Black and White
in Photoshop CS3
and Photoshop
Lightroom
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Black and White
in Photoshop CS3
and Photoshop
Lightroom
Create stunning monochromatic images in
Photoshop CS3, Photoshop Lightroom, and beyond
Leslie Alsheimer with Bryan O’Neil Hughes
AMSTERDAM • BOSTON • HEIDELBERG • LONDON • NEW YORK • OXFORD
PARIS • SAN DIEGO • SAN FRANCISCO • SINGAPORE • SYDNEY • TOKYO
Focal Press is an imprint of Elsevier
Focal Press is an imprint of Elsevier
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First published 2007
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Alsheimer, Leslie
Black and white in Photoshop CS3 and Photoshop Lightroom:
create stunning monochromatic images in Photoshop CS3,
Photoshop Lightroom, and beyond
1. Adobe Photoshop 2. Adobe Photoshop lightroom
3. Photography – Digital techniques 4. Black-and-white
photography
I. Title II. Hughes, Bryan O’Neil
006.6 86
Library of Congress Control Number: 2007932105
ISBN: 978-0-240-52084-1
Typeset by Charon Tec Ltd (A Macmillan Company), Chennai, India
www.charontec.com
For information on all Focal Press publications
visit our website at www.focalpress.com
Printed and bound in Canada
07 08 09 10 11 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
CONTENTS
Acknowledgements.....................................................................................xiii
How to Use This Text .....................................................................................xv
Salutations ..................................................................................................xvii
Seeing in Black and White...........................................................................xix
Mistakes Can Be Magic ................................................................................xxi
Photoshop CS3 and Lightroom: An Integrated Color
Managed Workflow ...................................................................................xxiii
Chapter 1: Color Management for Black and White ....................................1
Pre-Workflow: Color Management Integration ................................ 1
Color Management for Black and White, Really? Sounds
like a serious yawn fest! ........................................................................ 1
What Does Color Management have to do with
Black and White anyway?.................................................................... 2
The Essential Overview ............................................................................. 2
Color Management defined ............................................................... 2
Why Do We Need Color Management? ............................................... 3
Why colors change ................................................................................. 3
If matching the print to the monitor is impossible … then
creating a good print seems fairly hopeless ................................. 5
Managing color with profiles ............................................................. 6
Outline: The Color Managed Workflow ............................................... 6
The six basic components to managing color
throughout the workflow process.................................................... 6
I. Set Up Color Working Spaces .................................................................. 7
Camera Settings: Choose a Color Space ........................................ 7
What is a Color Space? .......................................................................... 8
II. Workspace: Control Ambient Lighting Conditions and Working
Environment ...............................................................................................11
1. Control Ambient Lighting Conditions ....................................11
2. Set Desktop to Solid Gray Medium ..........................................12
3. Set monitor resolution and color preference .......................14
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Contents
III. Monitor .......................................................................................................14
Calibrate your monitor and change settings ...........................14
How do I calibrate? ............................................................................15
How often should I calibrate? ........................................................16
IV. Software .....................................................................................................16
Set photoshop color management policies and
color working spaces ........................................................................16
Photoshop Color Management Policies and the Editing Color
Working Space .........................................................................................18
Working Gray Policies ............................................................................18
CMYK Working Space ...........................................................................20
Spot Working Space ...............................................................................21
Color Management Policies ................................................................21
Profile mismatches ............................................................................22
Missing profile .....................................................................................23
How to set: Photoshop color management policies .............23
Save and Name ........................................................................................24
Comment ...................................................................................................25
V. Print Profiling and Printer Settings....................................................25
Set up the print driver with correct profiles for output........25
Output and Media Considerations ...................................................26
Softproof, Evaluate, Tweak and Repeat...........................................26
Softproof ...............................................................................................26
Evaluate .................................................................................................27
Tweak – Making digital darkroom adjustments based on
output results ......................................................................................28
Chapter 2: Highest Quality Capture: Workflow Phase I ............................29
I. Capture in Color .......................................................................................29
II. Digital Capture File Formats ................................................................30
1. JPEG vs. Raw Capture ........................................................................30
2. Digital Negative (or DNG) Format ................................................31
File formats: Quick reference .........................................................33
III. Bit Depth: The Advantage of High Bit Capture .............................35
IV. Scanning Capture: An Overview........................................................36
1. How to Set Up for Optimal Scanning ..........................................36
2. Resolution/Print Size Reference Chart ........................................37
File sizes refer to high-bit file size.................................................37
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Contents
V. Exposure Evaluation Tools: Utilizing Histograms in the Field
for Optimal Exposures with the Greatest Dynamic Range ....37
So if the LCD stinks for exposure evaluation is there another
way to evaluate exposure in the field? .........................................38
So what is a Histogram? ................................................................38
What is dynamic range? ................................................................39
Exposing for digital capture.........................................................40
Reading and Interpreting Histogram Data..................................41
Clipping ...............................................................................................41
Contrast ...............................................................................................43
Histograms and images.................................................................44
Summary of histograms and exposure evaluation ..................53
