color to b&w conversion trick

[zero-zero]

Picked up this trick from Andrew Rodney, a well-respected PS expert. Maybe everyone knows how to do this, but just in case:

Open your color file in PS. Add two Hue/saturation adjustment layers on top, no changes.
Set the top layer saturation to zero.
Set the middle layer mode to color, and invoke the Hue/saturation dialog.
Go wild with the sliders. Instant feedback, infinitely adjustable variations.
There are many ways to skin a cat in Photoshop, but this one beats channel- mixing to a pulp for this purpose, IMO. Enjoy!

ON EDIT: I MISTAKENLY SAID "COLORIZE" SHOULD BE ON. WRONG, IT SHOULD BE OFF. Sleep deprivation, I guess...

[patch29]

Picked up this trick from Andrew Rodney, a well-respected PS expert. Maybe everyone knows how to do this, but just in case:

Open your color file in PS. Add two Hue/saturation adjustment layers on top, no changes.
Set the top layer saturation to zero.
Set the middle layer mode to color, and invoke the Hue/saturation dialog.
Click "colorize" and go wild with the sliders. Instant feedback, infinitely adjustable variations.
There are many ways to skin a cat in Photoshop, but this one beats channel- mixing to a pulp for this purpose, IMO. Enjoy!

I will have to give that one a go. I have had good results so far with the channel mixer.

Andrew is a great guy. I attended one of his seminars on color management. It taught me how to make everything work well and get consistent results. I have been to several seminars that did not deliver much content.

[DoctorIt]

are you referring to "channel mix" method like this:

http://www.bythom.com/bandw.htm

I'll try your way, but thom's has worked very well, and very easy. BTW, have you guys read thom's resume?!! I'm convinced he's a super computer robot.

[fish]

Picked up this trick from Andrew Rodney, a well-respected PS expert. Maybe everyone knows how to do this, but just in case:


Open your color file in PS. Add two Hue/saturation adjustment layers on top, no changes.
Set the top layer saturation to zero.
Set the middle layer mode to color, and invoke the Hue/saturation dialog.
Click "colorize" and go wild with the sliders. Instant feedback, infinitely adjustable variations.
There are many ways to skin a cat in Photoshop, but this one beats channel- mixing to a pulp for this purpose, IMO. Enjoy!

I played with this and found the results (Elements) to be the same as simply Enhance > Adjust color > Remove color. :dunno Maybe I'm doing something wrong?

[patch29]

I played with this and found the results (Elements) to be the same as simply Enhance > Adjust color > Remove color. :dunno Maybe I'm doing something wrong?

It should give you an effect when you move the slider. It will be similar to shooting B&W with color filters, no filter the sky looks lighter, red filter sky darkens and clouds pop out. I am not sure if PSE has all of the features described. :dunno

[zero-zero]

What Patch said. By the way, I included a bad step in the trick, "colorize" should not be on. I edited the first post, but just in case...

fish, playing with the slider should allow you to adjust the relationships between tones as I did in the example below (not my pic). The beauty of this method is that it's WYSIWYG, and faster than the channel mixer.

Roberto

[fish]

I'm just not getting that effect. I've got the layers set (i think) and using Layer > Layer Content Options... > hue/saturation slider thingy.

[patch29]

I'm just not getting that effect. I've got the layers set (i think) and using Layer > Layer Content Options... > hue/saturation slider thingy.

Do you have two adjustment layers?




Set the top layer saturation to zero.


When you set this it is actually sliding the saturation all the way to the left resulting in a -100 on screen in the saturation box, correct? Thereby giving you a de-saturated image.

[fish]

Hot dog! Patchy, yer a genius...and/or I'm a dope. :rofl

Thanks zippy!

[patch29]

Hot dog! Patchy, yer a genius...and/or I'm a dope. :rofl

Thanks zippy!

Try it on some photos with lots of large parts of bright primary colors and blue skies, that will show the greatest changes. Look for blues, reds, green, yellow and watch them change. If you have some photos from your Disney trips they might work well.

[fish]

Try it on some photos with lots of large parts of bright primary colors and blue skies, that will show the greatest changes. Look for blues, reds, green, yellow and watch them change. If you have some photos from your Disney trips they might work well.

fun.

[fish]

btw, that's my son's hat on top of Goofy's head :rofl

http://coyfish.smugmug.com/photos/1924727-M.jpg

[patch29]

btw, that's my son's hat on top of Goofy's head :rofl



Fish Goofy was perfect. Here are some of the different version you can make and the adjustments look.

[fish]

Funny how you really only see the difference in Goofy's shirt.

[patch29]

Funny how you really only see the difference in Goofy's shirt.

If you have a blue sky with a good white cloud pattern it will really make them pop.

[patch29]

This is not the best cloud shot, but it does show some difference.

[wxwax]

Reveals other things too...

[Shakey]

My A80 has B/W and sepia settings ,should I just dump these and always shoot in color and use editing software instead?
Sure having a color master is nice but I liken it to the hunt . It is all in the capture for me ... however most of my photography is catch and release at best lol.

So am I wrong to use these settings and therefore would I be better off just shooting in color always?

[wxwax]

You might try it both ways on some test shots and see which you prefer - shooting B&W, or converting to B&W in post.

[fish]

So am I wrong to use these settings and therefore would I be better off just shooting in color always?
Do you only use third gear? Try different stuff. I like the way my S400 does sepia. Funnily, my camera that cost five times as much doesn't do in-camera effects :huh

There are some awesome B&W filters out there. I found one that emulates colored filters (red, yellow, cyan, etc) so the image looks like you shot on b&W film, with those filters on the lens. Ain't computers grand? :1drink

[wxwax]

Your searching made me do the same thing, Fish. I'm surprised at the number of freeware plug-ins for Photoshop. Lots of them seem to do the same thing as PS, only quicker. But some do it so much faster and with much more skill than I could muster.

[soup]

heres a photoshop action set that sets up the hue/saturation layers for you.
you can download the action, and then drag it into the actions panel to get it to work
shift + F4 activates it.

hue/saturation link (http://www.digidaan.nl/indexframedigidaan.html?channelmixer/index.html)