickly cut around the subject to lift a "rough" up to its own layer. Then working with the Lasso Tool, I fine-tuned the selection very carefully. Using the Pen tool would probably have been better, but in the low-cost newsletter biz, you don't really have time for vectors, and you've got to get it right the first time. So the Lasso works fine for that.

The problem was complicated by the fact that the image had already been optimized as a JPG file from the camera. So I'm working in low resolution here, and will hopefully tighten that up when reducing into the size needed for the newsletter.

To further fine-tune the image selection I created a Levels Adjustment Layer where I could paint into the mask using black and white brushes to carefully modify the selection. In this diagram, I'm blocking much of the shadow beneath the boy because it's badly rastared. I'll have to create my own shadow.

Once I'm satisfied with the trim on the boy, I make the selection (Cmd/clicking the layer to select the cut-out boy) and drag him into the target photo. That looks like this...

He arrives there on his own layer. Notice I haven't even begun to color correct the image yet. I need to get all the elements inserted before the final refinements. I move him around until he's sitting in the correct spot.

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Photoshop's Photo Filter Layer

Photoshop's Photo Filter Layer

One of the best kept secrets of Photoshop and Photoshop Elements is the Photo Filter. This little known gem is largely undiscovered because it's NOT in the filters menu... but rather in the Adjustment Layers menu. It acts like the traditional photo filters that many of you may be familiar with.

I recently had to scan some 220 snapshots for a video presentation ranging from the 1930s through present day. Many, many of the photos through the 1950s and 1960s had either gone blue due to age, or were originally shot using the original Kodak "technicolor" 120 film which is a little blue to begin with. It was a 3-day chore, but without the Photo Filter Adjustment Layer it would have probably taken 4 days.

I can best illustrate its use, however, in this CD cover and T-Shirt design I recently created for the group Gabby Haze. Here too, I was involved with a number of photos, all taken at different times with different cameras and media. Some in natural light, some in incandescent light. I also had to deal with one member of the group who was obviously sun-burned, and red-in-the-face to begin with. The challenge was to harmonize all the photos so they looked natural together while retaining their individual time and place character.

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Before & After: As you can see in the examples above, while the finished piece was certainly usable, and appealing, I sensed it was a little warm overall and I wanted to cool it down.

Most Photoshop books will lead you through a labyrinth of color cast elimination that takes a lot of figuring and fudging. With the Photo Filter I merely selected a new adjustment layer and selected one of the "cooling" filters. In the "old days" before adjustment layers I would simply generate a new layer and fill it with warm or cool color. But the only adjustment was opacity or blending modes.

Layers > New Adjustment Layer > Photo Filter Once the filter opens, it's fairly obvious where to go next.

Using the Cooling Filter Select the Cooling Filter from the pop-up menu. While you're there, notice there are a number of other useful filters as well as solid color filters and even one you can configure yourself.

Selecting the Cooling filter brings you to the adjustment controls and by sliding the Density setting slider I could very quickly adjust to a more natural-looking tone.
Preserve Luminosity is important to keep. You can turn it off to see the results.
Toggle Preview to see the before and after. Then adjust density accordingly
Test & Test each of the target filters to establish the most natural look. There are several warming filters and several cooling filters.
This beats the fourteen steps required to accomplish the same feat using other methods.

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That left me with the dilemma of dealing with Dave. He is almost always red in the face, and a difficult shoot because the white hair and beard really reflects a lot of light contrasted against the blushy flesh tones. The cooling filter however brought him back to natural and away from the previously orange look.

The warming versions also make a good Sepiatone effect for black and white photos, so keep that in mind as well.
* Finished cover design
* Finished cover design with the cooling filter

Next time you sense a little color shift is needed, think about the Photo Filter Adjustment Layer. It can trim off a lot of time, and gives a superbly natural look to photographs. You'll find the exact same Layer filter in Photoshop Elements since version 3 as well. Save minutes and improve the shot at the same time!

      Thanks for reading...

Editor / Publisher: Photoshop Tips & Tricks, DTG Magazine.

