There are a lot of things you can do to your photos with a single click in your photo editing program. Last week, for example, I showed you how you can use the Color Replacement tool in Adobe Photoshop Elements to change specific colors in an image. And in the past, I've explained how easy it is to convert any photo to a stylish black-and-white composition by setting the saturation to zero in any image editor.
In Adobe Photoshop Elements, you can use the Remove Color command (found in the Enhance, Adjust Color, Remove Color menu) to convert a photo to black-and-white in one step. This week, let's combine that with a little Layers action to give you more control over what your black-and-white photo looks like.
Start With Duplication
As usual, I'll show you how to do this in Photoshop Elements--though the steps are basically the same in any photo editor that supports layers.
Turn It Into a Black and White
Tweaking the Black-and-White Photo
Here's where we get tricky. We're going to fine-tune the black-and-white version of the photo by editing the underlying color layer. Go back to the Layer Palette and change the blend mode from Normal to Hue. This will let you edit the black-and-white top layer by fiddling with aspects of the underlying color photo, such as the Hue and Saturation. The hue of the color layer will directly inform the final tone of the black-and-white photo.
When you are satisfied with your photo, you can combine the layers (right-click on a layer in the Layer Palette and choose Flatten Layers) and save the image as a JPEG. Here you can see how this photo evolved from color to black-and-white to an enhanced black-and-white using layer adjustments.
Hot Pic of the Week
Get published, get famous! Each week, we select our favorite reader-submitted photo based on creativity, originality, and technique.
Here's how to enter: Send us your photograph in JPEG format, at a resolution no higher than 800 by 600 pixels. Entries at higher resolutions will be immediately disqualified. If necessary, use an image editing program to reduce the file size of your image before e-mailing it to us. Include the title of your photo along with a short description and how you photographed it. Don't forget to send your name, e-mail address, and postal address. Before entering, please read the full description of the contest rules and regulations.
Arnold writes: "I shot this photo of the great egret at Gatorland in Florida. I used my Nikon D200 and then did some minor enhancement in Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop CS3."
Ellen writes: "I took this photo with my Panasonic Lumix DMC-257 set to macro mode. This little daring jumping spider was on a leaf 30 feet off the ground and seemed to be trying to get the nerve up to jump onto our deck."
To see last month's winners, visit our July Hot Pics slide show. Visit the Hot Pics Flickr gallery to browse past winners.
Have a digital photo question? E-mail me your comments, questions, and suggestions about the newsletter itself. And be sure to sign up to have Digital Focus e-mailed to you each week.
This story, "Make a Better Black-and-White Photo " was originally published by PCWorld.