Let's look at how to do it in Photoshop black and white photo. Creating a black and white image allows you to convey the unique atmosphere of the photograph.
Often such photographs are taken in thematic photo shoots, when simulating historical photographs, or to highlight the main object depicted in the photograph.
Method 1. Discoloration
The first and easiest way to create a black and white photo in Photoshop is to desaturate the original photo.
Follow the instructions to convert your photo:
- Open the drawing in any version of Photoshop;
- Wait for the toolbar and layers window to load;
- At the top of the main program window, select “Image”. Then click on “Correction” and select “Desaturate” from the drop-down list (or “Image” - “Adjustments” - “Desaturate” if you have the English version of the program).
To execute this command, you can also use the hotkey combination Shift -Ctrl -U.
Automatic color layer elimination creates an image with low level contrast.
In general, the picture looks quite dim, there is no “depth” effect. The figure shows a photo before and after applying the bleaching procedure.
Method 2: Duplicate an image
This method is also very easy. Its essence is to duplicate the initial image and discolor it.
Open the photo in Photoshop.
Use the hotkey combination Ctrl -Shift -U or select “Image” - “Adjustments” - “Black&White” in the main menu.
Making part of the picture colored
To make it color specific object on a black and white picture, select “Brush” on the left in the toolbar or simply press the “B” button on your keyboard.
Create a layer mask. Set the following brush parameters: hardness – 60 percent, pressure level – 40 percent.
As you work, you can select other parameters based on the characteristics of the photo you are editing.
Select the brush colors, black and white, in the order shown in the image:
When switching between colors, remember that using black you can erase, and using white you can restore a photo. Go over the photo with your brush.
To make it more convenient, zoom in and adjust the diameter of the brush itself.
Creating a B&W photograph by duplicating allows you to achieve better effect than after bleaching (method 1).
Despite this, some data is still lost. Automatic image conversion always destroys some of the photo's pixels, degrading the quality.
To achieve a more professional effect, avoid using automatic tools.
Method 3: Using an adjustment layer
This method is more complex than the previous ones. Its essence is that to create a B&W image we will use color and saturation adjustment layers.
This method allows you to return the original appearance of the drawing at any time. The user does not change the original image.
Follow the instructions:
- Go to the Layers tab. Select “Create a new adjustment layer” (“Layer” – “New adjustment layer”);
- In the list, click on “Color (Saturation)” (“Hue/Saturation”);
- Save it without making any changes to it;
- In the image layers display panel, change the blending mode from “Normal” to “Color” (Color);
- Create another adjustment layer (“Hue/Saturation”);
- In the Layer Options, adjust the Saturation slider to 100. Save changes;
Double click on the second adjustment layer. Adjust the Hue slider until you like the result.
In addition to these parameters, you can also adjust the saturation (“Lightness”), thus creating a deeper gamut of the B&W image.
Copy the very first adjustment layer created and drag it onto this icon 
. It is located at the very bottom of the all layers palette.
Now switch to the second adjustment layer window and change its mode to “Overlay”.
At this stage, you can reduce the transparency to 60-65% to achieve a better result.
As a result, we get a deeper and more detailed image.
Using this method, you can experiment with adjusting the layer settings yourself.
Rice. 10 – comparison of using two methods (bleaching and adjustment layers)
The question of converting a color photograph to black and white is perhaps the most popular. These methods are in it great amount. Before I started writing this article, I surfed the Internet and found some good reviews. Unfortunately, the best of them are either outdated or poorly structured. What does it mean? This means that all methods for converting to black and white are thrown into one pile by type, choose any, all are good. But this is far from true. Not all of them are good; some of the methods are tailored for specific tasks, which is not taken into account by the authors of the articles.
Color adjustment layers in Photoshop
I would like this article to be as simple as possible, and at the same time as informative as possible. Therefore, I deliberately decided not to involve color grading layers in this article. Let me just say briefly that color correction layers can be created from Layers > New Adjustments Layers or from the panel Windows > Adjustments They represent color correction in the form of a layer and almost completely duplicate the old color corrections we are used to, which are in Image > Adjustments After creation, such a layer is located in the layers panel Layers. This means that it can be controlled in the same way as a regular layer. Apply a mask to it, disable it, apply layer overlay options to it. The most important thing is that the color correction layer is not applied to the photo itself. The original source photo remains safe and sound under the accumulation of your color correction layers. And this is their main advantage. If I wanted to create a black and white photo using color correction layers, here is the easiest way.
