Black & White Techniques-Top 10 tips

Use its mono mode to begin seeing how the relationship between different tones works.

You can convert to black and white later (and go back to colour if things don’t work out).

If your software has this feature you’ll find it’s the most flexible way to convert to black and white, but…

… don’t be afraid to experiment with other methods; using Lab mode separates colours well.

Use the Levels and Curves dialogs to do this – avoid using the Brightness/Contrast options, as they destroy valuable image data.

If your software doesn’t have a Channel Mixer, this is a great way to change the tonal balance in an image.

If you want to darken and lighten specific areas of an image, use the Dodge and Burn tools.

Grain can add atmosphere – but don’t use Photoshop’s Film Grain filter on its own (add some Gaussian Blur).

It’ll help remove colour casts in your monochrome prints – but do it for each paper type you use.

They’ll give neutral black and white prints. Don’t confuse this with the ‘black only’ output option on your printer, however.