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

Black and White

It is amazing how something so simple as converting you shots to black and white can improve your shots. The beauty of digital is that you don’t need to decide on B&W before you shoot either. Its much easier and actually a far superior to convert later in your computer. I find it works best for photos with strong compositional elements where colour is not that strong anyway. Everything from sweeping landscapes, cityscapes to classic portraits can benefit from a lack of colour. So give it a go, I did.