Layers > New Ajustiments Layers > Blak and Whites. Click OK. And this is how we create a black and white photo using color correction layers.
The easiest way to create a black and white photo in Photoshop
Perhaps the easiest way to create a black and white photograph is as follows. Open any photo and select from the menu Image > Adjustments > Desaturate or click Ctrl+Shift+U All. And this is the easiest way to create a black and white photo in Photoshop. Unfortunately, the simplest method has the biggest flaw: a complete lack of color control. We get the shades we get, there is not the slightest possibility of somehow controlling the shades of color.
Black and white photos via Vibrance
Open a photo and select Image > Adjustments > Vibrance In the menu that appears, you will see 2 settings. Myself Vibrance and classic Saturation. Saturation removes color simply and linearly. And vice versa, it enhances the intensity of color if we want to make the photo more colorful. Vibrance more intelligent and cunning, for the most part it is tailored to increase saturation rather than desaturation. Its main purpose is to increase saturation in a smart way. Vibrance protects already oversaturated colors from saturation and saturates those that are less saturated. IN reverse side or Vibrance protects oversaturated colors from total loss saturation.
WITH Saturation everything is very simple. It linearly reduces color saturation and increases it linearly. Desaturate, with which we decolorized the photo in the previous method with nothing more than Saturation -100
Black and white photo via Hue/Saturation
Hue/Saturation- a truly universal photo black-bleacher that served all designers for these purposes long years. You will find it in Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation.
Slider Hue- this is the shade itself. About Saturation we already talked. Lightness is not analogous to brightness. It adds light to the photo or plunges it into the abyss of darkness. The main purpose Hue/Saturation— work with individual shades of color and adjust them using the three above options, that is, change the hue, saturate or decolorize, make it darker or lighter. By using Hue/Saturation you can desaturate either a single color (you can select it from the menu above the sliders) or whole line colors that you can select directly from the photo eyedropper or customize the rainbow palette at the bottom Hue/Saturation manually.
Check mark Colorize allows you to disable multi-hue and convert the entire photo to one shade. Which in turn helps to achieve very specific photo effects like sepia. By the way, on the menu Presets, which allows you to save ready-made settings, sepia is already available.
In my example I configured Hue/Saturation in the following way. I selected all the shades except red-orange and removed the saturation Saturation. I also made these shades darker using Lightness.
Black and white photo via Black and White
Remember at the beginning of the article I made you desaturate the photo using a color correction layer Black and White? Now we will talk about it. Open a photo and select Image > Adjustments > Black and White.
When resources Hue/Saturation were exhausted, the developers gave us a new color correction. Black and White is designed for competent translation of color into black and white and I would recommend using it. What's good about him? Firstly Black and White immediately decolorizes the photo, but does it differently than linear Saturation. Black and White automatically decolorizes shades, but also selects optimal lighting for them. In this sense, each slider with a color for Black and White, is essentially a setting Lightness from Hue/Saturation, but for a specific shade, which allows you to control color much more mobile and flexible.
If each of the color shades is adjusted to 50, the result will be linear Saturation -100. If you press the button Auto — Black and White will try to correct the result himself, based on his idea of beauty. If you try to twist the sliders yourself, you can get an even more interesting result. Good on the menu Preset There are ready-made template settings for all occasions. A tick Tint allows you to add a sepia tint. It's a completely different matter!
Black and white photo via Channel Mixer
From the name it is not difficult to understand that Channel Mixer mixes channels. This means that the correction occurs at the level of channel masks. Super huh? A small theoretical excursion for clarity of understanding.
The image of all televisions and monitors is produced from three color channels. Red green and blue. Together this is called color mode RGB. There are other modes, for example print mode, but that’s not about that now. Three primary colors produce other primary colors. From various combinations of red, blue and green, the other primary colors are obtained, that is, all the colors of the rainbow. For example, pure red and pure green produce yellow. Well, then you remember, the light in the prism is decomposed into a rainbow and collected back. And the different colors of the rainbow in different proportions create all the other one hundred and five hundred million colors. The same thing happens in the monitor, which emits its alluring light on us. Any image has 3 color channels. Each color channel has a mask, where the lightest area is the color of the channel (red for example) and the darkest is the absence of light in the channel (black). From three channels everything else comes out.
