Monochrome Conversion methods – various work flows
07th October 2011
DIGITAL MONOCHROME METHODS
This article deals with some of the ways in which Photoshop can convert an image to monochrome. There are many ways to achieve the effect you desire, monochrome conversion is no exception.
The first thing to accept is don’t shoot in monochrome. Sure you will get a monochrome image but why let your camera make decisions for you? Shouldn’t you be taking charge of the creative process? The best monochrome images are made by shooting RAW, colour, images. This provides the maximum amount of tonal and colour information and, as we shall see, colour can be very important to a monochrome image.
The simplest way to convert an image to monochrome is to desaturate it. Although Photoshop provides this process it is not a satisfactory way to convert if you want the best from your photograph.
Hue and saturation
Conversion by means of a hue and saturation adjustment layer is one of the lesser used conversion methods. It is however very useful in certain circumstances. I tend to employ it where there are large blocks of colours; cars, clothing etc. can all be converted to different tonal values using this method.
I have an action set up in Photoshop, which creates four hue and saturation adjustment layers. The first three are created with no adjustment at all initially, the fourth is set to fully desaturate only. This allows me to see how the conversion is looking as later work progresses and to easily switch between mono and colour. After creating the layers I reopen each one in turn and adjusting the settings. My action of creating the layers names each one in turn, “ground”, “subject”, “grass” and of course “desat.” I can lighten or darken the yellow/green of the grass, the subject’s tones and the sky. On other occasions, such as the image of racing cars, I may use each separate layers for each car. It is a versatile technique for which there are as many uses as a fertile mind can imagine.
Channel mixer
A tried and trusted method used by many which produces excellent mono images. I used to use this regularly but now prefer other methods. There are varying techniques used by different practitioners. The simplest is to use a single colour file, “the colour master”.
This colour master is then converted to mono by use of the channel mixer applied separately to each of the key areas in the picture. It is usual to convert the sky and the land as two separate areas but an entirely separate treatment may be required for areas of water, buildings etc. Lasso the sky, select a soft feather, perhaps 100 to 150 pixels (N.B. Select first, feather afterwards) and use that selection to add a channel mixer layer. For the sky I usually use the red channel and vary the green and blue until the result pleases then darken or lighten if necessary whilst for the land start with the green. It is often said that all the numbers in the boxes in channel mixer should add up to 100. This is a useful guide but by no means essential in every case.
Once all the areas have been converted the desaturation facility in Photoshop comes into it’s own. It is quite possible that in lassoing areas to process with the channel mixer a small area has not been fully converted. Now you can use desaturation to remove the last vestiges of colour and finally the image can then finished using the usual tools including curves, levels, dodge and burn etc.
Multiple exports from a single RAW.
One of the finest ways to create tonally rich monochrome images is by using multiple raw exports from a single original file. In a raw editor change the settings to greyscale (or whatever your converter calls mono) and then adjust the settings to maximise the tonal range in the sky (by which I mean the most pleasing, not necessarily the most contrast or indeed from full black to full white). Do the same for the mid-ground and again for the foreground and if necessary for any particular feature in any area.
Use all the tools available at each stage, exposure, brightness, contrast, colour temperature and the lightness, or darkness, of each colour. All can make a huge difference. Watch that your settings at each stage do not introduce noise. If present in all areas a limited amount of noise can be very reminiscent of film but it looks entirely un-natural if it is present in one area only. The clarity tool has enormous power both to enhance and degrade an image, excessive clarity, especially coupled with subsequent sharpening can introduce unwanted artefacts, particularly contrast lines along horizons. Used to reduce clarity it can convey feelings of space or depth and can be used to focus the viewers eye on the main content of the image.
Export each stage as a separate TIFF or PSD file. Open the ground layer and then open, copy and paste each of the other layers onto the first. I suggest you give each an individual name appropriate to its part in the final picture (sky, ground, castle, or whatever). All that then remains is to blend, using masks, each of the layers to take its part in the final image.
The image can then finished using the usual tools including curves, levels, dodge and burn etc.
Multiple exports V2 – My typical landscape conversion method
Another method employing multiple exports from a single RAW file for this see the separate sheet “Monochrome Conversions - various Print Work Flows”
The Gorman-Holbert (or Carr) method
This is also covered in the separate sheet “Monochrome Conversions - various Print Work Flows”
Software plug-ins and standalone monochrome software
I use and can recommend Nik Silver Efex Pro. I use it less frequently than I used to, preferring Photoshop for most work. This software creates a new layer in Photoshop onto which it applies the conversion to mono. It has a considerable number of pre-set conversions, allows the user to filter by colour, adjust brightness, contrast, structure and other factors as well as toning etc. It is immensely powerful and relatively quick to use. It is important to adopt the use of this software with care however otherwise it becomes a blunt instrument. Very rarely will a single run through produce the best possible overall effect.
It is worth noting that the sensitivity slider (sensitivity to individual colours) is an extremely powerful and important part of this programme. The sharpening / contrast tools in Nik Silver Efex is very useful for finishing particular areas.
