Doing Black and White Right - 3 Methods.

[OsmosisStudios]

There have been a lot of posts in the forums lately about converting images to Black and White. This common query is also one of the simplest to learn yet hardest to master techniques in digital photography. It used to be that to shoot in black and white you had to get the right kind of film, filters and so on. With the advent of digital, we can do most of that work once we get back home!

I don't claim to be an expert: these are simply the techniques I have seen, used and practised to a certain degree of aptitude over the years, and I hope they'll serve you well. The trick with black and white photography is in the name.

A true black and white photo is exactly that: Black and White. Most black and white photos are merely monochrome images, as they have all shades of grey, but no true black or true white. To get a proper black and white photo, you need to really work at it. The same techniques can be used for just about anything. In this tutorial, I'll examine the main methods using 2 common examples: a portrait and a landscape.

There are 3 main methods to get that true black and white. I'll explore them from worst to best with the best instructions I can provide in 3 sections. Of note: I use Photoshop CS4 for this tutorial, but there are very similar tools available in other software packages. The instructions listed here are for Photoshop CS4.


Method 1: Desaturate and Levels.
The first method is a simple de-saturation of the photo. Desaturating an image makes the Saturation value of each pixel 0. Pixels retain an RGB value, but each channel (colour) will have the same value. As such, you end up with a simple grayscale.

To do this, open an image, like these.

These are SOOC shots from my D80. Though I shot in RAW, these were not processed at all, simply saved.
The portrait was shot with the Nikon 18-70mm ƒ/3.5-4.5 at 70mm, ƒ/4.5, 1/80s. The landscape was shot with the Nikon 10-24 ƒ/3.5-4.5 at 10mm, ƒ/8, 1/250s.

Next, click Image -> Adjustments -> Desaturate or press CMD+SHIFT+U or CTRL+SHIFT+U. This desaturates the image, as below.

Now, the image is a monochrome, showing all shades of grey. There may be some black and some white, but it's very flat and boring. This is typical of what the in-camera black-and-white setting produces either as a JPG or the RAW settings that will appear for a RAW file.

To get a bit more punch, I'll open up the Levels tool by clicking Image -> Adjustments -> Levels or by pressing CMD+L or CTRL+L. I've played around with these sliders a bit, but it's still far from ideal. The Levels tool works by altering the Black Point, White Point and Median for the degrees of grey. The display shows all the shades of grey and the amount of each shade, from 0 to 255 (black to white). On the bottom line is the shade (0 -> 255) and the right is the amount of that colour in the image. The Median (middle slider) alters where the 50% grey point is, stretching out one end and compressing the other.

Check the Levels displays for each image below. Top is the portrait, bottom is the landscape

And the resulting images:

You can play around with the levels tool to get some different effects, but generally the smaller changes tend to look better. Also keep in mind that a good COLOUR image will make for a better black and white. These shots were straight from the camera without any editing. As I'll show in the next section, some minor RAW processing will result in better black and whites. This is where this method ends: These are the results I chose to keep. This method is not ideal, and I would consider it to be the very worst black and white method out there. This is the bare minimum you should be doing if you shoot in black and white from the camera, though I would advise you not to.

Up Next: Channels!

[OsmosisStudios]

Method 2: Channels.

I've gone ahead and made a few edits to the SOOC shots from last time. These are the colour versions I would be happy to publish/print in colour. As I mentioned in the previous post, good saturated colour photos usually make nice black and whites, especially with this method. If you really want to get the most out of it, you have to have some pretty heavy saturation in the colour shot. I edited the original RAW files using ACRv.5.5 and using the standard tools (Basic tab) as well as the HSL (spikes) tab. More on the HSL/Grayscale tab in the next lesson. In any case, here's the result.

Onwards!

This covers the Channels method, one of my favourites. All colour images are composed of 3 channels: a Red, a Green, and a Blue. Each one represents the RGB values for that colour. So, if you have a pixel in a photo that is pure red (255,0,0), it'll be totally white in the red channel (100% red). If you have one that has no red in it (a pure blue, or [0,255,0]) it'll be totally black (0% red). Anywhere in between will yield a varying shade of grey. The same concept applies to the other channels too.

To use this method, you'll have to have your Layers palette open (Windows -> Layers or F7). In this window, you'll see 3 main tabs: Layers, Channels and Paths. Layers should be fairly self-explanatory: it's like having a really big club sandwich. The Channels tab is where we really want to concentrate our efforts though. Click it, and you should get something like this:

Once you have this, you can click any of the channels individually and see what it looks like. As you click from one to the other, you'll see the image change. Below are the R, G, and B channels for both of my images.

