Every image editing tool has a basic black and white conversion option, but the results aren’t always pleasing or easy to adjust. Using Photoshop’s layers tools can make the process easier.
Photoshop guru Helen Bradley details an approach to converting to black and white that can be used in either Photoshop or Photoshop Elements, and which offers a closer view of the process than the built-in Elements tool. Black and white can still be a useful way of fixing up concert shots, though if you don’t want to fuss too much Picasa does quite an acceptable job.
An Adjustable Black and White Conversion [Project Woman]
Citizen Charles
Tuesday, August 25, 2009 at 7:32 PMThe whole process of converting color to b&w is so arcane and complex that it should challenge the most serious amateur.
Certainly the old desaturate technique is pretty passe for good reason.
However if you are running Photoshop CS4 the adjustment “b&w” will be more than adequate for most purposes (allowing for many fine adjustments and including presets) – Helen Bradley’s suggestion really is only one of many – I mean MANY – and one I had minimal success with it.
Picasa’s results were OK with a couple of photos so I tried my favorite viewer/quick editor FastStone Image Viewer (http://www.faststone.org/FSViewerDownload.htm)(also free) and got very good results. (Just a user).
Simon Cohen
Tuesday, August 25, 2009 at 10:08 PMThis is a GREAT site and this is a lovely guide to make your photos black and white:
http://photojojo.com/content/tutorials/black-and-white-digital-conversion/