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Converting colour pics to B&W
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 7:53 pm    Post subject: Converting colour pics to B&W Reply with quote
Could someone kindly explain the proper procedure for me please? I heard it's wrong to just desaturate a picture, but in PS7 that's the only way I can find of doing it. Irfanview has "Convert to Greyscale" and Canon's DPP Viewer/Editor doesn't seem to have any simple way of doing it at all. What should I do?

PS I couldn't see a suitable forum for this question - please move it if it's in the wrong place.


PostPosted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 8:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I usually use the "LAB Mode" but I am quite sure this was
not available in PS7 ...

I suggest you take a look at this tut : http://av.adobe.com/russellbrown/ColortoBW.mov


PostPosted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 8:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Have a look at these links too Peter:

Markus Hartel

JTGraphics

ThePhotoFinishes


PostPosted: Sun Aug 05, 2007 8:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Cobalt60 wrote:
I usually use the "LAB Mode" but I am quite sure this was
not available in PS7 ...

I suggest you take a look at this tut : http://av.adobe.com/russellbrown/ColortoBW.mov


Thanks for your reply. The link doesn't seem to work for me.

Lab mode is available in PS7. I can convert to Lab mode and switch off the a & b channels, which is what I suppose you mean. PS7 also has a "Grayscale" mode which discards colour information, and a Desaturate command. I am not sure which method the purists prefer.


PostPosted: Sun Aug 05, 2007 9:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Hello,
I don't remember about functions of PS 7.0. With PS 8.0 I often insert the second channel like that
http://www.adobe.com/designcenter/photoshop/articles/phscs2mrblkwht.html
.


PostPosted: Sun Aug 05, 2007 2:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Thanks Bob and iha, a lot to read there! I'm experimenting, get back later.


PostPosted: Sun Aug 05, 2007 3:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Channel mixer,
Under image click adjustments, go to Channelmixer, click monochrome, then start with 60% red and slide green up till it looks ok. You can use the blue channel as well.Just play with them. Some hold that you should not exceed 100% total. Hogwash, go with what looks good to you.You can use the burn tool to darken some areas if required.
To be honest some desaturations look pretty good Laughing


PostPosted: Sun Aug 05, 2007 6:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
The other Bob wrote:
go with what looks good to you


Amen to that.


PostPosted: Sun Aug 05, 2007 7:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Bob wrote:
Channel mixer,
Under image click adjustments, go to Channelmixer, click monochrome, then start with 60% red and slide green up till it looks ok. You can use the blue channel as well.Just play with them. Some hold that you should not exceed 100% total. Hogwash, go with what looks good to you.You can use the burn tool to darken some areas if required.
To be honest some desaturations look pretty good Laughing


Thanks for all your replies. I've tried all methods now.

I don't understand the benefit of Lab mode - I can turn the a & b channels on and off but I don't see how to adjust them. And PS7 won't allow me to save a Lab-mode file in .jpg format, even if I save as a .tif file first.

Converting to Grayscale Mode and Desaturating are quick and easy. With the pictures I used for experimenting, Desat gave slightly darker images overall with a little less contrast so I think, based on what I've discovered so far, for quick conversions from colour to B&W I'll probably convert to Grayscale.

The Channel Mixer is by far the best method for what I need, thanks very much for the tip Bob. I found a few .cha files on the net which you can load into PS as presets, which was interesting. I still have a lot of stuff to get to grips with, but I'm getting there slowly!
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