I have always been a big fan of Black and White photography. I love the timeless feel these photos can portray, taking you back in time. Take a look at my Made in Melbourne project, street photographer photography in #BlackandWhite.
Converting your images into Black and White is very easy. We will be exploring Adobe Photoshop as one of the tools to make this happen. Nine ways to convert your images into Black and White in Photoshop. Don't worry if you don't have Photoshop I will show you how to convert photos into Black and White on your Mac and PC without Photoshop.
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For the purpose of this article, I will only show you the how-to method without going into too much detail. I suggest playing around with each method to find the one you are most comfortable with and the one that provides the best results.
Please note most of these filters will be found in the Adjustments panel within Photoshop. To enable the panel click on Window -> Adjustments from the top menu.
Method 1 - Desaturate
This is the most simple easy method without any fine-tuning options. This option removes the colour from the image.
Method 2 - Grayscale
Click on Discard
Final results
Again this is a simple method of converting to Black and White with no fine-tuning options. This option completely removes the colour from the photo. You enhance this by adding other adjustment layers.
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Method 3 - Black and White Filter
This option allows for more fine-tuning in the Properties panel. With custom presets and manual adjustments with the sliders.
Method 4 - Photo Filter
In the Properties panel - Click on Color and choose black as the colour. Then set the Density to 100% and make sure the Preserve Luminosity is ticked.
By changing the colours in the Color option you can produce some cool effects.
Method 5 - Channel Mixer
The Channel Mixer provides Black and White presets you can choose from or use the slider to fine-tune the image.
Method 6 - Hue/Saturate
With the Hue/Saturation adjustment layer slide the Saturation slider to the left -100 to achieve the Black and White look. You can also achieve a monotone image by using the Colorize option and sliding the Hue slider.
Method 7 - Color Lookup
Within the Color Lookup choose the Abstract option from the dropdown and choose Gray Tone to create the Black and White effect. While the Blue Tone and Sepia Tone options will produce a monotone effect.
Method 8 - Gradient Map
Apply the Gradient Map filter, in the gradient editor dropdown choose the Basic folder and select any of two solid colours. The Method dropdown under the gradient editor will provide some basic enhancements.
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Method 9 - Camera Raw Filter
Once you are in the RAW Filter, choose Monochrome in the Profile dropdown. Use the sliders under Basic to manually fine-tune the image.
On a Mac - Open In Preview App
Unhide Markup Toolbar
Click on the Adjust Colour tool
In the Adjust Colour toolbar slide the Saturation to the left. This will remove the colour. The other sliders can be used to enhance the image.
On a PC - Open in Photos App
Right click on the photo and Open With Photos. Click on the Edit Image. There two methods to convert to Black and White.
Uinsg Adjustment Method (Below). Move the Saturation slider all the way to the left and use the other aliders for fine tuing.
The Filters method provides a number of Black and Whte presets. The intensity slider allows to adjest the amount of the filter applied to the image.
Please feel free to share you method of converting images into Black and White. I would love to build a large reference guide.
The video below demonstrates the above steps.
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