B&W conversion in CS3

[24Peter]

OK, so the second reason I really wanted to try Photoshop (as opposed to Elements) is the control you get over black & white conversions...

Original
http://photos.imageevent.com/24peter/uploads/upload3/websize/IMG_0152.JPG

Color edit (skin smoothing [aaahhh], contrast, sharpen and a little rhinoplasty - sorry Steph :eek:)
http://photos.imageevent.com/24peter/uploads/upload3/websize/IMG_0152%20edit.jpg

B&W custom
http://photos.imageevent.com/24peter/uploads/upload3/websize/IMG_0152BandW.jpg

full rez
http://photos.imageevent.com/24peter/uploads/upload3/IMG_0152.JPG
http://photos.imageevent.com/24peter/uploads/upload3/IMG_0152%20edit.jpg
http://photos.imageevent.com/24peter/uploads/upload3/IMG_0152BandW.jpg

BTW - this shot was taken with my 135 F2.8 SF - M mode 1/200th F8 ISO 100 - it's a (much) "warmer" lens than my 85 1.8 which I used on the previous shot with her hair up.

[griptape]

I personally prefer a little more contrast in my B&W's;

[cdr116]

I personally prefer a little more contrast in my B&W's;

I like lots of contrast in my B&W's too, but that looks a litttttttle too contrasty for me

[drama]

24 peter

I like the soft looks & tones
I use the channel mixer, whats your BW tool?

[Nickcanada]

I like the conversion but it lacks a little punch for my tastes. Here I performed a sharpen/resize action on your B&W fullsized file.

This is the action I used. (http://news.deviantart.com/article/20250/) Your version is on the right mine is on the left. I hope you don't mind me messing with your pictures! If you do, just let me know!

[griptape]

I like lots of contrast in my B&W's too, but that looks a litttttttle too contrasty for me

Ugh, you're right. I really need to calibrate my monitor. It looks way different on my other monitor.

[michaelb]

Nice B&W's Peter. I like Nick's edit best; Griptape's edit is a bit overdone for me.

[FLiPMaRC]

:cool: Thanks Nick for the tip and PS Action :)

[24Peter]

I like the conversion but it lacks a little punch for my tastes. Here I performed a sharpen/resize action on your B&W fullsized file.


Nick - I can't really see a difference. Do you have a link to the full size image? (BTW - I'm posting smaller images here that have been resized by ImageEvent. Sometimes they look a little softer than the original or if I resize them myself.)

[24Peter]

24 peter

I like the soft looks & tones
I use the channel mixer, whats your BW tool?

I think the B&W conversion tool in CS3 is new. Not only can you mix the primary color channels (RGB) but you can also mix in complementary colors (CYM) and a few other tones/shades too.

You can kind of see it in action here: http://www.adobe.com/designcenter/video_workshop/
It's the very first Photoshop CS3 video - "converting a color image to black & white". (You don't need to create an adjustment layer to use it BTW.)

[Nickcanada]

Nick - I can't really see a difference. Do you have a link to the full size image? (BTW - I'm posting smaller images here that have been resized by ImageEvent. Sometimes they look a little softer than the original or if I resize them myself.)

Ya, it is a very small difference. The point of the Photoshop action I used is to make the resized photo look as much like the original as possible. I find when resizing I lose some "clarity", contrast and sharpness. I think this action takes care of those things pretty well. If you want to read more about it here is the link. http://news.deviantart.com/article/20250/ (http://news.deviantart.com/article/20250/)

Mostly I see a difference in her right cheek and to me there is more detail in her hair on that side as well. I can't post a full sized photo because the action is designed to resize and sharpen so what you see is the final result.

[shoey]

Personally, i think B+W conversions are very subjective. Everyone edits them to their own taste, and i don't think everyone will always agree that an edit is ok.

I've looked at these images on 3 calibrated monitors now, and on each one, to my eyes, they look too bright, but maybe that's the look you were going for? It's just personal preference.

I had a go in lightroom, all of which can be done just as well in PS.

[24Peter]

Mostly I see a difference in her right cheek and to me there is more detail in her hair on that side as well. I can't post a full sized photo because the action is designed to resize and sharpen so what you see is the final result.

Gotcha. I can see a difference on my desktop machine. Couldn't see it on my laptop this morning.