BetterBW1

Color to B&W Part 1 Copyright 2003 - JMA - All Rights Reserved

If you want to convert your color images to Black and White, here's a little tutorial that will help you to improve the results beyond those that can be achieved with the normal Grayscale command.

Open a color image that you want to convert.

Now go to the Main Menu bar and select Image > Split Channel > Split to RGB

PSP will split the color image into the three basic channels of RED, GREEN and BLUE. The first thing we want to do is close out the BLUE channel labeled Blue1*. To close out the channel, click the Red box with the X in it. A message window will pop up asking if you want to save changes to Blue1. Click NO.

Now you are left with only the RED and GREEN channels. Make sure that the GREEN channel is the active window . Then go to the Main Menu bar and select Adjust > Brightness and Contrast > Levels and set the values shown in the dialog window below.

Set the Imput Channel values to 0, 1.1, 250 as shown

Still with the GREEN channel active, go to the Main Menu again and select Adjust > Sharpness > Sharpen.

Now let's combine the channels back into an RGB image.On the Main Menu Bar select Image > Combine Channel > Combine from RGB.

PSP will recombine the channels into an RGB image. Notice that a second RED channel has been substituted for the empty BLUE channel

The recombined image will appear to have a red- purple tone. This is due to the missing BLUE channel information.

Now go to the Main Menu Bar and select Image > Grayscale. Then select Image > Increase Color Depth > 16 Million Colors ( 24 Bit ).

Now add the final touch to make the image stand out. Go to the Main Menu Bar and select Adjust > Hue and Saturation > Colorize and enter the values shown in the dialog window to obtain the final image on the right.

Completed Image

In comparison, look at the various effects that are produced with just the Grayscale or Sepia Tone command. I think that you will agree that this is a better choice for converting color to Black and White.

Original Image

Results Using Grayscale Command

Image is a bit flat and dark with loss to detail

Results Using Sepia Tone Effect

Image shows Reddish tint with slight increase to detail.

Improved Method Discussed Above Image is bright with plenty of detail. Gray tones are well balanced.

Splitting the color channels