Topaz Labs detail plug-in is very useful for improving detail and sharpening. It contains numerous pre-sets, most of which are horrendous, do not let that put you off trying it. Unlike Nik this plug-in does not create a new layer for itself so remember to create one before using this tool. Topaz also produce a black and white conversion plug-in. I have tried it only briefly and that was enough!
FINISHING OFF
All the above methods can usually be improved by judicious application of sharpening. This can be either a finish sharpen prior to printing, use of unsharp mask at higher settings to boost contrast or one of the other methods. Sharpening techniques cover a vast range, more than can be covered in this short summary.
Throughout all stages of conversion I urge you to keep an eye on the histogram, small amounts of full black or blown whites are quite acceptable but larger areas, which the viewer can see are not. The sooner you spot them the easier they are to deal with and so the less noticeable any rectification is. Also check the files regularly at 100% to ensure over aggressive editing is not introducing noise.
Small amounts can sometimes be tolerated and sometimes masked by adding grain or grain can be added by choice for effect but uncorrected areas of noise not consistent throughout a file will ruin it.
If you are adding grain or toning I suggest you do so on a separate file so you keep you master file intact. If you use Lightroom, as I do, it can add grain and toning non destructively and do so consistently so a toned panel can easily be produced.
Dodge and burn
Dodge and burn tools should be used judiciously, at low settings, on a copy layer. It is all too easy to go too far and not realise it until later. Done on a new layer that layer can be discarded and all you hard work prior to this is saved. An alternative method I employ to the dodge and burn tools is the creation of two new 50% grey layers, set to overlay, on which to paint using white to lighten and black (or shades of grey) to darken, I use one layer for each. This is particularly useful for adding vignettes, grads, darkening skies, etc. as they can be masked or the layer opacity faded back as required. Also it is easy to delete these adjustments if you do not feel the final result is perfect, without losing previous stages.
Selective colour
Selective colour, in a monochrome image? The settings within the tool include blacks, neutrals and whites. I quite often tweak the whites, lightening highlight to add a bit more sparkle to an image. Another useful tool which, to the inexperienced may seem irrelevant to monochrome work, is select / colour range. Here too it is possible to select highlights, mid-tones or shadows to give adjustments.
A final tip
You have the final image? Try flattening it, duplicate the layer and set to “Soft Light” blend mode then reduce the opacity to 30%; just adds some final punch when you thought you were done!
Buy my Photoshop actions and I will email a .pdf of my methods with the actions - go to the "Shop" section of the site.
WDA updated on 16th March 2012
This article deals with some of the ways in which Photoshop can convert an image to monochrome. There are many ways to achieve the effect you desire, monochrome conversion is no exception.
The first thing to accept is don’t shoot in monochrome. Sure you will get a monochrome image but why let your camera make decisions for you? Shouldn’t you be taking charge of the creative process? The best monochrome images are made by shooting RAW, colour, images. This provides the maximum amount of tonal and colour information and, as we shall see, colour can be very important to a monochrome image.
The simplest way to convert an image to monochrome is to desaturate it. Although Photoshop provides this process it is not a satisfactory way to convert if you want the best from your photograph.
Hue and saturation
Conversion by means of a hue and saturation adjustment layer is one of the lesser used conversion methods. It is however very useful in certain circumstances. I tend to employ it where there are large blocks of colours; cars, clothing etc. can all be converted to different tonal values using this method.
I have an action set up in Photoshop, which creates four hue and saturation adjustment layers. The first three are created with no adjustment at all initially, the fourth is set to fully desaturate only. This allows me to see how the conversion is looking as later work progresses and to easily switch between mono and colour. After creating the layers I reopen each one in turn and adjusting the settings. My action of creating the layers names each one in turn, “ground”, “subject”, “grass” and of course “desat.” I can lighten or darken the yellow/green of the grass, the subject’s tones and the sky. On other occasions, such as the image of racing cars, I may use each separate layers for each car. It is a versatile technique for which there are as many uses as a fertile mind can imagine.
Channel mixer
A tried and trusted method used by many which produces excellent mono images. I used to use this regularly but now prefer other methods. There are varying techniques used by different practitioners. The simplest is to use a single colour file, “the colour master”.
This colour master is then converted to mono by use of the channel mixer applied separately to each of the key areas in the picture. It is usual to convert the sky and the land as two separate areas but an entirely separate treatment may be required for areas of water, buildings etc. Lasso the sky, select a soft feather, perhaps 100 to 150 pixels (N.B. Select first, feather afterwards) and use that selection to add a channel mixer layer. For the sky I usually use the red channel and vary the green and blue until the result pleases then darken or lighten if necessary whilst for the land start with the green. It is often said that all the numbers in the boxes in channel mixer should add up to 100. This is a useful guide but by no means essential in every case.
Once all the areas have been converted the desaturation facility in Photoshop comes into it’s own. It is quite possible that in lassoing areas to process with the channel mixer a small area has not been fully converted. Now you can use desaturation to remove the last vestiges of colour and finally the image can then finished using the usual tools including curves, levels, dodge and burn etc.
