Tutorial: Converting Color Images to Black and White

Converting a digital image from color to black and white would appear at first to be a simple process, and it can be. But if you take some time to learn slightly more sophisticated ways to convert your images, you will get far better results. We'll show you a few of the many ways to convert images. A sample color image is shown below, along with the results of the various conversion methods we discuss below.

The easiest way in Photoshop to convert an image from color to black and white is to use the Mode Conversion tool, under the Image menu (Image > Mode > Grayscale). Simple. Fast. Works well for some images, but many images come out looking a bit flat and boring if this is all that you do.

Another relatively simple way to convert to grayscale is to simply desaturate all the colors. To do this, choose the Hue/Saturation tool (Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation...). Sliding the Saturation slider down to -100 causes the image to loose all its color channels. This method allows Photoshop to choose which color channels (and in what proportions) are used to produce gray. This is not always what you would like to see.

There are other ways to convert your image to black and white which can make your pictures look much better.

One of the most powerful tools available to you is the Channel Mixer tool: Image > Adjustments > Channel Mixer... The picture on the left shows you what this tool looks like. This tool allows you to choose which color channels Photoshop uses to create gray tones. Make sure you check the Monochrome box at the bottom, or else you will be changing your image's colors instead of producing gray. Sliding the Red, Green and Blue sliders will change the relative contribution of those colors to the final black and white image. It takes some experimentation to understand this tool and get good results, but learning to use this tool allows you to make amazing black and white photos.

Here is a sample color image and the resulting black and white images created using the techniques described above. Clicking on the pictures will take you to a larger version of the images on our website.

Original Color Image (click image for full-sized version, 292kB)	Greyscale (click image for full-sized version, 204kB)	Desaturated (click image for full-sized version, 204kB)	Channel Mixer (click image for full-sized version, 212kB)

There are many other ways to do this conversion to black and white. Try Googling for "Photoshop convert black white". A little experimentation will let you create great black and white images. Have fun!

Questions on these procedures? Please let us know.