Channel Mixer mixes color at the channel mask level. That is, it mixes the channels themselves, making them brighter or darker. Through this, the entire color combination changes. Opening Image > Adjustments > Channel Mixer immediately check the box Monochrome. It's the same thing Saturation -100 or Desaturation. Then you can transfer the channel saturation and get something similar to Black and White Effect. On the menu Presets as usual ready-made templates. But the main danger lies in the value of the option Total.
Meaning Total should not exceed 100% . Why? By changing the sliders we lighten or darken the channels. If the total permissible value is exceeded in 100% we “burn” the photograph towards darkening or lightening. This means that in some places the photo will lose color and information about the color will be deleted. The photo will become, in the language of photographers, overexposed, or vice versa. That is, the photo will begin to lose hue information, and some areas of it will become either 100% white or 100% black. And this is evil.
Black and white photo via Threshold
This is where black and white really hides. Threshold is a very ancient feature in Photoshop, it was created 15-20 years ago, and was designed for processing images for printing from old printers that can no longer be found even in the latest landfill. There are no printers for a long time, but Threshold stayed and this is what he does.
Each photograph can be conditionally assessed by the degree of light and darkness. If we ignore color saturation (Saturation -100) we will get a regular black and white photo, where each pixel will be either light gray or dark gray. Slider Threshold is a kind of index. Those pixels that are light enough based on the value on the slider become white. Those that don't turn black.
Black and white photo via Gradient Map
Gradient Map- acts the same as Threshold, it was just created later years 10 later and, if possible, 100 times more advanced. You can find it in Image > Adjustments > Gradient Map
Conditionally Gradient Map divides a photo into light areas and dark areas, and then overlays a gradient on them, with the right edge of the gradient overlaying the light areas and the left edge of the gradient overlaying the dark areas. Since the gradient can be anything, the result will be completely different. From sepia to HDR.
And this is another way to create a black and white photo in Photoshop.
Black and white photo via Selective Color
Selective Color created not for producing black and white photographs, but for correcting specific shades of color, but what the hell? Black and white photography can also be taken in it. Although you can just as easily take your camera and go shoot it in black and white.
Open Image > Adjustments > Selective Color and reduce all shades to 0%. White, gray and black will remain. So play with them.
Black and white photo via HDR Toning
Speaking of HDR tinting. Black and white photography can also be obtained through this filter. Why not? True, for this you will have to merge all the layers of your work, so create a duplicate for this case.
So Image > Adjustments > HDR Toning. At the bottom of the settings window are still the same Saturate And Vibrance. Turn the sliders down to -100 and play around with the rest of the settings. By the way, on the menu Presets as usual, a number of good blanks for black and white toning. Unfortunately my photo is not suitable for the present HDR effect, but as a platform for experimentation it’s fine.
Black and white photo via Match Color
Match Color not to convert to black and white, but to combine the tonality of light and color of two different images. Well, for example, we cut Masha out of one photo and pasted her into another photo next to Dasha. And the colors are different. Masha in a swimsuit on the beach, Dasha in a dimly lit room, and the photo was taken with a Polaroid about 10 years ago. But, meanwhile, in Match Color There are familiar tools for desaturating and creating sepia-like tones.
I won’t even dwell on this color correction, since it is not for converting to black and white, but since we are going to the end, why not mention it?
Black and white photo via Variations
Variations Ancient Photoshop color correction for working with shades and light. You can even get a black and white photo through this dinosaur.
Open it through Image > Adjustments > Variations check the box Saturation and click until you go crazy! The slider indicates the strength of the effect applied. You can click endlessly. Then, switch to Midtones and on the right side of the window add or reduce light.
Black and white photo via Replace Color
Tool Replace Color blunt and straightforward. Use a pipette to select a color. And then this color changes where necessary, including towards black and white.
Select the plus eyedropper, it selects not just one color, but several, and drag over the area you want to repaint. Change the Fuzziness setting as you go. This option expands the color gamut. Essentially it creates a smoother and soft effect, rather than twitchy, torn. Done? Now Saturation -100 and Lightness to taste. The dish is served.
