leaving B&W film as color in photoshop

[denada]

i think i like adjusting it with the rgb "levels" sliders (under "adjustments") until i get the black and white i want.

it's not like converting through image adjustments creates a true b&w file, correct? why do i have to do that step? is my printer gonna freak out if i don't?

and because there is a thousand ways to do everything in photoshop, is there an obviously better choice i'm missing?

thanks!

 

[SoulfulRecover]

it may look black, but more than likely its purple. When you print, put it next to a true black & white print and you may see the color hue

 

[smoke665]

Like all things Ps there are multiple ways to the same result. Your method is one, another is to do a saturation layer and pull the saturation slider to the left, or use a Black and white adjustment layer. The advantage of the last is that it gives you the option of adjusting RGB within the layer, without open in another layer.

 

[vintagesnaps]

Yeah, shoot B&W film...

 

[webestang64]

If a customer at my work wants a nice BW from their color image I desaturate then adjust with curves.

 

[AlanKlein]

Using the rgb sliders is a great way of adjusting the tones when converting color to BW. I do it all the time in Lightroom.

 

[denada]

thanks. i ended up converting at some point in the process. first adjusted with the "levels," then converted.

yes, it had the slightest purple hue before converting. i wasn't sure if i liked that. might have been cool.

to be clear, i'm talking about bw film.

 

[480sparky]

If you're editing b&w film scans, just desaturate.

You might even be able to do that during the scan process depending on the software your scanner uses.

 

[webestang64]

This....

If you're editing b&w film scans, just desaturate.

Some printer rips just use black inks for BW output.

 

[480sparky]

This....

If you're editing b&w film scans, just desaturate.

Some printer rips just use black inks for BW output.

Doesn't help in PP, though.

 

[Tim Tucker 2]

I scan as a 16bit greyscale then open in Photoshop as a full 16bit colour file in the ProPhoto colourspace.

Reasons: I've never understood the inclination to define B&W by the meanings of the words. It's better to describe it as monotone anyway as all B&W wet prints have some colour. Besides grey is the reflection of ALL colour equally and not just black ink on white paper. Isn't the B&W image on your screen just a series of RGB dots? Then why can't the print be a series of much smaller colour dots from the printer? This gives a number of advantages: It doesn't reduce the resolution of the printer; allows you a full colour managed workflow; allows you to correct for the slight colour tint in the paper; allows you to put slight colour tints on the image.

I'm not sure what you're doing with the RGB levels, (colour balance, or are you using levels?), but it doesn't sound like a good way to work to me. Colour is perceptual and not RGB. RGB works in additive colour systems because the eye only has three receptors and so you can *mimic* nearly the whole spectrum of colour using just narrow bands of three wavelengths of light. Unless you understand how this works and how colour is managed through computers I suggest staying on the perceptual model, i.e. the colour wheel.

It is far easier to start with a greyscale file from the scanner because then you have eliminated any perceptual mistakes and any colour cast that your eye corrects for, (very common when looking at computer screens) and any cast caused by mis-calibrated monitors, both of which will be virtually invisible on screen and blindingly obvious in print.

Adding a slight tint in PS is best done with a solid colour layer set to the colour blend mode and adjusted via the opacity, not by RGB adjustments.

 

[AlanKlein]

Tim, the reason to start with color film and scan as color is so you can vary the colors in PS or Lightroom or other post processing programs. You're not selecting RGB but rather specific colors like magenta, blue, red, orange, green, etc. You're not changing these colors but changing the luminance of each of these specific colors. Changing luminance for each of these colors effects how dark or light each of the tones become when switched to BW. If you scan in BW or use BW film, you have no colors to select.

 

[Tim Tucker 2]

Tim, the reason to start with color film and scan as color is so you can vary the colors in PS or Lightroom or other post processing programs. You're not selecting RGB but rather specific colors like magenta, blue, red, orange, green, etc. You're not changing these colors but changing the luminance of each of these specific colors. Changing luminance for each of these colors effects how dark or light each of the tones become when switched to BW. If you scan in BW or use BW film, you have no colors to select.

Ah, but the thread was specifically asking about B&W film.

I certainly do use a B&W adjustment layer on a digital colour image, sometimes I find a gradient mask enough after I've separated and adjusted the colours.

But I don't use colour film if I want a B&W image. Basically the B&W film look comes from using B&W film, it has far greater latitude for exposure and development and you can do it at home. You get a far better tonal range and you can use filters on the camera to fine tune it. If you're using digital editing techniques to create a B&W image then it will look like a digitally edited image rather than a B&W film image. So there's really no point as you will get far better results if you start with a digitally captured file.

 

[vintagesnaps]

That's what I was thinking, why not shoot B&W film if you want B&W photos, and color film if you want color photos? This seems to be reinventing the wheel or something, making it more work than it needs to be.

 

[480sparky]

Perhaps getting B&W film developed is an issue... it's not like the old days when every drug and grocery store (and even gas stations) could send in your film (color, b&w or transparency) in to be souped.