Converting Color to Black and White
Among the many processes the computer has simpli-
fied is the conversion of color images to black-and-
white images. Making a black-and-white print from a
color negative or transparency used to require
either special printing paper or the production of a
black-and-white internegative. Now, one digital
color file can produce either a color print or a
black-and-white print.
Digital imaging lets you easily confirm whether a
color negative might yield a more dramatic black-
and-white print than it does a color image. The
ease of conversion also lets you use just one film
type and camera body when you want to make
both color and black-and-white photographs dur-
ing the same shooting session. Many publications
continue to print only in black and white, and
most photographers prefer the control of converting
their own color images into black-and-white prints
rather than having someone else do so.Color to Black and White: Using Grayscale or Desaturate
The simplest way to convert a color photograph to black and white is to choose
Image, Mode, Grayscale. This one-step conversion permanently strips all the color
information from the photograph and leaves a black-and-white image with a small
file size. This isn’t necessarily the best way to create a black-and-white image from a
color image, however.
Image, Adjust, Desaturate in Photoshop and Enhance, Adjust Color, Hue/Saturation
in Photoshop Elements is another one-step conversion that keeps the color328 ABSOLUTE BEGINNER’S GUIDE TODIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY
FIGURE 22.3
Just remember
WUBO—white-
color subjects
lead to under-
exposed images,
and black-color
subjects lead to
overexposed
images.Black-and-white film is
by no means obsolete—it
has rich density and can capture
much more tonal variations than
most color negative films. For this
reason, many professional pho-
tographers still swear by it.