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Photography F.A.Q (Last Updated: 2024 Nov 13 3:04 pm)



Subject: Rich's method of B&W conversion: advice needed.


tibet2004uk ( ) posted Mon, 16 May 2005 at 2:23 PM · edited Sun, 24 November 2024 at 5:38 PM

I followed Rich's method to convert this pic in B&W. Layer adjustement>channel mixer>red 33 green 33 blue 33. It's the basic but I think it worked pretty well here! I adjusted the original image first. Let me know what u think, what u see, and how I can improve it! Plz, thx, mwah! :D Ps: Thx again Sheila sweety for the help! ;)


tibet2004uk ( ) posted Mon, 16 May 2005 at 2:24 PM

file_239772.jpg

Adjusted color version.


tibet2004uk ( ) posted Mon, 16 May 2005 at 2:25 PM

file_239773.jpg

Ta da!!!


jimry ( ) posted Mon, 16 May 2005 at 2:39 PM

Attached Link: http://www.powerretouche.com/Black-white_plugin_introduction.htm

Pascale, I use 'Black and White Studio' plug in...gotta admit, awesome results...


jimry ( ) posted Mon, 16 May 2005 at 2:41 PM
jimry ( ) posted Mon, 16 May 2005 at 2:45 PM

Not greatly known for b/w images but I would say superb conversion ;)


tibet2004uk ( ) posted Mon, 16 May 2005 at 2:46 PM

It looks great indeed my dear Jimbo but I do NOT have Photoshop! ;)


jimry ( ) posted Mon, 16 May 2005 at 2:47 PM

ok...it works in Paint Shop Pro too Pascale...yer got that?


tibet2004uk ( ) posted Mon, 16 May 2005 at 2:47 PM

Oooooh wait!!! I see that it's ALSO for paintshop pro!!! :D


tibet2004uk ( ) posted Mon, 16 May 2005 at 2:49 PM

We crossed! I'm looking now to see if it's free???


tibet2004uk ( ) posted Mon, 16 May 2005 at 2:53 PM

And it's not! :( Of course! So not for me! So I'm gonna have to do with what I've got, which is PSP 8.10 and photoshop elements 2! But thx a bunch for the link Jimbo! :)


jimry ( ) posted Mon, 16 May 2005 at 3:06 PM

Attached Link: http://www.optikvervelabs.com/

Virtual Photgrapher is a freebie d/l Pascale...a lot of people use that one here ;)..that also does b/w conversions ;)..hope this one helps ;o)


Onslow ( ) posted Mon, 16 May 2005 at 3:11 PM · edited Mon, 16 May 2005 at 3:14 PM

Looks a perfect conversion to me. You have all the tones there from the white on the bag to the darker tones and retained the detail that is in the original shot.

I don't think this particular image is the best for conversion to b/w as colour is quite important to it. I think b/w works very well for face portraits, some landscapes and images where you are showing textures and form especially.

There are free plug ins you can get for PSP - like those from: 'Virtual Photographer' but then you are not learning and using the process of conversion which may be useful to you later when it comes to developing to more advanced imaging and developing a personal style.

Message edited on: 05/16/2005 15:14

And every one said, 'If we only live,
We too will go to sea in a Sieve,---
To the hills of the Chankly Bore!'
Far and few, far and few, Are the lands where the Jumblies live;
Their heads are green, and their hands are blue, And they went to sea in a Sieve.

Edward Lear
http://www.nonsenselit.org/Lear/ns/jumblies.html


Onslow ( ) posted Mon, 16 May 2005 at 3:16 PM

Ooops crossed with Jim there he has the addy for virtual photographer

And every one said, 'If we only live,
We too will go to sea in a Sieve,---
To the hills of the Chankly Bore!'
Far and few, far and few, Are the lands where the Jumblies live;
Their heads are green, and their hands are blue, And they went to sea in a Sieve.

Edward Lear
http://www.nonsenselit.org/Lear/ns/jumblies.html


tibet2004uk ( ) posted Mon, 16 May 2005 at 3:51 PM

I have Virtual Photographer but, as u said Rich, I wanna learn to do it "manually" so to speak! I picked this pic as a pic to work with Rich, doesn't matter really if it doesn't work well with this one! I just wanted to get that B&W conversion right! And, apparently, it did work so I'm happy! As for the image, I actually kept it in B&W but I toned it too and intend to use it for the scavenger hunt! ;) Thx a bunch for ur help guys! :)


tibet2004uk ( ) posted Mon, 16 May 2005 at 3:52 PM · edited Mon, 16 May 2005 at 3:53 PM

file_239776.jpg

Oh yea, here's the final result! Let me know what u think plz! :) I wanted a mood on this one which explains the toning! ;)

Message edited on: 05/16/2005 15:53


Onslow ( ) posted Mon, 16 May 2005 at 4:00 PM

Looks very good with the warmer tones - really gives the feel of a warm summer stroll :)

And every one said, 'If we only live,
We too will go to sea in a Sieve,---
To the hills of the Chankly Bore!'
Far and few, far and few, Are the lands where the Jumblies live;
Their heads are green, and their hands are blue, And they went to sea in a Sieve.