VI. Exposure Evaluation: Monitor Highlights Utilizing the
Blinking Highlight Indicator .............................................................54
VII. Histograms in the Digital Darkroom ..............................................55
Monitoring Image Detail with Image Adjustments for
Highest Quality Editing Practice .....................................................55
VIII. Digital Darkroom Editing Dangers .................................................56
Posterization a.k.a. Banding..............................................................56
Cache Warning ......................................................................................57
IX. Noise and Interference in Digital Capture ...................................58
AKA grain in the film world ...............................................................58
Chapter 3: Black and White in Lightroom: Workflow Phase II ..................63
Integrating Workflow Practices .......................................................63
Workflow is dynamic: Go with the flow! ..................................64
Lightroom Unleashed: The Editing Accelerator.........................65
History ......................................................................................................65
A Stepped Approach through Lightroom ...................................65
Module Overview .................................................................................66
Lightroom Library Module: Overview of View Modes........66
I. Import: Includes Download, Backup, Rename,
Keyword, and Copyright ....................................................................69
II. Lightroom Editing.................................................................................75
III. Global Image Adjustments: Lightroom Develop Module ......78
Histogram ............................................................................................. 80
IV. Export: Archive, Contact .....................................................................85
1. Export DNG and Burn another backup ...............................85
2. Print a Contact Sheet .................................................................86
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Contents
Black and White in Photoshop CS3 and Photoshop Lightroom
Special Note: Lightroom Color Management ............................87
3. Bridge to Photoshop ..................................................................88
Bridge Overview ...................................................................................89
Chapter 4: Black and White in Photoshop .................................................91
Photoshop...............................................................................................92
Black and White Conversion Methods ..........................................92
The Methods ...............................................................................................95
Grayscale Mode Change ....................................................................95
Desaturate ...............................................................................................98
Lab Color Mode .................................................................................. 101
Color Filters and Black and White Images ............................ 103
Background: Color Filters for Black and White Film.......... 104
How Color Filters in Black and White Made Color Film ... 106
Channels .......................................................................................... 106
Digital RGB Capture is actually Grayscale First!.................. 109
Channel Mixer ..................................................................................... 110
Color to Black and White with the Channel Mixer ............ 110
Digital Like Film ............................................................................. 113
Hue Saturation Technique .............................................................. 114
Turn Up the Volume! This One Goes to 11! ............................... 118
Black and White Standalone Feature.......................................... 122
The new black and white feature in Photoshop CS3 ....... 122
Tinting ............................................................................................... 126
Black and White in Adobe Camera Raw 4.0 ............................. 127
A very brief background .............................................................127
Why use Adobe Camera Raw?...................................................128
Why a plug-in? ................................................................................128
Version 4.0, Adobe Camera Raw for everyone! 129
New Controls ...................................................................................129
A stepped approach through ACR ..........................................130
Opening Files in ACR ....................................................................130
Black and White Beyond ..................................................................136
A Selection of Photoshop Plug-ins ..........................................136
Chapter 5: Image Editing in Photoshop ...................................................141
1. Non-Destructive Editing: An Overview of Best Practices
and New Features in CS3................................................................. 141
2. Using Adjustment Layers for a Non-Destructive
Workflow ............................................................................................... 144
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Contents
Creating Adjustment Layers............................................................ 144
Benefits of Adjustment Layers ....................................................... 144
3. Monitoring Adjustments with the Histogram Palette ........... 146
4. Levels and Curves Overview: Tone and Contrast
Corrections ............................................................................................ 147
4a. Levels .............................................................................................. 147
Input Sliders ......................................................................................... 147
Output Levels....................................................................................... 148
Preview ................................................................................................... 148
4b. Curves .............................................................................................. 149
5. Setting Black and White Points ...................................................... 151
5a. Changing the Dropper Default Settings ............................ 151
5b. Setting Black and White Points Using Levels ..................... 152
Method 1: This method is easier!....................................................152
Create a Levels adjustment layer ...................................................152
Option Key Sliding ............................................................................. 152
Method 2: Threshold; a more advanced and more
accurate method ................................................................................. 154
6. Photoshop: Dodging and Burning with “Soft Light”.............. 157
7. Dodging and Burning with Adjustment Layers ....................... 159
8. Creating a Neutral Density Filter ................................................... 161
9. Vignetting .............................................................................................. 163
Burn Edges w/ Geometric Selection Tools ................................. 163
10. Correcting Exposure Issues with Adjustment Layers ..............166
11. Creating Film Grain Effects .............................................................. 168
Method 1................................................................................................ 168
Method 2................................................................................................ 168
12. Digital Infrared ..................................................................................... 169
13. Reducing Noise with Photoshop CS3 .......................................... 172
Blurring the Lab “B” Channel ........................................................... 172
The Method .......................................................................................... 172
