Change a Digital Picture from Color to Black and White

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Everybody loves a great black and white photo, but most digital cameras only take full-color pictures. This article will show you a few simple ideas for turning your color digital photo to black and white.

Steps

Use Photoshop's Black & White Adjustment Layer

  1. Launch Photoshop. You can find it in your Applications folder on a Mac, or from the Start menu in Windows.
  2. Open the photo you wish to modify. From the File menu, select Open. Your image will appear on the Photoshop desktop
  3. Open the Adjustments window. Click on the Window menu, and if it's not checked, select Adjustments. The Adjustments window will open.
  4. Add a Black & White adjustment layer. From the Adjustments window, click on the Black & White adjustment button show:
    • Your photo will now be in black and white.
    • Using the various color sliders, you can alter the black and white balance of your image based on the underlying color information.

Use Photoshop's Hue/Saturation Layer

  1. Add a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer. Starting from the original color picture, open the Adjustments window and click on the Hue/Saturation button to create a new adjustment layer.
  2. Desaturate the colors. Drag the Saturation slider all the way to the left, and your picture will now be in black and white.
    • While this lacks the fine tuning of the Black & White adjustment layer, it does offer an opportunity to see what your photo would look like if you left just a little bit of color in, which is sometimes quite nice.

Use Photoshop's Channel Mixer Layer

  1. Add a Channel Mixer adjustment layer. From the Adjustments window, click on the Channel Mixer button to create a new Channel Mixer layer.
  2. Click on the Monochrome button in the Channel Mixer window, and then adjust the RGB sliders or use one of the presets from the menu. Like using the Black & White adjustment layer, the controls give you a great deal of latitude in adjusting the final look of your image. A little can go a long way, so use carefully!

Use Google Picasa

  1. Download Picasa from Google.com. Install it as directed, and then launch Picasa.
  2. Open your image in Picasa. From the File menu, select Add File to Picasa...
  3. In the Picasa window, click on the Image Processing tab in the center (the one with the paintbrush).
  4. Filter your photo. Click on any of the B&W options to instantly see the changes.

Use Other Photo Editors

  1. Read the documentation. Most editors will include a filter to make your photos black and white. It might be as simple as a "black & white" button, or it might be a saturation adjustment. Experiment, try out the sliders, and see what happens. No matter what, you'll have a great time doing it!
  2. Finished.

Video

Tips

  • The exact menu structure may be different in various versions of Photoshop (LE, Elements, or the the latest CS version) but this action will be possible in all.

Warnings

  • Save the modified photo in a separate file. If you save it in the same file name, you will lose the colour version forever.

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

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