How to Give Photos a Cross-Processed Look

Cross-processing was originally a technique used in traditional dingy darkrooms, and involved developing print film using chemicals designed for use with slide film or vice versa. The results of the technique could sometimes be a bit hit-and-miss, but when it worked, boy, it really worked. The shift in hue, boost in saturation, and increase in contrast created wonderful, eye-catching images. Cross-processed blues often took on a green color, for example, and shadows might feature a hint of magenta.

But let’s skip forward to the modern era of digital photography. It’s clear to see the cross-processed look is still popular, especially with fine art, fashion, and stock photographers. Unlike the days of the traditional darkroom (where you had to mix chemicals to get the exact look and shift in color you wanted), Photoshop Elements gives you the ability to tweak individual color channels to replicate almost any cross-processing chemical combination you might desire – without the mess!

We’ll take a look at Photoshop Elements’ one-click cross-process effect in our walkthrough on the right, and then demonstrate how to produce more creative effects by manually adjusting individual colors, courtesy of the Hue/Saturation adjustment layer.

1. (Don't) Apply a Preset Effect

Open the image you want to apply the effect to. Click the Quick mode tab. Click the Effects icon at the bottom-right. A variety of preset effect thumbnails appear, which you can quickly apply. Click the Cross Process thumbnail to shift the colors and darken the contrast. Easy! Except this preset effect is way over the top...so click Undo, and let’s do this manually.

2. Use an Adjustment Layer

Click the Expert editing mode tab. Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Hue/Saturation and click, then click OK. A Hue/Saturation adjustment layer appears, which lets us get our new look. The first step is to set the Channel drop-down menu to Blues. Drag the Hue slider to -48; as you can see, this has turned the sky a greener shade of blue. Set the Cyan channel Hue to -25. 

3. Boost the Saturation

Now set the Channel menu to Yellows and set Saturation to +22. This has boosted the color of the vegetation in the front and middle of the above shot. The colors actually now look too garish, but we can produce more subtle color shifts by setting the Adjustment Layer’s Opacity slider to 80%, so that the original image’s colors blend with the adjusted ones.

4. Increase the Contrast

The final touch is to add the rich black shadows produced by the traditional cross-processing technique to our picture. First, choose Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Levels, then click OK. Click the black shadow-input level slider and drag it to 21. Set the Channel menu to Red and drag the midtone slider to 1.32 — and that’s it, though you could tweak these settings slightly if that's more to your liking.