1 The unadjusted image
2 The color cast is removed.
3 Saturation is raised high.
4 Saturation is not raised so high that it will cause clipping.
5 Before and after comparisons of a global conversion
1 – Full color
2 – Vibrance -100
3 – Saturation -100
4 – B&W Mixer with custom settings
Why is desaturating the worst color-to-black-and-white conversion method?
In short, it makes mud.
Here’s why.
When set to -100, Saturation changes different hues to similar neutral values; it loses tonal separation.
Vibrance is a worse choice; when set to -100, it retains some color.
Tools like Lightroom and Camera Raw’s B&W Mixer or Photoshop’s Black & White adjustment layer are much better because they allow you to retain tonal separation and adjust which hues become light or dark. They work very well for basic color to black-and-white conversions.
Photoshop offers even more control, first by allowing color to be adjusted before conversion and second by adding the ability to make local conversions so that the same color in different areas of an image can be converted differently.
So, when you’re making color to black-and-white conversions, stay away from Saturation and Vibrance and choose Lightroom/Camera Raw for basic global conversions, or when you need more, use Photoshop for the ultimate preview of possibilities and the most control.
The fully saturated image
light on dark pieces of paper - a combination that can only be made by localizing different conversions
dark on light pieces of paper - a combination that can only be made by localizing different conversions
–
To find the best color to black-and-white solution an image contains, it’s important to explore all of your options. One technique will quickly show you more options than any other – Photoshop’s dual adjustment layers (a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer below a Channel Mixer adjustment layer).
To preview all possibilities dynamically, move the Hue slider all the way to the left and all the way to the right.
But wait, there’s more.
As you’re previewing the many options available to you, remember you can localize the effects with masks. You can go beyond what you see in one mix by combining any of the tones you see in all of the mixes.
Few people can remember all of the possible combinations. So, save multiple copies with different settings and compare them. There’s nothing like seeing many options, side-by-side, to confirm you’re committing to the best solution.
You can read about this technique in more detail here.
–
The two solutions above can only be achieved by converting separate areas of the image differently using masks.
The solutions below show the different global conversions which can be combined.
Note no dodging and burning was used to create these solutions. Dodging and burning can’t produce these extreme effects, but it can be used to further enhance them.
Also, note this technique is not useful for semi-neutral images; an image has to have significant saturation in at least one color to benefit from this technique.
Full-color image
Global B&W conversion
B&W conversion locally optimized for foreground
The color transformation necessary to produce the results
With so much power available during Raw processing (with Lightroom or Camera Raw) when converting color to black-and-white, you’re right to ask, “Why use Photoshop?” It’s a question worth asking every time you make a black-and-white conversion. And there’s a simple answer – when you want to convert the same color in two separate areas of an image differently. (Note: this technique is not useful for semi-neutral images; an image has to have significant saturation in at least one color to benefit from this technique.)
Photoshop can localize black-and-white conversions with masks. Often, the masks you need to do this will be extremely simple. But, for the rare occasions when you need to make a more complex selection, Photoshops’s robust masking capabilities are there for you.
Here's how to do it.
Explore the wonderful world of black-and-white, a special form of color.
Seeing In B&W
What’s unique about black-and-white, and how to best adjust and print it.
What’s Unique About B&W
Black-and-white is special in so many ways.
Expanding The Definition Of B&W
The term “black & white” is not as simple as you might think.
How Gray Is Gray ?
Both context and personal preference make this a surprisingly challenging question.
Why You Need To Understand Color To Get The Best B&W Images
Color affects the exposure, processing, and printing of black-and-white images.
An Overview Of Color To B&W Conversions
My preferred workflow for color to black and white conversions.
Optimizing Files Before B&W Conversions
Prepare your color images before conversion to black-and-white to gain maximum control.
Why Desaturating Is The Worst Color To Black & White Conversion Method
Simply desaturating reduces tonal separation.
A Dozen Ways To Convert Color To B&W – And Why You Only Need Two (Coming Soon)
Simplify your workflow.
Lightroom / Camera Raw – B&W Conversions (Coming Soon)
When global conversions are enough.
Photoshop – B&W Conversions
When you want to localize conversions.
How To Create The Best Color To B&W Conversion Previews
Exploring your options before you commit to a final solution is time well spent.
Simulating Infrared | .99
Create the look of infrared with Adobe Photoshop (all versions)
Enhancing Local Contrast In B&W Images
The best ways to dodge and burn detailed.
5 Strategies For Adding Color Back Into B&W
Why and how to add color back into black-and-white photographs.
Top 5 Ways To Add Color To Black & White
By adding color to your black-and-white photos, you can enhance their expressive qualities.
