http://www.lightstalkers.org/bw-conversion-application-for-digital-files An entire Lightstalkers thread via RSS/XML. en-us Hi guys, What soft you use to convert your digital files into black and white? ( needed for mac ) Thanks and best! M Wed, 12 Mar 2008 12:57:00 +0000 http://www.lightstalkers.org/bw-conversion-application-for-digital-files Photoshop, in duotone mode. Then back to RGB. Thu, 17 Jan 2008 23:52:05 +0000 http://www.lightstalkers.org/bw-conversion-application-for-digital-files#109183 Exposure 2.0 Do a great job. Thu, 17 Jan 2008 23:58:20 +0000 http://www.lightstalkers.org/bw-conversion-application-for-digital-files#109184 The lights right studio has an impressive collection of readymade PS-actions free to download with good manuals as well: http://www.thelightsrightstudio.com/photoshop-tools.htm I have found especially their b/w-conversion, noise-reduction and sharpening-kits being valuable. (It is good style to give a small donation for something that well made) Sat, 19 Jan 2008 09:45:59 +0000 http://www.lightstalkers.org/bw-conversion-application-for-digital-files#109447 Lightroom with B&W presets and One Phase Wow presets. Lightzone. Sat, 19 Jan 2008 10:02:16 +0000 http://www.lightstalkers.org/bw-conversion-application-for-digital-files#109450 In Photoshop, Channel Mixer. In Adobe Camera RAW, HSL/Grayscale (only in CS3, and the same as Channel Mixer in PS except in RAW, so better.) LightRoom has same, but also some nice presets. (LR uses Camera RAW, just the same as PS does.) Sat, 19 Jan 2008 10:41:01 +0000 http://www.lightstalkers.org/bw-conversion-application-for-digital-files#109465 Hey Misha, I use Black and White workflow pro and find it works very well. http://www.fredmiranda.com/DBWpro/ Sat, 19 Jan 2008 17:44:44 +0000 http://www.lightstalkers.org/bw-conversion-application-for-digital-files#109520 image --> adjustments --> desaturate Sat, 19 Jan 2008 17:55:28 +0000 http://www.lightstalkers.org/bw-conversion-application-for-digital-files#109523 Black and White workflow pro is not yet upgraded for Photoshop CS3 ? Sat, 19 Jan 2008 20:17:57 +0000 http://www.lightstalkers.org/bw-conversion-application-for-digital-files#109541 Alien Skin Exposure... doesn't just convert to black and white but adds film grain, for a variety of black and white film types, too. Sat, 19 Jan 2008 20:59:29 +0000 http://www.lightstalkers.org/bw-conversion-application-for-digital-files#109546 Cool, thank you. Sat, 19 Jan 2008 21:13:13 +0000 http://www.lightstalkers.org/bw-conversion-application-for-digital-files#109547 I do correct One Software PhotoPresets at http://www.ononesoftware.com/photopresets-wow.php Sat, 19 Jan 2008 21:18:43 +0000 http://www.lightstalkers.org/bw-conversion-application-for-digital-files#109548 I use C3's BW thingy in ACR which is similar to channel mixer but a little better. Playing with it too much leads to a lot of ugly noise in images but subtle tweaks do a lot. *Discliamer: the following is not aimed at anyone in particular, just a general thought. I find the idea of adding grain to a photo pretty amusing... and paying extra for software to do it to try to look like some sort of film even funnier. Isn't shooting B/W antiquated enough. In 20 years people will reminisce about the pixel quality of their old trusty 5D and some company will open up shop selling software to adjust your gigapixel hologram images to give them that 5D look. Move with the times, embrace your medium and try not to pretend its something it isn't. Sat, 19 Jan 2008 21:29:16 +0000 http://www.lightstalkers.org/bw-conversion-application-for-digital-files#109550 a hearty second to that. a lot of the bw methods posted here are designed to mimic film... with a little practice and testing you can develop your own channel mixer conversions that will do what you always liked film to do, and also what you never could get film to quite do! ...rather than doing just a desaturate or a preset you don't understand. Sat, 19 Jan 2008 21:41:04 +0000 http://www.lightstalkers.org/bw-conversion-application-for-digital-files#109552 Aperture B/W conversion method - monocrome mixer. For the toned images, I use Photoshop's duotone method. Sat, 19 Jan 2008 21:57:09 +0000 http://www.lightstalkers.org/bw-conversion-application-for-digital-files#109557 "Pictures, regardless of how they are created and recreated, are intended to be looked at. This brings to the forefront not the technology of imaging, which of course is important, but rather what we might call the eyenology (seeing)." - Henri Cartier-Bresson Conversion to B&W is an action to catch the reality as seen by the eye and soul of the photographer, so to create an image that tell a story. Software like Exposure, CS, Lighroom or Aperture (and many others) offer the possibility to tweak, play with curves and slider, by adjusting details so the eye of the photographer is satisfied with the result. "They . . . asked me: "'How do you make your pictures?' I was puzzled . . . "I said, 'I don't know, it's not important.' - Henri Cartier-Bresson Sun, 20 Jan 2008 00:57:00 +0000 http://www.lightstalkers.org/bw-conversion-application-for-digital-files#109580 great point, and, as I endlessly preach to my classes, learning your medium, photoshop, digital photography is about learning to use all these tools to fulfill that vision, that seeing. use the tools, don't let them use you. note, in this quote the suggested (maybe?) contradiction... the question was how do you make your pictures, not how do you process them... heh. Sun, 20 Jan 2008 11:12:29 +0000 http://www.lightstalkers.org/bw-conversion-application-for-digital-files#109611 Yesterday I sat through half a day of judging by three terrific photographers/editors at the White House News Photographers Assn annual competition. It may have been something based on what they were shooting when they started their careers, but time and time again their final cuts contained disproportionate numbers of black and white shots. One could not tell whether the images were from film or digital, but they definitely were black and white. So black and white remains powerful..... Sun, 20 Jan 2008 11:37:34 +0000 http://www.lightstalkers.org/bw-conversion-application-for-digital-files#109613 Thanks for your tips, very appreciated. m Sun, 20 Jan 2008 13:09:54 +0000 http://www.lightstalkers.org/bw-conversion-application-for-digital-files#109621 I desaturate my image with photoshop, then I use curves and layer masks. I don't like batch operation for B&W conversion.. Sun, 20 Jan 2008 13:34:43 +0000 http://www.lightstalkers.org/bw-conversion-application-for-digital-files#109623