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Photoshop cut-out pops out of the frame

Photoshop cut-out pops out of the frame

This is actually a fairly simple task -- although many of the Photoshop authors make it seem more difficult than it really is. Using logic, the portion of the image to be popped out of the frame must be separated from the original image and raised to a higher level, in front of the frame, while leaving the original photo in tact. This technique works in any image software which has layers. (We were doing this back in the days of Photoshop v.3.)

1. Cut out the image: Using any of the software's selection tools you wish, make an accurate selection of the portion of the image you wish to pop.

In this example we used a combination of the Lasso and Magnetic Lasso to carve out the front of the car.
Tip: to save time, cut only the part that will pop out.

Lift the image: Once your selection is accurate, and ready to go, duplicate it onto its own layer by using the "float" command (Cmd/J or Ctrl/J)

You can see the nose of the Jaguar is now on its own layer. (#1 in the layers palette) Note that it's just the nose -- no use to select more than you have to. It will match perfectly with the original image on the background layer and provide a seamless pop-out.

2. Create the Frame: Now, in a new layer, you can create the frame for the photo. Here we simply used a white background with the frame cut out. Layer #2 in the diagram.

At this point you can decorate or modify the frame any way you wish -- textures, borders, etc.

Key Concept: Layer Sequencing. Always remember that the stacking order of your layers affects the final product. As you look at the file, you'll understand that the layers were generated in that specific stack order to achieve the effect -- even though they may not have been created in that order.

Also note that we did all the selection work on a COPY of the background, just in case we flubbed something up, or needed to go back and get more of the image. The "work" layer can be deleted, and the whole image flattened when complete.

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Selecting Hair and Fine Detail in Photoshop

Selecting Hair and Fine Detail in Photoshop

from Photoshop Masking & Compositing
by Katrin Eismann

It would make my life a lot easier if all the portrait photographs I work with had an evenly lit, texturefree, contrasting background -- but life has a tendency to be complex, and our snapshots reflect that.

We'll begin with a classic snapshot of a happy mother with an even happier baby, standing in front of the family car. The challenges of this image are threefold --
* a busy background,
* a lack of contrast between the subjects' hair and
* the dark background, and the mother's fly-away hair.

All of these factors make this a challenging, yet not impossible, mask to make. Rather than thinking about all the problems it presents -- try thinking in black and white about separating image elements from one another to gracefully solve this challenge.

Selecting Hair and Fine Detail

The original photograph captures a candid moment. In the following example, we will use a Channel Mixer Adjustment Layer and layer blending modes to boost contrast while maintaining edge detail. The idea is to quickly create as much contrast as possible and then use the fill and painting tools to refine the details. In the process, you'll add a number of nondestructive production layers to build up the mask. Finally, we'll take the family on a trip to a park and use the Lens Blur filter to defocus the trees, as shown above, left.

Simplifying the background subliminally encourages the viewer to concentrate on the people in the picture.

Building the Initial Mask

1. Open the Channels palette and look at the individual channels. You can do this by clicking on each channel name or using (Cmd + 1, Cmd + 2, Cmd + 3) [Ctrl + 1, Ctrl + 2, Ctrl + 3]. Look for the channels with the most contrast and the smoothest tonality. In this image, both the red and the green channels contain contrast (figure 8.17) that we can take advantage of and accentuate to make a mask. Click RGB or (Cmd + ~) [Ctrl + ~] to return back to the color image.

figure 8.17 Look for the channel with the most contrast and smoothest tonal range.

2. To apply the "thinking in black and white" approach, add a Channel Mixer Adjustment Layer, select the monochrome box, and move the red and green sliders to the right. In this instance, I used the extreme values of +100 for red and +132 for green.

figure 8.18 To increase the difference between dark and light, use the Channel Mixer Adjustment Layer.

3. To push the contrast even higher, take advantage of layer blending modes, which impact how the layers interact. The contrast-enhancing group is the largest group, beginning with Overlay. In this case, choose Hard Light as shown in figure 8.19, which screens the lighter areas, making them lighter, and multiplies the darker values, making them darker.

figure 8.19 Changing the Layer blending mode increases the contrast even more.

