Tinting a black and white photo gives it an artistic quality that is truly distinctive, while giving it a vintage flair, as well. If you stretch your imagination, you're sure to find numerous ways to create tinted photos that call on craft techniques outside the average scrapbooking realm. See below for both traditional and digital forms of tinting.

Traditionally, by printing a black and white photo onto a matte photo paper, using chalk works very well. A simple cotton ball or cotton swab is all you need to apply color to specific areas of interest. There are also many distress inks available (such as Tim Holtz's Distress Inks...love them!) that are applied directly to the photo to give a weathered, aged appearance.

Digitally, subtle tinting is simple also. For the sample layout, I chose to begin by lightening all the background papers to soft tones by adjusting the brightness/contrast in Photoshop Elements (Enhance>Adjust Brightness/Contrast). This set the tone for the soft black and white photo. Using the color picker tool, I chose colors in the background papers for the floral wreath she is adorning. Now, by creating a new layer, using a soft paintbrush and low opacity of color, I simply painted color on top of the flowers, skin and cheeks. Play with the opacity and layer blend modes to suit your tastes and that’s it!

Once you explore these and other techniques for tinting, you’ll be on your way to creating photos that exhibit texture, depth, style and the illusion of graceful age.