Edward Lear
http://www.nonsenselit.org/Lear/ns/jumblies.html


tibet2004uk ( ) posted Mon, 16 May 2005 at 4:08 PM

oK!! cOOL!! I have to thx u for the conversion method here Rich! I tried both urs and mine (which was to just completely desaturate the image) and I've noticed that a few details where lost when doing it my way while ur method preserved all that was there! Fabulous and SO simple! I also started to play with the mixer channel on another image and it also works for brightness and contrast! I'd love to know if it's best using this for the contrasts or the levels??


jimry ( ) posted Mon, 16 May 2005 at 4:09 PM

You did even better with this one Pascale...as onslow ;)


Michelle A. ( ) posted Mon, 16 May 2005 at 4:11 PM

Attached Link: http://www.nikmultimedia.com/index/usa/entry.php

Yes, the second image you posted is much nicer! The warmer tones are good. Onslow gave you good advice.... it's much better to do it manually, greater control me thinks. Besides the two proggies already recommended, I'll sometimes use Nik Multimedia Efex.... a really nice filter kit, that has a BW converter filter in it. Let's you choose which spectrum to accentuate when converterting etc. See Nik Color Efex Pro 2.0 on the main page.

I am, therefore I create.......
--- michelleamarante.com


tibet2004uk ( ) posted Mon, 16 May 2005 at 4:12 PM

Thx Jimbo! I use the hue/saturation colorize option to tone my images. I did it on the already converted B&w image. Should I care about RGB or CMYK when doing this?


tibet2004uk ( ) posted Mon, 16 May 2005 at 4:17 PM

OMG!! Right Chelle!! It's also a bloody $299.99 for the complete edition!!! O_o I won't use this one either I'm afraid!! :( Oh well! Thx for the link anyway! ;) LOL!


jimry ( ) posted Mon, 16 May 2005 at 4:22 PM

RGB is fine for web use and printing everyday as CMYK is a more complex process used mainly for commercial printing. CMYK can sometimes be useful for balancing colours in images that are otherwise difficult to get right...but i would stick to RGB ;)


Onslow ( ) posted Mon, 16 May 2005 at 4:28 PM

"it also works for brightness and contrast" If all the values add up to 99 or 100 it will not change the brightness. If you use more of one colour compensate by reducing the amount of another eg. if you want a sky where the clouds show up more against patches of blue sky use more red. If you wanted to lighten the colour of foliage use more green but retain the total as 100. Brightness can be tweaked in levels or however you would normally do it after.

And every one said, 'If we only live,
We too will go to sea in a Sieve,---
To the hills of the Chankly Bore!'
Far and few, far and few, Are the lands where the Jumblies live;
Their heads are green, and their hands are blue, And they went to sea in a Sieve.

Edward Lear
http://www.nonsenselit.org/Lear/ns/jumblies.html


tibet2004uk ( ) posted Mon, 16 May 2005 at 4:32 PM

Why retain the total at 100?? The last image I worked on, has more than a total of 100 and it looks exactly how I want it! I don't get this!


tibet2004uk ( ) posted Mon, 16 May 2005 at 4:33 PM

Oh thx Jimbo! I'll stick to RGB then! Lets keep it simple! ;)


jimry ( ) posted Mon, 16 May 2005 at 4:34 PM

Pascale:...phew ;)..yeah...best :)


Onslow ( ) posted Mon, 16 May 2005 at 4:39 PM · edited Mon, 16 May 2005 at 4:43 PM

The total of your image when you put it in is 100 by using a total of more than 100 you are adding extra brightness to the image. This maybe ok for some images but is best not to because you could easily end up overdoing it and clipping a channel and losing detail without realising at the time.

If you do it in levels after or curves after you can see exactlty what you are doing and are far less likely to lose detail. PS: Good advice from Jim there :) PPS Most consumer cameras will have very similar focal plane shutters. Message edited on: 05/16/2005 16:43

And every one said, 'If we only live,
We too will go to sea in a Sieve,---
To the hills of the Chankly Bore!'
Far and few, far and few, Are the lands where the Jumblies live;
Their heads are green, and their hands are blue, And they went to sea in a Sieve.

Edward Lear
http://www.nonsenselit.org/Lear/ns/jumblies.html


tibet2004uk ( ) posted Mon, 16 May 2005 at 4:42 PM

LOL@Jimbo!! ;) Thx Rich for the info! I'll stick to levels for brightness and contrasts then and only use the channel mixer for B&W conversions! Sounds better this way yes? Yes? Yes! It does...I think! :D


jimry ( ) posted Mon, 16 May 2005 at 5:00 PM

another one sorted :) NEXT...lol :)


tibet2004uk ( ) posted Mon, 16 May 2005 at 5:12 PM

LMAO!!! Feels like it huh! ;)


mireille ( ) posted Mon, 16 May 2005 at 6:19 PM

Nik Color efex pro is for me the best plug-in I ever had..Since I started to use it..all orhers are almost unemployed..since there is a solution for almost any correction or effect needed..and it does not leave bad artifacts on images..Paint shop pro has often deals combining psp9 - nik color effect and Mystical tint tone and color wich is also fantastic , for 199$ us dollars . These 3 are my fav! You did very good on B&W with this imgage! I prefer too the warmth one ;-)