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Exposure2 ... from Alien Skin

... from Alien Skin

Alien Skin Software Releases Exposure 2 Film Stock Simulator and Effects Package... this new Photoshop plug-in features more than 300 presets for film simulation and a full range of photo lab and darkroom effects

EXPOSURE 2 photographic filter and effect plug-ins for Adobe Photoshop, Elements, and other compatible host programs, is a wrap-around solution for film stock simulation and effects. Exposure 2 lets digital photographers and graphic artists enhance any digital photo by simulating the rich, organic look of film.

Developed from a detailed, scientific analysis of current and discontinued color and black and white print and slide stocks, Exposure 2 features more than 300 presets that emulate the warmth, softness, and realistic grains of film - the vivid colors of Velvia®, the natural skin tones of Portra®, and the ethereal glow of infrared - to provide new and alternative looks for fashion, wedding, magazine, event, and portrait photographers, photo hobbyists, and a wide array of creative, printing, and graphic arts professionals. Exposure 2 even simulates the retro colors of faded Polaroid®.

More sophisticated than merely adding simple digital noise, Exposure 2's grain simulation models the size, shape, and color of real world grain, including the unique salt and pepper grain of TRI-X® and the large, intensely colorful grain of the discontinued GAF® 500. Exposure 2 grain size is automatically adjusted to image size so grain looks the same on high- and low-resolution photos. A roughness control gives Exposure 2 users subtle control over grain shape.

While other digital image products produce flat, lifeless black and white conversions, Exposure 2 also brings back the high impact of black and white film to digital photography. A simple yet flexible channel mixer interface provides subtle control over the color to black and white conversion process. Color toning, contrast, and grain add the finishing touches to turn color photographs into dramatic black and white works of art.

Beyond the ability to reproduce the look and feel of film, Exposure 2 offers a range of effects previously available only in darkrooms and photo labs, such as push and cross processing and glamour portrait softening. Exposure 2's controls enable users to easily manage color saturation, tone, sharpness, and grain, streamlining workflow for photographers and graphic artists with one comprehensive yet easy-to-use tool.

Applying Exposure 2 settings to batches of images is easily accomplished using Photoshop Actions. Any Exposure 2 preset can be the starting point for a signature look by adjusting it to suit a particular subject. This new look can be saved as a setting for future use. All Exposure 2 settings can be deployed nondestructively in a new Photoshop layer named after the setting used. Exposure 2 supports Photoshop CS3 Smart Filters.

For ease of use, Exposure 2 settings are organized into categories, and last-used settings are remembered and highlighted. Previews are automatically scaled to fit the current window size. Multithreaded to run faster on multiprocessors or multi-core processors, Exposure 2 also easily handles 16-bit images, allowing RAW images to be manipulated at their highest quality.

Exposure 2 - for true photographically correct images

Exposure 2 retails for $249 USD with an upgrade price of $149 USD for registered users of Exposure 1. Online delivery is available directly on the Alien Skin. Exposure 2 is also available worldwide through stores, catalogs, and resellers. Free upgrades are available to purchasers of Exposure 1 who purchased on September 1, 2007 or later.

Host Requirements - Exposure 2 is a plug-in and will require one of the following: Adobe Photoshop CS2 or later, Adobe Photoshop Elements® 4 or later, Adobe Fireworks® CS3, or Corel® Paint Shop Pro® Photo XI. Exposure 2 is a Universal Macintosh® application. Live Effects in Fireworks CS3 are not supported.

System Requirements - Microsoft® Windows® users must have at least a Pentium® 4 processor or compatible and Windows XP or later. Apple® Macintosh users must have a PowerPC® or Intel® processor and Mac OS X 10.4 or later. A monitor with 1024x768 resolution or greater is required.

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Creating Black & White from Color

Creating Black & White from Color

[Editor's Note: Here's another of those frequent questions we get in the Photoshop 911 emergency room. The Photoshop Retouching Cookbook for Digital Photographers, has tons of great techniques that can expand on that concept many times over! Thanks to O'Reilly Publishing we're able to bring the technique to you in its entirety! ]

Barry Huggins writes...

Black-and-white photography is as powerful today as it was when color photography was just a distant dream. A different set of skills is required when working with black and white, as the absence of color means the interplay of shape and contrast must work harder to tell the story or set the mood, but when it works, it's very effective.

