5 tips for getting stunning black and white photos through conversion

While conversion of a color image to black and white format is an absolute no brainer task there are few editing tips for photographers that can be followed to create stunning B&W combos. One click conversions will surely get the job done but it will certainly distinguish professional photos from amateurish ones. 5 among the most preferred tips for best outputs are detailed below.

Edit and Convert in RAW itself

Most of the advanced digital images are in RAW format. This allows designers to have more control over the image to be edited. If the image is in RAW format try to convert it to b&w in Adobe Camera RAW itself and not in Lightroom or Photoshop. Black and White tab will assist you in this case. There are sliders which can be uniquely controlled to reduce the effect of each color in the image. Contrast selection is also possible in this manner.

Black and white filter using JPEG images

JPEG images are also great source files to be converted into b&w format. The caveat is that RAW gives better control over JPEG. A color JPEG photo can be converted using the Layer>Adjustment Layer>Black and White option in Photoshop. It is a simple one click work which makes the job done.

White is white and Black is black

There are few patches where authentic representations of white and black colors occur in an image. Pure black and pure white can be distinguished by adjusting contrast, exposure or brightness of the image. Alternatively you can also play with the sliders to get a range of tones. Histogram is a great tool to guide you in tonal editing works. Histogram is also available in Camera Raw at the top right. It is just a click away in Photoshop and is located in Window>Histogram.

Portrait retouching using yellow adjustment

Portrait image editing requires more care since they depict a number of colors in which yellow stands prominent. Even though it is subject dependent, judicious usage of yellow slider will result in softer and smoother skin tones in the resulting b&w image. This is a rule of the thumb while following photo editing tips. Cheeks and skin redness can be easily enhanced using red channel.

Little things are of great importance

There are some small tips to be remembered while converting to black and white format. Adjustment bush is a savior most of the time. Do find it in Camera Raw and learn about it more to unleash the workflow of a designer. Always remember to create a new layer so that none of your editing works alter the original image.

It is always a good idea to follow photography editing tips for better perfection. If you find it hard to tweak images, assistance from professional hands would be the best alternative. Photo editing services from experts assure efficient conversion services.