Photoshop Elements Tutorial – Converting to Black and White

One of the best things about shooting digital is that you don’t need to choose black and white or colour when you load the film, or even when you set up your camera and press the shutter. Not only can it all be done on the computer afterwards, you actually get better results that way. You can use it on anything from scenic landscapes to arty portraits and being digital you can always go back to colour if you don’t like it. In this post I will explain how to convert a colour images to black and white using the full editor in Photoshop Elements. Hopefully with a bit of luck you will end up with something that looks a bit like this:

Peak District Landscape, Yorkshire, England

Out of Bounds Effect in PS Elements

Recently I posted the image below on the DPS forum and a few people asked me how it was done. So I though I’d write a how to. I used Photoshop Elements 6 but you can do it any software that can uses layers and masks

The effect is called “Out of Bounds” or sometimes “3D Border Breakout”. First off you need to pick a suitable picture. Photos with a strong subject help, one that has some depth in the frame. Movement is also good but make sure your subject is sharp otherwise it won’t look great later on. There are a few different ways to get to the end product so this isn’t a definitive guide, it may not even be the easiest way but it works.