Converting Digital, Color Photos to Black-and-White in Photoshop Elements

Black-and-white photographs are timeless and classic. Film cameras with true black-and-white film produce ideal results. However, with digital cameras replacing film at a remarkable speed, photographers need to be proficient at converting digital images captured in color to beautiful black-and-white photographs. Read on to find out a quick and easy conversion technique using Photoshop Elements.

Images that will translate best into black and white are those with high contrast and simple subject matter. Contrast is very important because in grayscale many colors are the same shade. You will want your subject to stand out against the background. Make sure your lighting is dynamic enough to create contrast.

You can use almost any photo editing software to convert an image from color to black and white. The results will often be dull and flat. Professionals and photography judges will call the results "muddy". Using Photoshop Elements you can make your black and white images have more impact.

Open your image in Photoshop Elements. Create two layers. On the top layer go to Enhance menu, click Adjust Color and select Remove Color. In the bottom right corner of the program in the Layers menu you will see a box. The default setting is Normal. Select "Color" from the list. You should see a dramatic change in the image. This changed how the program chooses which shade of gray to display for each color. You can now fine tune exactly how you want the image to appear. Select the bottom layer (the one that still appears in color) and go to the Enhance menu, click on Adjust Color once again and select Adjust Hue/Saturation. Move the "Hue" slider back and forth while viewing the image and watch the shift in the picture's appearance. Once you are happy with how your black and white image looks you will want to merge the layer together.

You will need to add some contrast to your image. Go to the Enhance menu, click on Adjust Lighting, and select Brightness/Contrast. Adjust the brightness and contrast sliders until you like the results. The goal is to create good clean blacks and crisp whites. Don't go overboard or you will loose detail in the highlights and the shadows. Next you can go to the Enhance Menu, click on Adjust Lighting and click on Shadows/Highlights to adjust the contrast in the midtones. The top slider labeled "Lighten Shadows" will default with the curser halfway up the slider. Move it back all the way. If you want to lighten your shadows you can try moving this slider up a few numbers to get the right look. The next slider down will darken your highlights. Be very judicious using this slider. You want good clean whites and this will make them gray. The bottom slider is labeled "Midtone Contrast". Move it right to add contrast to the images midtones. This will make a big difference in your final image.

When you are finished making these adjustments you may want to sharpen your image a bit and then save it. You now have an image that is not "muddy" and that looks like it was shot with true black and white film.