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[ 57 ]and clicking OK, choose a color in the Color
Picker that has 0% saturation, like white or
black, and click OK. After that, set the layer
blending mode (near the top-left of the Layers
panel) to Color. This results in a pure black-and-
white image.Step Two: When that’s done, you can start
adjusting. Create a new Levels adjustment
layer by going to Layer >New Adjustment
Layer>Levels, and make sure the Histogram
panel is still open (Window >Histogram). What
we want to do is shift the black values way off
the scale, or cut them off. As we learned previ-
ously, we can do that by using the first slider
(blacks) in the three-slider group directly below
the histogram in the Levels Properties panel.
Drag that slider to a point where some of the
image’s blacks have lost their detail. Make
sure to leave enough so that shapes are visible
in the image.Step Three: In this example, our image has
become a bit too dark and flat, so we grabbed
the middle slider (midtones), and moved it
closer to the black point to lighten the image.
This counteracts the effect of the crushed-
blacks darkening on the whole expanded
range of tones.Step Four: Now let’s take a look at the white
values. We wanted to achieve a high-contrast
image, right? For that to happen, we have to
make sure that we have enough white values
in the image. Take a look at the histogram,
and if you have a gap on the right side before
values start to appear, then you need to adjust
the highlights. Grab the slider on the right
(whites) in the Properties panel and drag it to
the point where values first appear in the histo-
gram in the Properties panel. This will result in
harsh contrast and might blow out some of
the detail in the highlights. The amount really
depends on taste; these are just guidelines.
Now you can click the Eye icon next to the
Black and White fill layer in the Layers panel to
hide it and reveal the color image. That’s it, we
have our crushed-blacks look, created by using
After our knowledge of the histogram.
Before