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Converting a colour image to B&W (greyscale) is fairly straightforward even with the most basic photo-editing software. To get a really fabulous B&W photo, however, I think more finesse is required. Just playing with the brightness & contrast a little can make a huge difference...
So I have two questions for those of you who do this alot:
1) What techniques do you ALWAYS use when converting to B&W to maximize the effect?
2) What other techniques do you use when you want a specific effect?
(The less Photoshop-specific the answers, the better!)
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Camera: Panasonic Lumix FZ10
Image Management/Editing:ArcSoft PhotoBase4
Advanced Image Editing: Adobe PhotoShop 7
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I know one really great method for getting a B&W that looks really Ansel Adams-ish, but it is very PhotoShop specific.
Use the channel mixer and set it to Monochrome mode - now jack the red and green channels really high - say 150 - 200 (you need to play with this to your taste)
Now drop the blue channel really low - say -200. You will have a VERY dramatic B&W.
I know this sounds goofy but try it and see.
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I don't think I have a channel mixer available to me in Serif PhotoPlus 5.5, but since I just picked up a magazine with SPP6 bundled in it, perhaps I can use your great tip!
BTW, Adams' work (and, later, Brassai's) was what first drew me to photography... hey that sounds like
a new topic....
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Camera: Panasonic Lumix FZ10
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Advanced Image Editing: Adobe PhotoShop 7
(This post was last modified: Sep 21, 2004, 19:03 by
StudioJ.)
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Channel mixer in Photoshop is my favorite, with an underlying hue/saturation layer which functions as a colored filter commonly used in B&W work.
Others that are interesting are converting to Lab mode and using only the lightness channel, and of course duo/tri/quad-tones.
You really should upgrade to Photoshop ...
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