Hand-Coloring B&W Photographs (Coming Soon)
How to achieve complex and convincing effects with this compelling palette.
Black & White Signature Styles
Like so many other artists, you, too, can learn to craft a unique black-and-white look.
5 Photographers With Signature B&W Styles
Study the masters to find new possibilities in black-and-white photography.
Why B&W And Color Don’t Mix
They’re two different realities; unless you use them as a code for that, present them separately.
Epson Driver – Advanced B&W Photo
Use the Epson driver to make the best black-and-white prints.
Watch The Essence Of B&W Mastery
Why do you need to understand color to get the best black-and-white images?
Let me count the reasons.
1 Understand How Flexible The Luminosity Of Saturated Colors During Exposure And Conversion
Understanding how light and/or dark you can make saturated colors will help you pre-visualize the tonal possibilities within an image before exposure. When post-processing, while you’re converting color images to black-and-white, I recommend you make all of these ideas visible realities, making many different black and white versions and comparing them side-by-side. At the same time, you need to understand how neutral and near neutral colors do not offer the same flexibility, which will improve both your vision and your efficiency.
You may not think there’s a problem. You may think you know the difference. It’s obvious right? But is it? Do you? After a lifetime spent in the arts, I find photographers’ ability to describe color woefully limited, and this is never truer than when describing “black-and-white” images.
Most antique processes are black and white, right? Certainly, silver gelatin is black and white. But what if you tone it? Is a platinum print black and white or brown and white? Is a cyanotype black and white or blue and white? What about hand-tinted photographs? They were black and white but then they became colorful again, but it’s a different kind of color, isn’t it? And if only a little color is added is it still black and white? At what point does an image become black and white?
The problem is that having only two terms – color and black and white – for a wide array of color palettes limits not only our communication but more importantly our perception and thinking.
Can you effectively present a project or body of work that contains both black-and-white and color images? It rarely works, but in rare cases it can.
The problem is that color and black-and-white images appear to be from different times or even different worlds and sometimes both. They’re so different from one another that presenting them together breaks the continuity of the larger story being told (Even a collection of separate poems creates a larger story, albeit with a much looser narrative and context than an essay.) and it undermines the suspension of disbelief required to imagine that a small two-dimensional image accurately represents our much larger three-dimensional world. Viewers end up paying more attention to the way the images are presented and our attention is deflected away from their content. We spend time and effort trying to figure out a pattern between images that are color and images that are black-and-white and the reasons why they’re different from one another, which is wasted if there aren’t any. “It looks better.” isn’t a strong enough reason to break continuity and suspension of disbelief. If there is no reason that contributes to the content of the series, then it’s a few small wins for individuals but a big loss for the team, and we leave the work feeling confused and frustrated. (“I don’t get. Is it me?”) For these reasons it’s best not to mix color and black-and-white images. Instead, present them separately.
You can learn a lot just by looking at great photographs.
Want to learn more about black and white images?
Start by studying these five photographers.
Alfred Stieglitz explored the softer sensibility of platinum with muted blacks, very full highlights, and a surprising range of tints.
View 12 Great Photographs By Alfred Stieglitz here.
Ansel Adams epitomized the modern sensibility with deep blacks, bright whites, and a full smooth range of tones in between.
View 12 Great Photographs By Ansel Adams here.
Brett Weston moved modern photography towards abstraction with extreme contrast often eliminating shadow and sometimes highlight detail.
View 12 Great Photographs By Brett Weston here.
Huntington Witherill advances the classic modern sensibility into the contemporary by achieving extreme separation in even the deepest blacks and the brightest whites, often side-by-side.
View 12 Great Photographs By Huntington Witherill here.
Joyce Tenneson has explored many high key black and white palettes over her career – neutral in her early years, semi-neutral tints mid-career, and more recently gold-leafed.
View 12 Great Photographs By Joyce Tenneson here.
View more 12 Great Photographs Collections here.
Read more in my Black & White lessons.
Learn more in my digital photography and digital printing workshops.
There are as many reasons to add color back into black-and-white photographs as there are ways to do it.
You can change the emotional tone of photographs when you add warm or cool tints to them.
You can separate areas of a photograph by toning them differently.
You can enhance the illusion of volume in a photograph by adding different colors into highlights and shadows; typically highlights are warm and shadows are cool.
You can increase volume further by adding gradations of hue in specific regions of a photograph; typically this is done with brushes.
You can add still greater realistic complexity by restoring trace amounts of the original color.
If you increase the saturation of any of these treatments beyond a low level, you turn black-and-white photographs into color photographs.
Read more in my Black & White lessons.
Learn more in my digital photography and digital printing workshops.