Digital Color
What is the best method to convert a color digital image to black and white in Photoshop?
There are many ways to edit the tonal range of a black and white photo in photoshop. These methods include channel mixer, double hue/saturation, and duotone methods. What methods do you use and why do you use that method. Which method produces the best results?
A simple “use the saturation slider” or “use the desaturate command” will not work for this question. I am looking for very advanced methods that will help increase the quallity of my work.
Apparently, no one is understanding my question. I already know how to make my image black and white, and, in fact, grayscale mode is one of the worst conversions you can do becuase it gets rid of the color information. I’m asking for different methods that you can use to change how your photo looks in greyscale, NOT how to change your photo to greyscale.
Converting a digital color photo into black and white goes beyond simply desaturating the colors, and can be made to mimic any of a wide range of looks created by using color filters in black and white film photography. Conversion which does not take into account an image’s color and subject of interest can dilute the artistic message, and may create an image which appears washed out or lacks tonal range. This section provides a background on using color filters, and outlines several different black and white conversion techniques– comparing each in terms of their flexibility and ease of use.
Converting a digital color photo into black and white goes beyond simply desaturating the colors, and can be made to mimic any of a wide range of looks created by using color filters in black and white film photography. Conversion which does not take into account an image’s color and subject of interest can dilute the artistic message, and may create an image which appears washed out or lacks tonal range. This section provides a background on using color filters, and outlines several different black and white conversion techniques– comparing each in terms of their flexibility and ease of use.
CONTROLLING TEXTURE AND CONTRAST
Just as with color photography, black and white photography can use color to make a subject stand out– but only if the appropriate color filters have been chosen. Consider the example below, where the original color image makes the red parrot stand out against the near colorless background. To give the parrot similar contrast with the background in black and white, a color filter should be chosen which translates bright red into a tone which is significantly different from the middle gray background. Move your mouse over the options below to view some of the possibilities.
Note how the red and green filters make the parrot much brighter and darker than the background, respectively, whereas an intermediate combination of the two makes the parrot blend in more. Also note how the green and red-green filters enhance texture in the feathers, and that the red filter eliminates tonal separation between the feathers and the white skin.
So which color filter is best? This depends on the goal of the mage, but in general: one can increase contrast in a given region by choosing a filter color which is complimentary to that region’s color. In other words, we want to choose a filter whose color is on the opposite side of the color wheel (right) to the image’s color.
If we wished to maximize cloud contrast in a cyan-blue sky, then a reddish-yellow filter would achieve this goal. Of course, images rarely contain just one color. Although the red filter above decreases contrast in the feathers, it would do the opposite in a cyan-blue sky. Black and white conversion may therefore require interpretive decisions.
Notice the contrast changes both between and within regions of red, green and blue above. Pure red or primarily red color filters often work best for landscapes, as this increases texture in regions containing water, sky and foliage. On the other hand, color filters can also make contrast appear greater than what we would perceive with our eyes, or can darken/brighten some regions excessively.
One can visualize other possibilities since all color filters would produce some superposition of the three images above (yellow would be half red, half green and zero blue). Each image may therefore require its own combination of red, green and blue filtering in order to achieve the desired amount of contrast and tonal range.
DIGITAL COLOR INTO BLACK & WHITE
Converting a digital color photo into black and white utilizes the same principles as with color filters in film photography, except filters instead apply to each of the three RGB color channels in a digital image (see bit depth). Whether you specify it or not, all conversion techniques have to use some weighted combination of each color channel to produce a grayscale brightness. Some techniques assume a combination for you, although the more powerful ones give you full control. Each makes its own trade-offs between power and ease of use, and so you may find some techniques are best suited only to certain tasks.
CHANNEL MIXER
The channel mixer tool allows the user to control how much each of the three color channels (red, green and blue) contribute to the final grayscale brightness. It is undoubtedly one of the most powerful black and white conversion methods, however it may take some time to master since there are many parameters which require simultaneous adjustment.
Open this tool by clicking on Image > Adjustments > Channel Mixer in Adobe Photoshop. GIMP and many other image editing programs also offer this tool, however its menu location may vary.
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