TomDart ( ) posted Mon, 16 May 2005 at 10:28 PM

Pascale, the tone one is really great! I shop for free plugs but do have some paid ones..worth it. And, I have paid stuff I never use...like Poser. Love Poser but never really got into it.. Good work on the tone image, speaks well. I do agree after using lots of plugs myself, this last bunch of bw conversion threads are great. Now, I am trying to do it from scratch and have learned a lot in that. This lets me know more of how the plugins work and how to do corrections on my own, with or without the plugin. Peace and Joy. Tom d'art


coolj001 ( ) posted Tue, 17 May 2005 at 2:59 AM

I read this post earlier today and actually tried this channel mixer technique on your picture using my PSP8. I even tried to improve upon what you had done here, but I was unsucessful. I did manage to come up with one variation I liked by applying the mirror effect, effectivly transforming your photo into a three-legged guy w/two girls, but I decided that was not quite the effect you were looking for. I hope you don't mind my experimenting with your photo. I figured it ok being a forum question and all...The channel mixer tool appears a much better method than the change-to-greyscale tool which I usually use for such a task. I also learned to make sure the grand total stays at 100, and why + selective toning technique....and stick w/RGB. Now I just need to remember all these most-excellent technical tips. I'm glad you posted this one. :-) I also like your final result one the best, but think all are very nice... -Jeff :-)


tvernuccio ( ) posted Tue, 17 May 2005 at 8:27 AM

You did GREAT Pascale! :)


tibet2004uk ( ) posted Tue, 17 May 2005 at 10:01 AM

LMAO@Jeff!!! So strange cos I actually tried the same thing and ended up with 2 girls holding hands!!! LOL!! The first 2 images were just to try that B&W conversion! I never intended to use them nor to make something nice out of them! I'm saying this cos u all said that u preferred the last one but, man, I surely hope so cos it's THE final version!! LOL! There was no choice to make here, that's what I mean! Oh well! Thx to u all a bunch for ur help, u guys rock, as usual! ;)


3DGuy ( ) posted Tue, 17 May 2005 at 2:46 PM

Tried a different method and here's what it gave: bwtest.jpg I think it makes the girls' head stand out a bit more from the background

What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies. - Aristotle
-= Glass Eye Photography =- -= My Rendo Gallery =-


coolj001 ( ) posted Tue, 17 May 2005 at 5:03 PM

two girls holding hands? sounds very interesting. :-)


tibet2004uk ( ) posted Tue, 17 May 2005 at 6:11 PM

LOL@Jeff!! U cheeky!! ;)


tibet2004uk ( ) posted Tue, 17 May 2005 at 6:15 PM

@Rinze: It makes her head stands out a 'lil more indeed but the background has lost its contrasts, which I do not like. I wanted to keep all the details, contrasts and shadows in the B&W version. And the vegetation in ur example seems washed out. And u don't tell what method u used; that would be interesting to know! ;)


3DGuy ( ) posted Tue, 17 May 2005 at 6:32 PM

Method is simple..and you can tweak it to your liking. add 2 HSL layers. Set the mixing mode for the bottom HSL layer to color and set the saturation for the top one to -100 (making it b/w). Now with the hue slider on the bottom HSL layer you can vary the colorcasts..

What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies. - Aristotle
-= Glass Eye Photography =- -= My Rendo Gallery =-


tibet2004uk ( ) posted Tue, 17 May 2005 at 6:41 PM

That's what I used to do Rinze!! But it's not as good as Rich's method! His method is more precise and keep all the details of the pics on top of the luminosity. If u scroll up to #18, I explained that: "I have to thx u for the conversion method here Rich! I tried both urs and mine (which was to just completely desaturate the image) and I've noticed that a few details where lost when doing it my way while ur method preserved all that was there! Fabulous and SO simple!" Hehe! ;)


Onslow ( ) posted Wed, 18 May 2005 at 1:30 PM

file_239779.jpg

Nice of you to say Pascale :) I was only passing on information which I have learned along the way - it is not my method but one from a book. I am glad you have found it useful, that makes posting it worthwhile. Only things I can add are remember you can always adjust the background layer too, if you do your b/w adjustment on another layer. There are so many different settings to try it would take a life time to get to them all. For this image if you wanted to lighten the foliage you could use R40 G100 B-40

And every one said, 'If we only live,
We too will go to sea in a Sieve,---
To the hills of the Chankly Bore!'
Far and few, far and few, Are the lands where the Jumblies live;
Their heads are green, and their hands are blue, And they went to sea in a Sieve.

Edward Lear
http://www.nonsenselit.org/Lear/ns/jumblies.html


tibet2004uk ( ) posted Wed, 18 May 2005 at 2:58 PM

Thx Rich but...I do NOT want to lighten the foliage! It's Rinze who suggested that, not me! ;)


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