TUTORIAL
BLACK & WHITE CONVERSION USING PHOTOSHOP HUE AND SATURATION ADJUSTMENTS
A SIMPLE WAY TO CONVERT
This method was originally described by Dr Russell Brown of Adobe Labs and will work in all versions of Photoshop, so even if you have a pre CS version you will still be able to produce superb B&W conversions from colour images..
This tutorial will also introduce those of you who are unfamiliar or confused with the use of layers in photo-editing.
Layers are just transparent sheets laid on top of the original image and enable the author to make adjustments without changing the original image.
So lets get started:
Select your image that you wish to convert to B&W
Open the image in Photoshop
Go to the top Toolbar and under IMAGE, select Duplicate, this will mean that there is NO way that you can change the original image.
A Copy of the original image will be displayed (If you wish, you can close the Original image by clicking the X on the top right hand side MAKE SURE YOU SELECT THE ORIGINAL IMAGE)
On the Photoshop Toolbar move along to Window and from the drop down list, click on Layer — you can also press F7 on the keyboard to produce the same effect
This will open the Layers palette
Now with the image (COPY) displayed, hold down the CONTROL key on the keyboard and at the same time press key J — this will produce your first layer
If you double click in the layers Palette the default name (Layer 1) you will be able to type an alternative name for this layer, for e.g. Dupe layer
We are now going to add two more layers which are both Hue/Saturation adjustments
Again, go to the Photoshop Toolbar and under Layers from the drop down list, choose :
New Adjustment Layer, an further drop down box appears and from that, select
Hue/ Saturation.. Click this to Select
A New Layer Dialog box will appear, just change the Name to FILER and where it says Mode, click the down arrow and select COLOUR´ — Now click OK
A box appears which will enable you to make adjustments, DO NOT alter anything in this box , just click OK and it will close
If you look in the layers palette, you will see a new layer has been created call FILTER
Again return to the Layer on the Photoshop Toolbar and again select New Adjustment Layer, from the second drop down again select Hue/Saturation
Again a Dialog box appears, in name call this FILM, do not change the Mode (Should say NORMAL) — click OK
On the Adjustment box which has appeared , move the slider under Saturation to -100, click OK
Now you will see in the layers palette a second layer has appeared called FILM
What we have done is to remove the saturation in the image and as a result we should now see a greyscale image on the screen
Now comes the creative bit
With your mouse, just click in the layers Palette, the layer called FILTER, this should be one down from the top, beneath the Film layer, this will select this layer and it will be highlighted.
Now Double – click this highlighted layer and the Hue/Saturation adjustment box will appear — if you now move the HUE and SATURATION sliders as well as the Lightness slider around you will see variations in the grey tones of the image
THERE YOU GO CREATIVITY IN BLACK AND WHITE
There is even more you can do if you so desire
Say for example you wish to adjust just the blue tones
In the Box marked EDIT, just click the down arrow and select Blue,
Adjustments now will be confined to only the blue tones in the original image
When you are satisfied with the results, just click OK
Now return to Layer on the Photoshop Toolbar and select from the drop down — Flatten Layer
Now save the image, you will have to change the Save as to JPG if you wish to use it on the Web or for printing
I think you will find this a SIMPLE method of B&W conversion and certainly much better than just desaturating or selecting Greyscale
Give it a try, I will be only too pleased to offer assistance to anyone who requires it
John
