Bleach Bypass
BleachBypass is a Photoshop-compatible plugin filter designed to digitally simulate the traditional film "bleach bypass" technique.
The bleach bypass, or "bleach skip" technique involves the partial or complete skipping of the bleaching stage during the processing of a colour film. This prevents the silver from being removed from the negative, and the result is a contrasty image with muted colours. The technique is often used extensively in motion pictures, such as "Saving Private Ryan" and "Three Kings".
It also gives a very pleasing, "film-like" quality to images, much like older, fast print film was used.
For a more advanced version of this filter allowing more control and a stronger effect, please see BleachBypass Pro
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Screenshot
Example
Move mouse over image to see result
BleachBypass vs BleachBypass PRO
| BleachBypass | BleachBypass PRO | |
|---|---|---|
| Bit depth | 8-bit only | 8-bit and 16-bit |
| Effect strength | None to Medium | None to Strong |
| Grain strength | Y | Y |
| Grain size | - | Y |
| Defocus control | - | Y |
| Exposure | Y | Y (Improved) |
| Vignette | - | Y |
| Gamma correction | - | Y |
| Saturation | - | Y |
| Cost | FREE | ONLY $29.95 |
What people are saying
"The high contrast and muted colours simply took the photo to the next level. being able to control the colour levels and the amount of film grain that was added to give the image, make for a more natural look and feel. it is impossible to show you results when i went to print with these, but take my word it, the images had a very distinct look and feel. you could see wonderfully rich dark areas and contrasts that made the model jump right off the page." - Normand Corbeil
"I just love the look of it. I don't know why, but I just love it. So, this little gem I'm talking about is called... 'Bleach Bypass'" - Rodrigo Gómez
"Pretty slick" / "Oustanding!" / Nice technique!
Found any more quotes? Let us know!
Instructions
There are three controls that can be used to alter the filter's action.
- Fade: Controls the strength of the effect, from 0 to 100%
- Grain: Use this slider to add/remove grain from the image. Much like "proper" film grain, it is present only in the midtones of the photograph.
- Exposure: Change the exposure slider to alter the brightness of the image.
Installation
Simply unzip the distribution file, copy the BleachBypass.8bf file into your image editor's Plug-Ins directory and restart the application. The filter should then show up in the editor's menus under "Red Paw Media -> Bleach Bypass Simulation..."Download
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