Some cameras have a dedicated black-and-white mode, but even if yours doesn't, you can still work in black and white. In fact, it often works better to shoot in color and convert later on. Photoshop offers a breathtaking array of techniques for converting color to black and white (or more correctly, grayscale), and these enable you to control the process with a degree of finesse that would be difficult to match in the field.

Method 1: Desaturation

This shot was taken early one winter's morning in New York. The sky had a dramatic quality and there was a fine haze rising to meet the colder air at higher altitudes. The image works well in color, but it also has potential for a striking black-and-white impression of the city.

The most obvious way of converting color to black and white is to convert the mode to grayscale (Image > Mode > Grayscale). This is okay, but there are better alternatives.

The first is desaturation -- removing the visible color information but maintaining the RGB status of the file. This means that if you wanted to add a tint later you could do so without having to change color mode again.

Go to Image > Adjustments > Desaturate (or press Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + U).

The problem with desaturation is that it often delivers a flat, uninspiring rendition. We can improve this, however. Analyzing the photo, we need to strengthen the texture in the sky by darkening the shadows and midtones, but the buildings below need a general increase in contrast to remove the haziness. It's best to treat the sky and the buildings as separate entities. Make a feathered selection of the sky, using the natural division of the rising dark haze as a guide.

Press Ctrl/Cmd + J to copy and paste the selection to a new layer, and rename it "sky."

Add a Levels Adjustment Layer to it, making sure the two layers are combined as a clipping mask.

To bring out the sky texture, drag the Black and Gray point markers to the right as shown.

 

Depending on the amount of feathering and the position of your selection, you may see a dividing line after the Levels adjustment has been made. This is easily removed by adding a layer mask to the sky layer (set to Reveal All) and painting on the mask in black until the edge disappears.

We could use a Levels adjustment layer to add contrast to the buildings, but there is an alternative route.
Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Curves to add a Curves adjustment layer to the background layer.

Applying the curve shown increases midtone contrast, at slight expense to the highlights and shadows. This diminishes the haziness in the area of the buildings.

 

 

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Use Photoshop Match Color to match colors of two files

Use Photoshop Match Color to match colors of two files

The Match color command in Photoshop is probably one of the more misleading and seldom used functions we see. It's actually quite simple, and can go a long way to changing images. Photoshop attempts to evaluate and then match the general color and contrast of one image, and then apply it to another. Actually, it's a very powerful function and can work on photos with a lot more difference than this one. It also has a lot of potential as an "artistic" tool, because changing the settings can result in some spectacular images.

Well, it's not always perfect. In fact, it's almost NEVER perfect. Adobe and the book authors make you think it's perfect so you'll buy the product. But it's been my experience that you really have to tweak it a bit to get it working properly.

You can help along by choosing sections of the image most representative and try again...

Well, the second try is not quite getting it either. We selected a good cross section of the image, but as you can see the little dress, as well as the ground area went way too much red -- while the sky STILL didn't make it to the intensity of the other shot.

We played with the settings and no matter what we tried, the color could not be matched. Why? This kind of shot is almost impossible to match. Both photographs are nearly perfect, but they're different because of the metering system in the camera. By taking a reading of the intense, close up subject, the shot was captured with a misleading richness. So, when trying to match it in the second shot, which is probably the more accurate of the two, Photoshop wants to enrich everything, where only the sky is necessary.

Yes, there must be an easier way.

Grab the Eyedropper, (tap "i") and sample the rich sky at the very top (1), and then hit "x" to reverse the foreground and background colors -- sample again at the very bottom (2). This 'loads' the color palette.

Now make a selection in your image to cover just the area which would be the "sky" ... you'll need to include some of the trees in this scenario -- or else create a good, accurate selection of those trees to mask only the sky with a selection. I used a regular rectangle marquee because a blending mode will knock out the rest...

Now set the Gradient tool (tap "g") and make sure the gradient settings are for "Foreground to Background colors" -- which you'll find in the Gradient tool options bar.
Then drag from the top to the very bottom (#3 to #4) and presto, a great sky.

Here you see the photos are now very much matched. By setting the blending mode to "Darken" I avoided having to outline the trees. The layer was "darkening" only lighter colors -- which was the sky and not the trees. The child, dress, dirt and overall luminosity of the two are nearly identical. I did go in and lighten just a slight amount using Levels -- simply because I feared the richness of the sky would look artificial.

