There are a number of different ways that you can convert your image to black and white in Photoshop. Two of them are adjustments here, there's a black and white adjustment layer and then there's also a channel mixer adjustment layer. We're going to go ahead and add the black and white adjustment layer. And I can either use the sliders here in order to tell Photoshop how I want different color ranges to be converted, or if I'm not really sure, I can always select from these different presets. So I wanted to know what this would look like with a blue filter, or maybe with a green filter on it, or a high-contrast, maybe a red filter, I have all these different presets that I can select from. Or we can just choose Default.
And if we want to make a custom conversion, we can either use the sliders like I did before or we can select our Targeted Adjustment tool. If I select the Targeted Adjustment tool, then all I need to do is click and drag, either left or right to darken a color range or lighten a color range. In this case, I'm going to try to lighten the yellows a little bit. And then I'll click again in the reds here and just darken those down a bit to get a little bit more contrast between the letter and the background. Now if I like that, but I want to go in and may be just dodge and burn in a few areas, then I can always add a secondary adjustment layer.
So I am going to add a curves adjustment layer, and I am going to bring the curve down a little bit. You'll notice it's a affecting the entire image. I actually want the opposite to happen, because I want to be able to go in and selectively paint in where I want my areas of my image burned down. So I'll select the adjustment layer mask here. And then I can choose to invert it so that it becomes black. So now even if I toggle on and off the eye icon, to show or hide that layers visibility, I don't see any change. Because a solid black mask is going to hide all of the changes. But the curve has been changed so if I select my Brush tool by just tapping the b key, and then I want to slowly dodge or burn my image, burning in this case, because I lowered the curve.
I'm just going to tap the one key that will change my opacity to 10%. Now I need to make sure that I'm painting with white, because I want to actually reveal the lowered curve. So, with 10%, I'm just going to start painting in here. We might not be able to notice it right away, but I can see that it's slowly building up the white here in my mask. And if I hold down the Option or Alt key, and select that, we can see that mask. So now let's go ahead and toggle on the visibility.
Of all three layers, and then I can just toggle on and off the visibility of this curves adjustment layer. So, it's rather subtle, but I just wanted to show you that not only can you use two or more adjustment layers together, you can also mask those adjustments layers, and also come in and make really subtle adjustments, because everything that we've done so far has been pretty heavy handed. In addition, I'm just going to go to the black and white adjustment layer for a moment, and I'm going to change the opacity of this. Just going to bring down the black and white adjustment layer just maybe to around 85. So, we start seeing the color from the original background image. So there's a great alternative to converting your images to black and white, which gives you a little bit more power over what you want to do with that conversion after you apply it.
So in this case, I want it tell Photoshop how to convert my color ranges, but I want it to reintroduce a little bit of color from my original image.
Author
Updated
10/6/2014Released
6/17/2013- Using Bridge to batch rename files and add keywords and metadata to photos
- Viewing, rating, filtering, and creating collections to isolate your best work
- Comparing raw and JPEG file formats
- Retouching and automating workflow with Camera Raw
- Navigating documents and the Photoshop interface
- Understanding file formats, resolution, canvas size, and print size
- Cropping, straightening, transforming, warping, scaling, and resizing images
- Selecting, stacking, aligning, and grouping layers
- Making precise selections using the Marquee, Lasso, and Brush tools
- Using Refine Edge, Quick Selection, and layer masks to isolate soft edge objects
- Improving tone, contrast, and color selectively
- Converting to black and white and tinting images
- Retouching blemishes, smoothing skin, whitening teeth, and brightening eyes
- Retouching with the Liquify, Content-Aware Fill, Healing Brush, and Patch tools
- Merging multiple exposures
- Making nondestructive changes with Smart Filters
- Adding texture, edge effects, and drop shadows with blend modes
- Working with type
- Creating, modifying, and combining shapes using the Shape tools
- Adding layer effects
- Saving and sharing images via contact sheets, web galleries, and Save For Web
- Editing video and audio clips
- Panning and zooming still photos
Skill Level Beginner
Duration
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Q: This course was updated on 01/16/2014. What changed?
A: When Creative Cloud applications are updated, we refresh our training to make sure it covers the latest features and interface changes from Adobe. This update covers changes to Camera Raw, including nondestructive cropping, workflow and output settings, and the ability to save multiple files automatically.
Q: This course was updated on 6/18/2014. What changed?
A: In June 2014 Adobe released new features for Photoshop CC and added enhancements to several existing features. We added movies to introduce the new Focus Mask and Blur Gallery features, and changed several movies to reflect updates to instant type preview, font search, Typekit, Liquify, Content-Aware Fill, Adobe Camera Raw, and Smart Guides.
Q: This course was updated on 10/06/2014. What changed?
A: We updated this course to reflect the October 2014 changes to Photoshop CC. There are 16 new movies, which are indicated by the "(CC 2014.1)" tag that appears next to their names.
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Adobe Photoshop
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What is Photoshop?1m 42s
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Introduction
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Welcome1m
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Installing Adobe Bridge1m 23s
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What's new1m 26s
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1. It Begins in Bridge
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What is Adobe Bridge?3m 3s
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2. Whittling Down to Keepers
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Saving images in collections3m 52s
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Rating and labeling images4m 31s
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Using smart collections3m 39s
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3. Camera Raw Essentials
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Choosing output settings3m 34s
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4. Fixing Common Problems Quickly with Camera Raw
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Fixing blown-out highlights5m 42s
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Correcting lens distortion5m 17s
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Sharpening details7m 23s
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5. Retouching and Using Creative Techniques with Camera Raw
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Adding a radial gradient6m 35s
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6. Automating Camera Raw
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7. Photoshop Interface Essentials
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Managing panels5m 1s
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8. Documents and Navigation
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Arranging documents3m 37s
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9. Digital Image Essentials
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Understanding file formats8m 26s
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10. Cropping and Transformations
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Using crop options4m 20s
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Warping images4m 48s
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11. Working with Layers
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Exploring layer basics13m 25s
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12. Selections and Layer Masks
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Combining selections6m 40s
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Selecting with Focus Mask3m 10s
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13. Tone and Color Correction with Adjustment Layers
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Starting with a preset2m 36s
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14. Additional Options for Tone and Color Correction
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15. Retouching Essentials
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Taming flyaway hair4m 53s
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16. Combining Multiple Images
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17. Essential Filters
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Overview of filters3m 3s
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18. Essential Blend Modes
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19. Type Essentials
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Exploring character (point) type11m 58s
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Adding type on a path7m 3s
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Warping type2m 36s
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20. Basic Shape Layers
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Using the shape tools13m 45s
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Custom shape layers6m 15s
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Adding a keyline to an image4m 13s
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21. Essential Layer Effects and Styles
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Adding a drop shadow effect8m 57s
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22. Sharing Images
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Creating contact sheets4m 29s
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Creating PDF presentations3m 25s
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Saving for the web3m 49s
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23. Video
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Working with video clips12m 14s
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Conclusion
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Next steps1m 4s
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Video: Converting color to black and white