Photoshop Black & White

[jasonco]

Is there any special way to make a colour photo black and white in photoshop other than grey scaling it?

i.e. Is there a plugin that does a better job than just grey scaling the photo?

Cheers
Jason

[new girl on the bloc]

check out this website with details on converting color to b&w:

http://www.photo-i.co.uk/

[ryuwulf]

use channel mixer and select monochrome, and you image becomes B&W.

While in monochrome, you can adjust the RGB to deepen the tones in B&W.

[Conk]

Great informative link NG. Thanks for the tip. :)

[jasonco]

Yes thanks NG. its really good info. Much appreciatted.

Cheers
Jason

[new girl on the bloc]

Your welcome Colin and Jason; glad that you find it helpful ;)

[johnmate]

jasonco wrote:
Is there any special way to make a colour photo black and white in photoshop other than grey scaling it?

i.e. Is there a plugin that does a better job than just grey scaling the photo?

Cheers
Jason

In Photoshop 7.0 you can select in the menu:

Image | Adjustments | Desaturate

for black and white

[ajax]

This was the method suggested to me by a PhotoShop instructor, and a local processing studio. It looks like a lot of steps, but, it's not bad once you get going.

With your photo open, click on:

image | mode | lab color
window | channel

then

scroll down to layer A
right click on that layer and delete it

then

click on

image | mode | grayscale
image | mode | RGB

[or whatever mode you want]

voila!

The theory is it creates whiter whites, blacker blacks. I think the difference between doing all that and just selecting image | mode | grayscale isn't huge...but...try it and judge for yourself.

Have fun! I love black and white.

[Jorge]

Using the channel mixer takes some practice. I usually use the "convert to grayscale" in Pekkas Linear Sharpen. It gives you 3 choices and they are often better than simple desaturation.

[Belmondo]

ajax wrote:
This was the method suggested to me by a PhotoShop instructor, and a local processing studio. It looks like a lot of steps, but, it's not bad once you get going.



I tried it using the method you outlined, then again on the same picture using 'desaturate.' I don't know is it has anything to do with the picture I chose (which had a lot of yellow in it), but your method produced a much better image. In the desaturated image, the yellow ended up as a dark gray. In your method, the yellow was a much lighter gray, as you'd expect, and the contrast was much better.

Thanks for a great tip. If I can remember how, I'll write a script for that!

[Belmondo]

This is the image I tried it on. In the desaturated picture, the yellow looks dark and unnatural. See if you don't agree.

Thanks,

Tom

http://www.bytephoto.com/photopost/data/500/353B_W_Experiment-med.jpg

[ajax]

Tom, thanks for posting the comparison...helps to see them lined up like that. It's interesting to see what is in that A Level when you select it before deleting it...sort of the muddy grey tones that don't add a lot to the photo. I agree...the one on the right looks better.

Glad I could pass on a tip from minds greater than mine.

[SemieE]

My favorite way to make b/w photos is to do a full color correction on the image (levels, curves, saturation) and the convert to greyscale then immediately converting that to a duotone. You can load presets in the duotone menu and then modify ones that you like using the curves for each tone. It takes more time but you can really get some great results if you take your time. Then you can can save the custom duotone so next time it isn't so much work.

[john_houghton]

I think the channel mixer (with monochrome out) is very versatile; just make sure the % contributions from each channel total 100%.

John

[atotos]

The IXUS 400 has in Manual mode (Function menu) an "Effect" parameter which you can choose from and shoot directly in Sepia or B&W, for example.
Rather than converting it later, check out if your camera has this possibility too :)

[karusel]

http://www.russellbrown.com/tips/pdf/colortoB&W.pdf

[mwinog2777]

A freeware pS plug-in: Convert

Found at The Plug-in Site

Try it. You can mix RGB and get the right mix, then convert.

[DigitDan]

Photoshop 7 has a recorded action converting to B&W using the channel mixer method.

Dan in Phoenix

[SWPhotoImaging]

Russell Brown's technique is awesome! I love the granularity of control I can get using this methodology.

Thanks for the link!

[msvirick]

Wow, wow.
This is called help at its best.
Thank you all, who have contributed all the posts, it makes learning so much fun.
You makes novices like me to experts in BW conversion.