Graham Archer wrote:
Hi,
Could someone please give me a recommendation for a book about black and white Photoshop techniques.
Thanks
Graham
The two most useful tips that I learned was how to convert and how to print.
For me, this is the best way to covert:
http://www.russellbrown.com/body.html Go to "More Tips" and look at "Seeing in Black & White" it can be a fast way to convert and/or you also have the finest control over what color turns into what shade of gray.
If you properly convert the colors to the shades of gray that you like, you have most of what you need. Then you just have some fine tuning of the exposure. (That’s not always the same that it was for the color.)
The other major trick is how to print. If you print with just the black ink of your printer, you lose a lot of the shading that a combination of inks was designed into the printer for. So, black ink only printing gives somewhat ‘grainy’ prints. They aren’t as smooth as you like.
There a some printers that are better at this. The HP 7960 is one that has gray ink that fills in very nicely. You can also buy special 4 and 6 shades of ink that will work in a few printers.
The best way is to not print with just black ink. Print it like you would in color – in RGB mode. Then the printer driver will use all ink colors to make those shades of gray.
The one problem with this is those shade of gray can have tones of color that you may not want. Even more frustrating is that those subtle tones of color can change in different types of light.
My solution to that is to add more color. In my wet darkroom days, I toned almost every print that I made. I loved the added emotional touch that those tones would bring to my image. So, I do the same in my computer darkroom.
The method that I like is Duotone. First, it’s pretty fast and easy to do in Photoshop. Second, I like to pick the shade of Pantone that works best. It’s easier for me to see and pick that for my mind to make that extra step of figuring out numbers and combinations of RGB. I can also remember Pantone 149 easier than I can 3 numbers of RGB.
Another feature of Duotone is that it doesn’t evenly apply the color. It tends to leave the highlights and shadows alone. Well, more so than other techniques. That way my blacks and whites tend to be a bit more clean, clear, and fresh.
Clyde’s Quick and Simple Guide to B&W in Photoshop.
Thanks,
Clyde
