I can't find the link to the tutorial I found this on so I'll describe what I've been doing. This is a Photoshop specific process, unfortunately, thought other packages may have equivalent layering capabilities. The original tutorial only includes the second and third steps below.
Before the first step produce the best color image that you can, (which may or may not be a really good color image). 1.) Create a Curves adjustment layer, (gives very fine tonal control over the input image). 2.) Create a hue/saturation adjustment layer, Select layer properties and change the blending method to Color. (I rename this layer to Color Filter, since that's what it's used for). 3.) Create a Second hue/saturation adjustment layer, set the saturation slider to 0. I rename this layer to Saturation since all it does it remove the color from the final image. 4.) Treat a Brightness/Contrast adjustment layer. (This is used to tweak the final output. Sometimes the results of the other adjustments can look a bit dark). With these layers you get quite a bit of tonal control over the final output without using masks etc. The layers should be in this order in the Photoshop layers tab when you're finished. Brightness/Contrast Saturation ((hue/saturation 2) Color Filter (hue/saturation 1) Curves Background. It sounds a lot more complicated than it actually is to use. I made a Photoshop action to create the various layers and from there it's just clicking on the various layers and moving the sliders around to get the best rendition. I'm not going to post my results but I did download your original color image and played around with it a bit. There's no real detracting from the image you posted. It has a great mood and feeling to it, and your conversion has much smoother gray scale transitions. I was however able to drag a lot more detail from the blacks while leaving the highlights and mid tones looking pretty much the same. Amita Guha wrote: >For this one, I combined channels. I would have liked to use the >channel mixer, but the image was too grainy for me to get good results >using that method. I used the tutorial here: >http://www.photoshopsupport.com/tutorials/or/black-and-white.html > >On 7/11/06, P. J. Alling <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > >>There are a number of them, which method have you settled on. I'm using >>a modification of the dual Hue/Saturation layer method. It's like >>having an infinitely variable color filter for B&W. I'm find it to be >>quite promising. Maybe someday I'll even get excellent results with it >>as opposed to just good results. >> >>Amita Guha wrote: >> >> >> >>>On 7/10/06, P. J. Alling <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >>> >>> >>> >>> >>>>Yes, that is impressive, I hate you. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>Really? Thanks! That's my very first proper B&W conversion. I found a >>>great tutorial for it online. >>> >>>Amita >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>-- >>When you're worried or in doubt, >> Run in circles, (scream and shout). >> >> >>-- >>PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List >>[email protected] >>http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net >> >> >> > > > -- When you're worried or in doubt, Run in circles, (scream and shout). -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
