Creating Sepia Toned Images From Film

From Liz Masoner, former About.com Guide

There are a couple of different methods for creating sepia toned images from film.

Filters
Most camera lenses can accept a filter attachment. By attaching a sepia filter onto your lens, you can take images as usual and the negative will record the sepia toning. However, if you have these images printed at a lab, be sure to specific "do not color correct". If you do not make this specification the lab's machines will most likely try to "correct" the color and you will not achieve the desired look to your image.

Alternative Printing
Although it is not a perfect sepia tone, you can achieve a version of sepia toning by taking images on black and white film but having them printed on color paper at the lab. However, this is not a guaranteed process. Depending on the film, chemicals, and paper combination used, the images may come back with a cyan or magenta tone instead of sepia.

Darkroom
To achieve a sepia tone in a home darkroom you have to use both bleach and sepia tone chemical in addition to normal chemicals. Remember that bleach has very strong fumes and can be extremely hazardous if not used in a well-ventilated area. The steps can vary widely depending on what sepia tone chemical you buy. If you you chose to tone your own images in the darkroom, please follow the directions on your chemicals carefully.