Black and white photos are classic and timeless. They evoke memories of years gone. But they also render everyday subjects in a striking way, creating a work of art from what might otherwise be considered commonplace, especially when photographed from a unique angle, in a special light, or close up. This digital photography guide shows you how to use Photoshop to process your images in black and white.
Most digital cameras have a setting that allows you to take photographs in black and white. However, digital also means you can capture an image in full colour converting it later to black and white, so why not enjoy the best of both worlds by capturing your images in colour first? Leave the camera on full-colour settings and you can convert images selectively when you wish.
It can be satisfying to convert colour images to black and white yourself, tweaking the contrast or levels according to your personal or creative preference. While there are many photo editing software programs available on the market, Adobe Photoshop is the program of choice for many photographers.
In Photoshop, there are multiple ways of converting colour images into black and white. Some achieve better results than others do. And many photographers use special touches or adjust specific parts of a photograph to create subtle changes in colour or otherwise give their monochrome pictures a "signature look."
For a simple conversion in Photoshop, however, just open the full-colour image in the program. Then select "Image" from the toolbar on the top of the screen and choose "Mode" and then "Grayscale." It will ask you if you want to discard all of the colour information, and you will click on "Yes."
At this point, perform "File" "Save As" and save the photograph with the same name, adding "BW" on the end so you know the image is black and white. This will ensure you do not copy over the original colour image and inadvertently lose it. Then examine your image to determine whether there is enough contrast or sharpness between the shades of whites and the shades of blacks. If you would like to up the contrast slightly to make the photograph look more distinct, choose "Image" from the toolbar, then "Adjustments" and then "Levels." Examine the histogram within this pop up box.
This digital photography guide recommends experimenting with sliding the arrow on the right hand side of the "Input Levels" toward the left and observe the affect on the black and white tonality of your image. Stop the slider when you are pleased with the effect. Likewise, slide the arrow on the left-hand side of the "Input Levels" toward the right and watch how it affects the black and white tonality. In most cases there is no need to move the middle slider, but you can experiment with it to see any effect.
Note that the arrow on the right side affects the highlights, light tones, or whites in the image, and sliding it to the left darkens those tones incrementally. The arrow on the left side affects the shadows, dark tones, or blacks in the image, and sliding it to the right lightens those tones incrementally. The middle arrow affects midtones.
Utilising these arrows lets you adjust the levels of the different black and white values in the photograph. Setting levels so there is more contrast between the blacks and the whites can add pizzazz or clarity to a black and white image, making it stand out more. It makes the blacks blacker and the whites whiter. It makes it more striking. You may also hear this referred to as getting some of the "muddiness" out of the image.
Finally, save the photo as an RGB file in order for most printers to recognise and print the image. Select "Image" from the toolbar on the top of the screen and choose "Mode" and then "RGB." Don't forget to hit "Save" the file again in this new format with the image adjusted as desired.
I sincerely hope this digital photography guide has been useful, and that you enjoy every success with your black and white photographs. If you were to supplement this learning with the training a reliable online photography course could provide, you could be creating striking black and white images within a few days.
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