Next time you want to 'match color' try this command under the Adjustments menu. But don't necessarily expect magic. If it doesn't work after a few tries, look for other methods.

I've also provided another tutorial on color matching, produced by someone named Denmuel. It gives a pretty good look at using the match where the above problems would not be encountered. download the PDF.

Thanks for reading

Editor / Publisher: Photoshop Tips & Tricks, DTG Magazine.

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Photoshop gradient map uses...

Photoshop gradient map uses...

I could spend about 20 pages here describing and stepping through a Curves tutorial to accomplish this task. But I won't. One of the seldom mentioned tools in Photoshop and Elements is the Gradient Map. This tool can do many things -- one of which is accomplish this reader's goals...

As you can see, these examples were toned down, or "tinted" as we called it in the old days. The technique de-saturates color until the image is almost grayscale. Rather than desaturating using the Hue/Saturation functions, the Gradient Map has a much softer hand, and I think does a better job.

Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Gradient Map...
You can simply hit 'okay' to dismiss the opening dialog, or play with the settings. The Mode should be set to normal, so if the image looks like a negative, then reset that pull-down. Leave it set to 100% and do nothing else.

Now, use the Opacity slider to adjust the effect of the Map. At 100% the image will be grayscale. I have found this to be the best method of converting color photos to grayscale for newsletters and other print projects that use a PDF to print to a Duotech or other "rapid" on-demand printing process.

Here's the final compare. I've also posted another comparison just to show flesh tones in a natural "green" setting... which looks almost like an old fashioned hand color tint photo.

Use this tool when the occasion arises where the complexity of Curves is overkill! Thanks for reading

Editor / Publisher: Photoshop Tips & Tricks, DTG Magazine.

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Saving Bad Photos: Badly Underexposed

Saving Bad Photos: Badly Underexposed

Quite frankly, I would much rather have a dark, under exposed photo then an overly bright over exposed photo. With a dark photo, at least there's a chance that there will be enough color data and detail to save the shot. When they're blown away and too bright -- there's little you can do to put pixels where none existed before.

Sad to report however -- so many variables come into play that sometimes the shot cannot be saved no matter what techniques you use.

One reader who enjoys photographing food on trips sent this photo of the appetizer at the Kia Lodge restaurant at the foot of Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. This was a shrimp and cucumber moose, and it looks delightful. Too bad we really can't see it. Yes, I would certainly try to save that shot because you might not be going back too often!

Fixes in Layers: The next series of shots will progressively show the layers I added, and their results. After that, I'll walk through some "auto" fixes provided in Photoshop and Photoshop Elements.

My first attempt will be to SCREEN the photo over top of itself.
Drag a copy of the layer to a new layer and set the Blending mode to SCREEN. But the results are still wanting... so I'll just drag that same layer to the "New Layer" button and screen it again...

Once again, the image lightens, and we're a little closer to where the photo looks somewhat realistic. To kill much of the incandescent lighting effects -- making the shot too yellow and warm, next, I'll try a cooling filter...
Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Photo Filter > Cooling

This is going in the right direction, however it needs more. There is a slider in the cooling filter which applies more or less of the effect, but I'll leave well enough alone, and simply duplicate this Adjustment layer as well.

At this point the color seems close, but the shot is still murky and dark. Now it's time for LEVELS

LEVELS are your "all purpose" adjustments, second only to Curves as the real power adjuster. As you can see from this shot, by tightening the RIGHT slider toward the middle, and the MIDDLE slider toward the left, the photo now looks comfortable and realistic. Let's compare:

The photo is still a little warm -- evidenced by the lack of 'whiteness' in the plate, but it probably approximates what the diner saw that evening. The photo still has major problems:
It's not sharp, probably due to the low lighting and slow shutter
It's probably also suffering from some hand-held camera movement

Before throwing away a shot that really looks too bad to save, try levels and the assortment of adjustment layers available under the Layer menu. With some experimentation you can save the photo without learning hundreds of pages of Photoshop training material.

Now, let's take a look at some of Photoshop's "Automated" correction tools, and see if we could have done a better job with those...

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