And at this stage, I listed all the conceivable and inconceivable ways to create a black and white photograph in Photoshop using color correction or color correction layers.
There are many ways to make a black and white photo in Photoshop, from simple ones in two clicks to complex ones. Among complicated ways working with the color of a photograph is practiced to achieve the desired contrast or softness of a black and white photograph.
The video shows 5 options for making a photo black and white in Photoshop CS6 (under the video are instructions for earlier versions of Photoshop):
1. How to take a black and white photo using Hue/Saturation
The easiest way to desaturate a photo in Photoshop. By simultaneously pressing the Ctrl+U keys, we call up the Hue/Saturation settings window, where the Saturation parameter is responsible for color saturation, so we remove it accordingly. The result can be seen below.
2. Like Grayscale
For real the simplest way make a photo black and white in one click. In the top menu select Image=>Mode=>Grayscale. The result is almost identical the previous method, see photo below.
3. How take a black and white photo using Channel Mixer...
One of the most the right ways make the photo black and white. Similar to color filters, when photographing on black and white film, it allows you to play with shades in Photoshop.
Let's take a closer look, in the top menu - Image=>Adjustment=>Channel Mixer. In the settings window, in the lower left corner, check the box next to Monochrome. Next, turn the knobs for each of the three color channels to obtain the desired contrast and shades. There is one rule here: the sum of the values of all color channels must equal 100. Below I have given an example with the results of three “rough” settings.
4. How take a black and white photo using Gradient Map
A method of converting a photo into black and white with increased contrast. In the top menu of Photoshop, select Image => Adjustments => Gradient Map. By changing the smoothness of the gradient flow from black to white, we get its “reflection” in the contrast of the photograph. It's very interesting to play with shades here.
5. How take a black and white photo usingMixed method.
The most sophisticated way to make a photo black and white. As you already understand, the shades and contrast of a black and white photograph, when transferred from color to Photoshop, can be adjusted by the color settings of the color photograph. The translation method with adjustment layers has distinctive flexibility. To do this, create adjustment layers in the following sequence (from bottom to top):
- Hue/Saturation (when setting the Hue parameter, it changes the tone of the colors, which will subsequently affect the hue in black and white, also do not forget about the Saturation parameter - color saturation)
- Selective Color (selective color adjustment)
- Gradient Map (translation into black and white of the color image obtained using the previous settings)
- Curves (shade control, Overlay layer blending type, set in the Layers window, F7 key)
This method is as flexible as possible; showing examples is pointless.
We are already accustomed to seeing all the photos in bright colors. Modern technology allows you to preserve a colorful picture of life as a memory. But sometimes it is a monochrome photo that creates the necessary ambience and conveys the atmosphere of feelings. In color photographs, brightness sometimes distracts attention from the important subject of the photo. Black and white version in some cases it helps to make objects more expressive and attractive. Some fans are wondering how to make a picture black and white in Photoshop, how to decolorize it.
One of the ways to artistically process a photo is to make it monochrome
Adobe Photoshop allows you to change color photo, making it black and white, in several ways. With either method, you need to first create a copy of the Background layer. Then choose the option of how to make a black and white photo in Photoshop that is convenient for you.
1. Grayscale
With the image open in Adobe Photoshop, go to the Image section. There, click on Mode and select Grayscale from the list that appears. The image became black and white.
Very fast, easy way, however, the quality will be low, the contrast is low.
2. Discoloration
You can use another simple technique in Photoshop. It is also quick and easy. In the same Image section, a little lower is the Adjustments function; select Desaturate from the list. You can perform this operation using the key combination Shift+Ctrl+U.
The image is not High Quality It will come out, with low contrast, flat, somewhat dull, but the main task - to make the picture black and white - will be completed.
3. Channel mixing
The methods described above are easy to implement, but still, a black and white image primarily attracts us with its contrast high level, depth. How to make a black and white image in Photoshop so that it is of high quality? It’s not enough to simply desaturate; you need to use several color saturation adjustment layers. This option does not change the original image. Follow this algorithm:
- Open the Channels tab in Photoshop, located next to the Layers tab. Click on different channels in turn (red, blue, green), you will see the difference in the resulting images. The photo has become black and white, the saturation of a certain color you have chosen changes. You will see on which channel the image is blurred and contrast is lost;
- Open the Channel Mixer tool in Photoshop by following the path Image - Check the box in the Monochrome window to get a monochrome image. Move the sliders to select the desired color saturation. General value leave it at 100% if you don’t want to change the brightness of the photo, or 110% for a lighter image;
- You can generally darken or lighten the image using the Contrast setting;
- Apply the selected settings by clicking OK.
