Colour to Back & White Conversion

[nanbil]

Sometimes a 'bad' colour photo will make a good black and white photograph. There are several ways to do this.

The first possibility is to use the standard greyscale conversion that all graphic programs offer. In Paint Shop Pro, it's hidden under the menu [Image][Greyscale]. All three colour channels are averaged. Most programs perform a weighted average of the 3 channels, and the result is usually pretty bland in my opinion.

Better yet, try activating the menu [Image][Split Channel][Split to RGB] on the original colour image. This will create 3 new images containing a different colour channel each. Yes, they show as greyscale because they are just intensity maps of red, green and blue, separately. Keep the red channel and the contrast is a little better than on the standard greyscale conversion.

Now apply a custom mix of image enhancement functions in order to get the final image. Duplicate the base layer and perform a [One Step Photo Fix]. Then make another copy of the base layer and perform a [Clarify] for a very dramatic sky. Mix up the layers with a 30 to 50% partial opacity.

To finish off apply a noise cleaning filter to the clarified channel which tends to increase the noise too much.

[tariquesani]

There use to be a photoshop action from DigiDaan which does excellent B/W conversion using channel mixers - it should still work DigiDaan is the link

[kencaleno]

here are 7 ways to do it

#1.
Ctrl+J
Image> Calculations
Background layer
Red
Background Layer
Red
Multiply
New channel
Image> Mode> Greyscale
flatten/save

#2.
Image>Mode>Greyscale
discard color information?-click "OK"
Save

#3.
Image>Adjustments>Desaturate
Save

#4.
Ctrl+J
new adjustment layer- Hue/saturation
Reduce saturation to -100
New adjustment layer-Hue/saturation>Blues
drag "lightness" slider to -100
>Greens-push up to lighten
new adjustment layer>Hue/saturation
Increase saturation to just before noise appears
Flatten save

#5.
CCtrl+J
Image>Adjustments>Channel mixer
Check "monochrome" box
Move sliders to define image:
-as a starting point Red +50%
Green +50%
Blue 0%
Whatever the mix,total must add up to 100%
Flatten save

#6.
Kodak Plus X:

Image>Adjustments>Desaturate
Image>Mode>Lab color
Ctrl+J
Filter>Other>High Pass radius 10 pixels
Opacity between 20%-40%
Blend Mode-Hard light
New curve layer(Ctrl+M)
Input 22- Output 16
flatten
Image>Mode>RGB
save

#7.
Kodak Tri-X:

1. Desaturate color
Use either the hue/saturation or desaturate command to remove all color from the image.

2. Add monochrome noise -Just enough to see (Check "monochrome" box)


3. Adjust levels

Bleach Highlights
move the highlight slider to the left - this will start to cause the highlights to overexpose
Deepen Shadows
move the shadow slider a very small amount to the right - this will make the shadows a bit darker and increase the image contrast.
Adjust Midtones
adjust the midtone slider to taste

Save


Example uses #1

[Romin09]

Originally Posted by kencaleno

here are 7 ways to do it

#1.
Ctrl+J
Image> Calculations
Background layer
Red
Background Layer
Red
Multiply
New channel
Image> Mode> Greyscale
flatten/save

#2.
Image>Mode>Greyscale
discard color information?-click "OK"
Save

#3.
Image>Adjustments>Desaturate
Save

#4.
Ctrl+J
new adjustment layer- Hue/saturation
Reduce saturation to -100
New adjustment layer-Hue/saturation>Blues
drag "lightness" slider to -100
>Greens-push up to lighten
new adjustment layer>Hue/saturation
Increase saturation to just before noise appears
Flatten save

#5.
CCtrl+J
Image>Adjustments>Channel mixer
Check "monochrome" box
Move sliders to define image:
-as a starting point Red +50%
Green +50%
Blue 0%
Whatever the mix,total must add up to 100%
Flatten save

#6.
Kodak Plus X:

Image>Adjustments>Desaturate
Image>Mode>Lab color
Ctrl+J
Filter>Other>High Pass radius 10 pixels
Opacity between 20%-40%
Blend Mode-Hard light
New curve layer(Ctrl+M)
Input 22- Output 16
flatten
Image>Mode>RGB
save

#7.
Kodak Tri-X:

1. Desaturate color
Use either the hue/saturation or desaturate command to remove all color from the image.

2. Add monochrome noise -Just enough to see (Check "monochrome" box)


3. Adjust levels

Bleach Highlights
move the highlight slider to the left - this will start to cause the highlights to overexpose
Deepen Shadows
move the shadow slider a very small amount to the right - this will make the shadows a bit darker and increase the image contrast.
Adjust Midtones
adjust the midtone slider to taste

Save


Example uses #1

Which of these 7 would best work for PS or Lightroom? Also does anyone know if Frank Lazaro ever made a tutorial for B/W conversion b/c I really liked his Lomo one.

Thanks

[Cliffs]

I found this tutorial, not sure if it is what anyone here would like.


Black & White Conversion Technique With Adobe Photoshop
Photography By Mel Tulin and Text By John - Mr. Jalapeño © All rights reserved.



http://www.outdooreyes.com/photo73.php3