Converting from Colour to Mono using the Black and White Adjustment Layer in Photoshop^®  CS3 & CS4.

A welcome addition to Photoshop^® CS3 was the inclusion of the Black & White Adjustment layer, also to be found in Photoshop^® CS4. It is a dedicated and versatile Adjustment Layer for the conversion of colour to monochrome unlike Channel Mixer, included in all recent versions of Photoshop^®, which is not dedicated purely to monochrome although an option to convert is offered along with a few conversion presets (only in CS3 and CS4). The respective Black & White dialogue boxes for CS3 and CS4 are shown below in Figs 1 & 2:

Using the Black and White Adjustment Layer

• Open a colour image file in Photoshop^®  
• Add a Black & White Adjustment Layer by clicking on the ‘Create a new Fill or Adjustment Layer’ icon at the base of the Layers Palette and selecting Black & White (Fig 3).

Fig 3  Location of Add Adjustment Layer icon

• The image is converted to monochrome.
• The preferred method of adjusting the tonal range of the image varies slightly between CS3 and CS4.
• In CS3 left click and hold in an area of the image in which you want to alter the tone – the cursor changes to a hand with extended forefinger and two horizontal opposed arrow heads (Fig 4). Drag the mouse to the left or right while holding down the mouse button to lighten or darken the tone – note that all similar tones in the image will be lightened or darkened. Repeat the process in other areas to achieve an optimum conversion.

Fig 4  B & W Cursor inCS3

• In CS4 first click on the hand icon in the Black & White dialogue  box (Fig 5)  and then follow the directions outlined above.

Fig 5  Location of B & W adjustment cursor in CS4

Applying a Black & White Adjustment Layer in the manner described above is only the first step in converting a colour image to monochrome. Although the adjustments made on the layer are relatively localised as opposed to global this should not be regarded as the finished product and the application of further Layers and Layer Masks (Levels, Curves, etc.) are necessary for fine tuning in specific areas.

The method of using the Black & White Adjustment layer outlined above is the preferred method in that a specific tone can be adjusted by clicking and dragging on it. However the use of one of the Presets in the dropdown list may give a result which satisfies as may adjusting the individual colour sliders. As noted above the conversion to black and white is only the starting point in the production of a high quality monochrome image.

Reproduced below are the 3 stages as described above in converting ‘Castle and Cottonwood’ to monochrome – the original was a colour slide.

Fig 6  Original Scan from 35mm slide

Fig 7  Default conversion by adding a Black & White Adjustment Layer

Fig 8  Adjusted on Black & White Adjustment Layer

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