So, you managed to create a deeper, richer image than when working with automatic conversion of color to black and white photos.
4. Using channels
You will get a high-quality photo with the following processing:
- Open the picture;
- Duplicate the layer by pressing Ctrl+J;
- In the Layers tab, change Normal Soft Light to soft light mode;
- Merge the layer with the bottom one, using the combination Ctrl+E;
- On the left toolbar, click on the small black and white squares next to the color settings (Default Foreground and Background Colors) or just press D;
- Create a gradient map;
- Follow the path Image - Adjustments - Gradient Map. Click OK;
- Go to the Channels tab. Select the Red channel there;
- In the menu, select everything (Select - All) or with the Ctrl + A keys;
- Copy the selection using the hot keys Ctrl+C;
- Select the RGB channel and paste into it what you copied from the red channel using Ctrl+V;
- Return to the Layers tab. Set the new layer to Soft Light mode and set the Opacity to 50%;
- Merge the layers using Ctrl+E.
It takes longer to edit a photo this way, but the quality and saturation are much better.
Leave part of the image in color in the black and white photo
The easiest way is to use an archive brush. You need to desaturate the photo using any of the above methods, usually using Shift+Ctrl+U. Then take the History Brush Tool (Historical Brush) or press Y, set the transparency, size - and return the color to the desired details. You can make any details colored; they will stand out brightly against the monochrome background of the image base.
Today we will look at methods that allow you to make a photo black and white. I would like to immediately say that there are many ways to perform this operation. And no matter how strange it may seem, a black and white photo can have different shades. We will take our photo in soft and light colors.
Preparation. First you need to know that you can make a photo black and white using just three keys. Press the combination: “Ctrl + Shift + U”, and then the picture will lose color. Or through the top control panel: “image - correction - desaturate”. Then the picture will consist only of black and white shades. But we are trying to achieve as much light tone as possible. Below you will learn how to achieve this.
This instruction is intended for beginners. Therefore, each step will be described in detail.
- First you just need to take a black and white photo. Open the required image in Photoshop. And immediately copy it to new layer. This can be done using the Ctrl + J keys.
- We will use the following key combination: “Ctrl + Shift + U”. As you already know, this operation will discolor the image.
- Make a predominant amount of white. To do this we need the “Levels” option. To call it, you can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + L. Or open the “image” tab (select “correction” and find the “levels” item).
- Here we need to change the position of the sliders. Drag them to the left. The most important thing here is not to overdo it and not completely illuminate the image. Change the position until the picture begins to lose its basic appearance.
- Next, go to the “filters” tab (in the top panel), select “sharpening” - “contour sharpening”. We leave the values unchanged.
- Copy the black and white layer.
- For a new layer, select new way overlays. There is a special drop-down menu in the layers panel, through which you can control this parameter. There you need to find the “overlap” item. Or use the key combination "Shift + Alt + O".
- On the new layer, go to the “filters” tab, where we select “blur” - “Gaussian blur”. Let's bet quite high value(from 20 to 50).
- Take the eraser tool ( hotkey E). With its help, we will highlight places such as eyes, lips, hair and other areas that have become almost invisible. In the eraser parameters, reduce the “hardness” value to zero. We adjust the size depending on the situation.
- It is necessary to wash on the last (third layer). Do this process slowly. If you accidentally erase the desired area, you can use Ctrl + Z undo.
Additional information. Using these instructions, you can do this in a way that will be significantly different from simply desaturating the image. You can experiment using different filters and values. After all, Photoshop is a huge platform for creativity and experimentation.
Conclusion. You can turn your photo black and white in seconds. And if you don’t need more, then perhaps this instruction will be useless to you. But if you want to make a photo in black and white, where certain parts of the image will stand out in a special light, then do all these 10 simple steps. Moreover, it will only take 15-20 minutes.
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