Posted by Brad Mangas on March 11, 2008 at 2:25 PM
Ok, it is in the 60's here today and might get to 70 tomorrow, and boy I got a spring itch like crazy! But I thought I would take this opportunity to look at some of my winter shots from the last couple of months and see if anything could be improved.(I know I have lots of room for improvement). So I chose this image and simply converted it to b&w.
This got me thinking. Is there a correct way to convert a color image to b&w? I simply opened the original in raw and move the saturation and vibrance sliders to around -75 to remove the color cast. I noticed when I went any further I would start to lose detail in the image. Then just opened in PS and checked levels and sharpening. I would be interested in how others convert to b&w.
Comments are always very welcomed.
Taken Dec. '07
Canon xti
f/8, 18-55mm @ 55mm, 1/15
The best way to convert these days is via a B&W Adjustment Layer within PS3 - gives you much control and is so easy. There are a number of presets, which I will often go through first to see if I like any of them, then you can just click and drag on any part of the image to lighten or darken those particular tones and adjust as you see fit. You can also click the "tint" button at the bottom of that window which will bring up a sepia tone - adjust the saturation and tone as you like (I prefer a less-saturated version of their default). With an adjustment layer you can always paint in or out, adjust the opacity, etc., and you maintain full control over all of the original pixels (even more so if you open the RAW file as a smart object, but that is another subject). (the one thing missing is that you can't easily do split toning) I quit using all over methods when they included this great adjustment layer in CS3, it really is that good...
Posted by Randy Wilson on March 11, 2008 at 4:49 PM
I'm looking forward to Tim's Photoshop workshop next month. Do you think you can teach me everything you know in eight hours, Tim, or do you think we might have to go nine or ten?
For what it's worth, Brad, the Black and White adjustment tool that Tim mentioned is something I just noticed and started using a month or two ago, and I like it better than any other method of black and white conversion that I've come across in my limited experience, because it's so easy to control the monochrome output tonality of each of the colors of the source image. So you've got a recommendation from both ends of the spectrum now, the old pro and the dabbler, and it looks like the tool offers something of value to both of us.
Hey Randy, it will only take about five seconds to drain everything I know about photoshop out of my brain! (Fortunately my photoshop assistant, Angela, will be there to answer all of your real questions...) We spend the rest of the weekend eating and also do a little bit of shooting...
Yes, Angela teaches Photoshop for the University of Arkansas. She does private teaching too, and in fact has a series of DVDs based on my workshops. She attended every one of my workshops for a couple of years and I finally hired her! I have her doing double-time as she also works with my lovely bride to keep all of the food in order for the workshop.
Discussion
6 repliesThis got me thinking. Is there a correct way to convert a color image to b&w? I simply opened the original in raw and move the saturation and vibrance sliders to around -75 to remove the color cast. I noticed when I went any further I would start to lose detail in the image. Then just opened in PS and checked levels and sharpening. I would be interested in how others convert to b&w.
Comments are always very welcomed.
Taken Dec. '07
Canon xti
f/8, 18-55mm @ 55mm, 1/15
Brad
The best way to convert these days is via a B&W Adjustment Layer within PS3 - gives you much control and is so easy. There are a number of presets, which I will often go through first to see if I like any of them, then you can just click and drag on any part of the image to lighten or darken those particular tones and adjust as you see fit. You can also click the "tint" button at the bottom of that window which will bring up a sepia tone - adjust the saturation and tone as you like (I prefer a less-saturated version of their default). With an adjustment layer you can always paint in or out, adjust the opacity, etc., and you maintain full control over all of the original pixels (even more so if you open the RAW file as a smart object, but that is another subject). (the one thing missing is that you can't easily do split toning) I quit using all over methods when they included this great adjustment layer in CS3, it really is that good...
For what it's worth, Brad, the Black and White adjustment tool that Tim mentioned is something I just noticed and started using a month or two ago, and I like it better than any other method of black and white conversion that I've come across in my limited experience, because it's so easy to control the monochrome output tonality of each of the colors of the source image. So you've got a recommendation from both ends of the spectrum now, the old pro and the dabbler, and it looks like the tool offers something of value to both of us.
Hey Tim I guess you just been ad-libbing it for about 20 years at your workshops. I can't wait to here you fake for the whole weekend...
It sounds like Angela is quite knowledgable, does she have some photoshop training certification?