Working with the Black and White Adjustment in Photoshop

In this video, we will be working with the Black and White adjustment. Let us start by opening our file titled “Vietnam Boat.”

As you can see, we have a Vietnamese boat here, and the image looks pretty blue, but that is okay because we are going to convert it to a Black and White photo. So, similar to all of our adjustments, we will start by dragging our Background layer into a new layer, and we will give this new layer the title “Vietnam Boat B&W” for Black and White. Next, we will retitle our Background or original file “Vietnam Boat Original.”

Finally, we will lock our “Vietnam Boat Original” layer so we do not accidentally change that photo, and then select “Vietnam Boat B&W.” Similar to other adjustments we have made, we can go above to the Adjustments panel and select Black and White. We will then see that our image has been changed to black and white, and that a Black and White Adjustment Layer is placed above our image.

Now, let us begin working with this Adjustment Layer. Within the properties of this Adjustment Layer, we will see that we have different colors listed—these are the different colors in the image—and each one has a slider that gives us the ability to change whether the reds in the image, yellows, greens, etc., become lighter or darker.

Let us see how this works by dragging the slider for red. If we drag it to the left and right, we will see that the image changes only where there is red. We can notice this in the flag and on top of the boat.

Again, if we drag left and right, we will see it changes from light to dark. That is because, if we hide the Adjustment Layer and look at the image, we will see that we have red up at the top of the boat. Therefore, if we make this layer visible again and adjust our red slider, we will see that it changes only the red in the image and leaves the rest of the image alone.

Another way to change colors—lighter or darker—within our black and white image is to go above to the icon with the hand and arrows. This allows us to click anywhere on the image and change that color either brighter or darker. Therefore, if we click on the flag, which we know is red, and drag it to the right, we will see that it lightens, and to the left it darkens. We can do this also with the rails on the boat.

If we click and drag to the right or left, we will see that it changes everything that is yellow. In addition to changing these sliders by dragging them or using the tool, we can also click “Auto, ” and Auto will apply predetermined settings for our image. Let us try clicking Auto.

In this case, it does not change the image very much. However, if we scroll above, we will see that we also have presets. These presets are predetermined levels for each of the colors that will give us different outcomes.

For example, if we click on the Green Filter, we will see that the greens are lightened within the image. If we click on the “Lighter” preset, we will see that some of the colors all become a little bit lighter. Finally, “Maximum Black” or “Maximum White” speak for themselves, making the image entirely either darker or lighter.

Let us now reset our Black and White adjustment using the Reset icon at the bottom of the Properties panel. Now, let us make some adjustments of our own. While this is a subjective process, and each individual has their own priorities within an image, here is how I would go through adjusting the colors for a Black and White adjustment.

The first thing I would do is, with the red, I would darken it a little bit because we can see that it will provide a nice contrast to the light background. Next, with the yellows, if we drag them left and right, I prefer that they are a little bit lighter on the boat to show a little more detail.

Moving to green, we can see that it adjusts more toward the top of the boat, and I will click and drag it up just a little bit to provide a little more brightness.

Finally, we are going to see that, as we drag this one, most of the image is that color, and it will provide a change to most of the image. I will leave it right about there. And finally, with our blues, we will see that the sky lightens or darkens.

I will provide a little more contrast at the top of the sky, as I like being able to see the definition of the clouds. Our final adjustment is with magenta, and we will see that it does not change much, although it is in the flag and some of the details on the boat.

While it is not a big difference, I will leave it a little bit lighter to provide a little more contrast between the dark end of the boat and this object here. I think we have a pretty good image, but there is one more tweak we want to make. If we look at the horizon, it is slanted a little bit to the right.

This means that, when the photograph was taken, the camera was not perfectly level. Do not worry—it is an easy fix.

We will go to our Crop Tool, found in the Tools panel. What we can do is select the Straighten Tool. The Straighten Tool allows us to straighten the image simply by clicking and dragging and releasing.

Therefore, if we want to set it to the horizon, we will start on the left side of the horizon, right where it meets, and click and drag all the way to the right until we have a line across the horizon. Then we will release on the other side. Automatically, Photoshop will assign that line as the new horizontal reference for the image.

If we click the check mark, we will see that our image is now cropped and perfectly straightened.

Finally, let us save our image using CTRL + S. We are going to save it as a Photoshop file and add “adjusted” to the end of the file name.

Click Save and click OK. In the next video, we will begin working with blending layers.

See you there!