Multiple exports from a single RAW.
One of the finest ways to create tonally rich monochrome images is by using multiple raw exports from a single original file. In a raw editor change the settings to greyscale (or whatever your converter calls mono) and then adjust the settings to maximise the tonal range in the sky (by which I mean the most pleasing, not necessarily the most contrast or indeed from full black to full white). Do the same for the mid-ground and again for the foreground and if necessary for any particular feature in any area.
Use all the tools available at each stage, exposure, brightness, contrast, colour temperature and the lightness, or darkness, of each colour. All can make a huge difference. Watch that your settings at each stage do not introduce noise. If present in all areas a limited amount of noise can be very reminiscent of film but it looks entirely un-natural if it is present in one area only. The clarity tool has enormous power both to enhance and degrade an image, excessive clarity, especially coupled with subsequent sharpening can introduce unwanted artefacts, particularly contrast lines along horizons. Used to reduce clarity it can convey feelings of space or depth and can be used to focus the viewers eye on the main content of the image.
Export each stage as a separate TIFF or PSD file. Open the ground layer and then open, copy and paste each of the other layers onto the first. I suggest you give each an individual name appropriate to its part in the final picture (sky, ground, castle, or whatever). All that then remains is to blend, using masks, each of the layers to take its part in the final image.
The image can then finished using the usual tools including curves, levels, dodge and burn etc.
Multiple exports V2 – My typical landscape conversion method
Another method employing multiple exports from a single RAW file for this see the separate sheet “Monochrome Conversions - various Print Work Flows”
The Gorman-Holbert (or Carr) method
This is also covered in the separate sheet “Monochrome Conversions - various Print Work Flows”
Software plug-ins and standalone monochrome software
I use and can recommend Nik Silver Efex Pro. I use it less frequently than I used to, preferring Photoshop for most work. This software creates a new layer in Photoshop onto which it applies the conversion to mono. It has a considerable number of pre-set conversions, allows the user to filter by colour, adjust brightness, contrast, structure and other factors as well as toning etc. It is immensely powerful and relatively quick to use. It is important to adopt the use of this software with care however otherwise it becomes a blunt instrument. Very rarely will a single run through produce the best possible overall effect.
It is worth noting that the sensitivity slider (sensitivity to individual colours) is an extremely powerful and important part of this programme. The sharpening / contrast tools in Nik Silver Efex is very useful for finishing particular areas.
Topaz Labs detail plug-in is very useful for improving detail and sharpening. It contains numerous pre-sets, most of which are horrendous, do not let that put you off trying it. Unlike Nik this plug-in does not create a new layer for itself so remember to create one before using this tool. Topaz also produce a black and white conversion plug-in. I have tried it only briefly and that was enough!
FINISHING OFF
All the above methods can usually be improved by judicious application of sharpening. This can be either a finish sharpen prior to printing, use of unsharp mask at higher settings to boost contrast or one of the other methods. Sharpening techniques cover a vast range, more than can be covered in this short summary.
Throughout all stages of conversion I urge you to keep an eye on the histogram, small amounts of full black or blown whites are quite acceptable but larger areas, which the viewer can see are not. The sooner you spot them the easier they are to deal with and so the less noticeable any rectification is. Also check the files regularly at 100% to ensure over aggressive editing is not introducing noise.
Small amounts can sometimes be tolerated and sometimes masked by adding grain or grain can be added by choice for effect but uncorrected areas of noise not consistent throughout a file will ruin it.
If you are adding grain or toning I suggest you do so on a separate file so you keep you master file intact. If you use Lightroom, as I do, it can add grain and toning non destructively and do so consistently so a toned panel can easily be produced.
Dodge and burn
Dodge and burn tools should be used judiciously, at low settings, on a copy layer. It is all too easy to go too far and not realise it until later. Done on a new layer that layer can be discarded and all you hard work prior to this is saved. An alternative method I employ to the dodge and burn tools is the creation of two new 50% grey layers, set to overlay, on which to paint using white to lighten and black (or shades of grey) to darken, I use one layer for each. This is particularly useful for adding vignettes, grads, darkening skies, etc. as they can be masked or the layer opacity faded back as required. Also it is easy to delete these adjustments if you do not feel the final result is perfect, without losing previous stages.
Selective colour
Selective colour, in a monochrome image? The settings within the tool include blacks, neutrals and whites. I quite often tweak the whites, lightening highlight to add a bit more sparkle to an image. Another useful tool which, to the inexperienced may seem irrelevant to monochrome work, is select / colour range. Here too it is possible to select highlights, mid-tones or shadows to give adjustments.
A final tip
You have the final image? Try flattening it, duplicate the layer and set to “Soft Light” blend mode then reduce the opacity to 30%; just adds some final punch when you thought you were done!
Buy my Photoshop actions and I will email a .pdf of my methods with the actions - go to the "Shop" section of the site.
WDA updated on 16th March 2012
