Explore the wonderful world of black-and-white, a special form of color.
Seeing In B&W
What’s unique about black-and-white, and how to best adjust and print it.
What’s Unique About B&W
Black-and-white is special in so many ways.
Expanding The Definition Of B&W
The term “black & white” is not as simple as you might think.
How Gray Is Gray ?
Both context and personal preference make this a surprisingly challenging question.
Why You Need To Understand Color To Get The Best B&W Images
Color affects the exposure, processing, and printing of black-and-white images.
An Overview Of Color To B&W Conversions
My preferred workflow for color to black and white conversions.
Optimizing Files Before B&W Conversions
Prepare your color images before conversion to black-and-white to gain maximum control.
Why Desaturating Is The Worst Color To Black & White Conversion Method
Simply desaturating reduces tonal separation.
A Dozen Ways To Convert Color To B&W – And Why You Only Need Two (Coming Soon)
Simplify your workflow.
Lightroom / Camera Raw – B&W Conversions (Coming Soon)
When global conversions are enough.
Photoshop – B&W Conversions
When you want to localize conversions.
How To Create The Best Color To B&W Conversion Previews
Exploring your options before you commit to a final solution is time well spent.
Simulating Infrared | .99
Create the look of infrared with Adobe Photoshop (all versions)
Enhancing Local Contrast In B&W Images
The best ways to dodge and burn detailed.
5 Strategies For Adding Color Back Into B&W
Why and how to add color back into black-and-white photographs.
Top 5 Ways To Add Color To Black & White
By adding color to your black-and-white photos, you can enhance their expressive qualities.
Hand-Coloring B&W Photographs (Coming Soon)
How to achieve complex and convincing effects with this compelling palette.
Black & White Signature Styles
Like so many other artists, you, too, can learn to craft a unique black-and-white look.
5 Photographers With Signature B&W Styles
Study the masters to find new possibilities in black-and-white photography.
Why B&W And Color Don’t Mix
They’re two different realities; unless you use them as a code for that, present them separately.
Epson Driver – Advanced B&W Photo
Use the Epson driver to make the best black-and-white prints.
Watch The Essence Of B&W Mastery
Use color management to make better files and insure others see them in their best light.
How To Do It
7 Simple Steps to Good Color Management
Take these simple steps to get consistent high-quality color.
Step 1 – Use ICC Profiles
Assign ICC profiles to make color consistent and predictable.
Step 2 – Profile Your Monitor
Calibrate your monitor with hardware.
Step 3 – Set Adobe Color Settings
Set good Photoshop Color Settings in seconds.
Step 4 – Profile Your Printer
Better printer profiles help make better prints.
Step 5 – Softproof Before You Proof
Preview how your print will look before printing it.
Step 6 – Check The Correct Boxes In Your Printer Driver
Set good color management policies in your printer driver.
Step 7 – Control Your Viewing Environment
Use good quality light in neutral environments to evaluate your images.
Things To Watch For
16-Bit
Thousands of shades of gray reduce posterization.
Choose A Wide-Gamut Editing Space
Choose a wide-gamut editing space to make the best prints possible.
Editing Spaces Compared
From small to large, standard RGB editing spaces including sRGB, Adobe RGB (1998), and ProPhoto.
Rendering Intents Compared
Perceptual, Relative Colorimetric, Absolute Colorimetric, Saturation.
What to Do with Color Management Dialogs
Know what to do with the color management dialog boxes you encounter.
The Difference Between Converting Versus Assigning With Color Profiles
Understand the difference between assigning and converting to a profile.
Where to Put ICC Profiles
ICC profiles need to be filed in the correct location on your computer.
Tools
When And Why To Print Test Files
Find out more about what to test.
Make Camera Profiles With X-Rite’s Color Checker Passport
X-Rites’ Color Checker Passport can be used to quickly deliver more accurate color in a variety of ways.
Managing Camera Profiles
If you make camera profiles customized for your camera, sooner or later you’re going to want to rename or delete a few.
Graph Profiles With Chromix Colorthink
Colorthink graphs ICC profiles for visual comparison and contrast.
Use Full Spectrum Or HIgh CRI Viewing Light
Choose full-spectrum lighting with appropriate brightness and temperature.
There are at many ways to convert an image from color to black and white. Here's a roundup and evaluation of the top seven plus a set of considerations to help you choose the best one for your needs.
1 Desaturate
Desaturate or use the Saturation slider to make all the channels the same without control over the mix. Desaturaton is useful for near neutral images, otherwise it produces compressed tonal structure.
2 Convert Mode To Grayscale
Grayscale conversions eliminate all channels but one. The default mix is 59% Green, 29% Red, 11% Blue. This can be customized by targeting a single channel before conversion, to get 100% of any channel in any color space, including Lab. Quick and direct, this method eliminates future flexibility; its limited use is to create Grayscale images for reproduction but it's not the best way to make a conversion from color to black and white.
3 Channel Mixer
The Channel Mixer set to Monochrome allows you to customize the mix of channels and can be used as an adjustment layer, which allows you to change the mix at any time in the future.