AND

If you find one you like, click it, then click and drag the other two to the garbage bin in the bottom right. Once you delete the first one, the remaining two will change names – they should turn to the CMY(K) compliments. As long as you clicked the channel you wanted first, it will stay highlighted: just click and drag the other channel to the bin.

Once you've done this, you'll need to convert the image back to a useable format. Playing around in the channel mixer makes the image a “Multichannel” image, which means it can't be saved to an easily transferred format. Just click Image -> Mode -> Grayscale. Now you can fiddle with levels, dodging and burning, then save to your favourite format. All-in-all, I vastly prefer this method to the previous “desaturate” method. It gives better results, is a lot less work and is quick. It can, of course, still be improved upon.

[OsmosisStudios]

Method 3: RAW conversion
In previous methodologies, I've examined and demonstrated methods for creating black and white images from a straight JPG, which is very useful to everybody. This last method is targeted to those using RAW files. In ACR 5.5, and in some previous versions, you have the option to convert your image to black and white without even getting into Photoshop itself.

For starters, open up a RAW file in ACR. You'll get the regular editing screen, but on the right there is a series of tabs just below the images' histogram and EXIF. If you click on the HSL/Grayscale tab (spikies!), and then check the “Convert to Grayscale” box, you'll get something like this:

AND

Each of these sliders controls the luminosity of that colour. Even though we're working on a grayscale image, the RAW converter still recognizes the colours in the file. The beauty of this method is that it's totally non-destructive, offers an on-the-fly view of what you're doing and can be tailored super accurately for maximum POP.

Using this tool can be a bit tricky, but I'll do my best to explain it here. As you slide a slider to the right (white), the corresponding coloured sections of the photo will become whiter. Dragging the slider to the left (black) makes those colours darker. Do you want some great, dark skies? Assuming your sky is blue, just drag the blue slider down to the left. Want the grass to be lighter? Drag the green to the right. Experiment with this a bit, and you should get the hang of it.

Once you're happy, open the image in Photoshop and give it your final touch. It can sometimes not be perfectly grayscale, so just desaturate the image (Image -> Adjustments -> Desaturate or CMD+SHIFT+U / CTRL+SHIFT+U), maybe a bit of Levels, Dodging and Burning, then Save.

AND

[OsmosisStudios]

Conclusion:

All in all, there are multiple ways of doing black and white in digital. The first method is more like what a camera will do in-camera to produce black and white images. It needs work, thats for sure.

Of course, shooting RAW helps, but if you absolutely can't, your best bet is to try using the channels method, generally choosing Red for landscapes and Blue for portraits. These channels give the best range of tones. Dont be afraid, however, to experiment, especially with taking bits and pieces of each channel using a mask.

Finally, while these images are very good as is, they can benefit from selective dodging and burning as well as some minor compositing. Do your regular editing from images as of this point, including cropping, sharpening and other edits.

Happy shooting!

[Nicole]

Excellent set of tutorials. Any plans to cover the B&W conversion feature in Photoshop and the ability to selectively darken / lighten particular colours? (I know, technically it would take it to 4, but that's one of my fav ways to adjust B&W images )

[OsmosisStudios]

Originally Posted by Nicole

Excellent set of tutorials. Any plans to cover the B&W conversion feature in Photoshop and the ability to selectively darken / lighten particular colours? (I know, technically it would take it to 4, but that's one of my fav ways to adjust B&W images )

To be honest I've never heard of/used this method, so I'd have to read one myself. Sounds very much like the HSL technique (RAW method) outlined in #3, just with a JPG.

[Nicole]

Yep, it is very similar but for the ability to use a dropper to select the colour and by dragging the mouse left or right you adjust the saturation. I always forget because I so rarely use ACR. Still, excellent set of tutorials / explanations.

[BCampbell]

In the first example, why wouldn't you adjust your levels before you do the greyscale conversion? More importantly, why not do a curves adjust to get an ideal saturation/contrast before the conversion?

I prefer the Channel Mixer method, ticking the "Monochrome" box. It's similar, but much simpler, to the RAW method you outlined, but that one is interesting.

[RecceDen]

Originally Posted by Nicole

Yep, it is very similar but for the ability to use a dropper to select the colour and by dragging the mouse left or right you adjust the saturation. I always forget because I so rarely use ACR. Still, excellent set of tutorials / explanations.

I think this is what you are on about Nicole.

Getting Started with Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 - Converting Images to Black and White | Adobe TV

RD

[Nicole]

No, really, I am talking about the B&W layer option in Photoshop You click on the hand with the arrow (as seen in the screen shot below), and then click on the photo and drag right or left to darken or lighten the area.