The image we chose to work with is very close to a black-and-white image to start, but that gives us the opportunity to work with a few different tools than, perhaps, you would normally.įor this exercise, I used Silver Efex Pro (SEP) as a plug-in for Photoshop. Silver Efex Pro 2 allows for precise conversions from color to monochrome, thanks to intuitive creative controls that are easy to master. (Note: If you purchased the Nik Collection, Google promises they will refund your money.) TOP: Final image.
#Silver efex pro 2 icon for free#
Google announced that, as of March 24, the Nik Collection can be downloaded for free so, run, don’t walk, to /nikcollection and download all six plug-ins-but especially Silver Efex Pro so you can follow along with the conversion process outlined here. One of my personal favorite tools for black-and-white conversions is Silver Efex Pro 2, which is part of Google’s Nik Collection of plug-ins, and compatible with Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom and Apple Aperture. Ask 10 different photographers about how to create a black-and-white image from a color file, and you’ll likely get 10 vastly different answers. Software-and process-choices abound, and personal preferences in workflow and end results differ from one photographer to the next. But, as inkjet printer manufacturers made it easier to print in monochrome and software developers realized the need for digital darkroom equivalents of tools to produce the dynamic range of a silver print, black-and-white conversion steadily grew as a solid option for photographers.īut, like any software process, there are more ways to convert a color image to black-and-white than we can count. As digital took over, there were few monochrome options other than, perhaps, desaturating images in software applications, which usually resulted in dull, flat photos. It’s the core of imaging and what many of us remember fondly starting with the first roll of TRI-X we processed and printed in the darkroom.
Black-and-white photography never goes out of style.