Dec 23 2008
John Paul Caponigro on the Many Ways to Convert Color to Black & White
There are over 14 ways to convert color to black and white.
1 Raw Conversion
2 Convert to Grayscale
3 Convert to Lab then convert to Grayscale keeping the L channel
4 Desaturate
5 Channel Mixer
6 Black & White Adjustment Layer
7 Dual Adjustment Layers – Dual Hue / Saturation
8 Dual Adjustment Layers – Hue / Saturation with Selective Color
9 Dual Adjustment Layers – Hue / Saturation with Channel Mixer
10 Triple Adjustment Layers – 3 Channel Mixers
11 Gradient Map
12 Calculations
13 Apply Image
14 Channels as Layers
Some of these methods aren’t optimal. Some are equal. Some are superior.
Which should you use?
It depends on the image.
Sometimes a simple solution will do just as well as a complex one.
Sometimes you need the power of a more complex solution.
Here are my four favorites, ascending from simple to complex.
1 Black & White Adjustment Layer
2 Dual Adjustment Layers – Hue/Saturation and Channel Mixer
3 Triple Adjustment Layers – 3 Channel Mixers
4 Channels as Layers
Master these four techniques and you won’t need another.
And you’ll get the very best results possible.
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