14. Hand Color Black and White ........................................................... 174
The Method .......................................................................................... 174
15. Sandwiching Negatives .................................................................... 177
Creative compositing with blend modes .................................. 177
16. Toning Techniques with Photoshop............................................. 180
16a. Sepia Tone 1: Photo Filter ...................................................... 181
16b. Sepia Tone 2: Hue Saturation ............................................... 182
16c. Albumen Print: A Method for Split Toning ...................... 183
16d. Toning with Curves.................................................................. 185
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Contents
16e. Split Toning with Selections ................................................. 186
16f. Duotone, Tritones and Quadtones...................................... 190
Chapter 6: Printing ................................................................................... 193
Silver Changing Form ................................................................................ 194
Ink .................................................................................................................... 197
Types of Ink .............................................................................................. 197
Grayscale .................................................................................................. 198
Issues with Ink ........................................................................................ 198
Alternatives to Black and White Inkjet Limitations ....................... 199
Black Only Printing................................................................................ 199
RIP Software (Raster Image Processing)........................................ 199
Latest Developments ................................................................................ 200
Papers and Profiles .......................................................................................... 200
Matte vs. Glossy...................................................................................... 200
Profiles ....................................................................................................... 201
Workflow Phase 5: Printing Workflow ................................................. 202
Monitor Tonal Detail from Monitor to Print: Creating a
Step Wedge .................................................................................................. 202
Printing Workflow Overview ........................................................................ 203
A. Printing From Photoshop ................................................................. 203
B. Print From Lightroom ......................................................................... 204
A. Photoshop Printing Workflow ............................................................... 204
I. Set Image Size and Resolution ......................................................... 204
Image size in Photoshop .....................................................................204
Image Size Dialog Box ......................................................................... 205
Image Size and Scanning ................................................................... 206
Calculating the File Size with Photoshop ..................................... 207
II. Softproofing ............................................................................................ 208
For full screen Softproofing in CS3 ................................................. 209
Simulate Paper Color............................................................................ 209
Simulate Ink Black ................................................................................. 209
III. Sharpen.....................................................................................................209
Sharpening Overview ......................................................................... 209
Unsharp Mask Overview .................................................................... 210
The Basic Method ................................................................................. 210
Unsharp Mask Techniques (High Pass Filter Method) ............. 210
Smart Sharpen........................................................................................211
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Contents
IV. Set Your Print Driver for Color Managed Output ...................... 212
Color Management............................................................................. 213
Adobe Defines Rendering Intents as Follows ........................... 214
Method 1 : Photoshop Managed Color ........................................215
Method 2: Printer Managed Color..................................................218
Method 3: Forget Color Management! .........................................221
V. Tweaking................................................................................................. 223
B. Printing from Lightroom ..........................................................................224
Lightroom Print Module ....................................................................225
Overview of Features ..........................................................................225
Image Settings ..................................................................................... 226
Layout ...................................................................................................... 226
Overlays .................................................................................................. 227
Print Job .................................................................................................. 228
Lightroom: Set Your Print Driver for Color
Managed Output Color Management...................................................... 229
Method 1: Color Managed by Printer: Profile................................... 229
Lightroom Method 2: Color Managed by Printer
(Without profile) ......................................................................................... 230
Afterword ................................................................................................... 231
About the Authors ......................................................................................233
Advertisement ............................................................................................235
Index ........................................................................................................... 237
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to express my greatest and most heartfelt gratitude to the
people in my life who went out of their way to give me the support and
encouragement to finish this project: the entire Alsheimer family, especially
my mom, my co-author Bryan and his fiancée Alex, and dear friends Cece
Kurtzweg, Randall Gann, Amos Hockmeyer, Michael Clark, Jamie Baldonado,
all the folks at Focal Press, and Desert Elements Design; Molly McDow Duncan
and Cheryl Eisenhard.
Leslie Alsheimer
I’d like to thank everyone who appears in the credits of any Adobe application
discussed in this text, each and every person touches the applications in some
way. More specifically, I’d like to dedicate all of my own efforts in this book
to Alex, my fiancée – whose support and dependable good nature always
empowers me to fulfill my lofty goals and obligations.
Bryan O’Neil Hughes
© Leslie Alsheimer
xiii
Acknowledgements
© Leslie Alsheimer
xiv
HOW TO USE THIS TEXT
T hank you for choosing Black and White in Photoshop CS3 and Photoshop
Lightroom. From the highest quality capture to practical workflow
practices, black and white conversion methodologies, non-destructive digital
darkroom image processing, creative adjustments, to the latest printing
techniques; this book is a fully integrated color managed workflow designed
for the black and white photographer. Utilizing the power of both Photoshop
CS3 and Lightroom, we have attempted to make this text both informative
and fun by technically filtering the technology as much as possible with the
creative user in mind. Software and digital imaging techniques can present a
seemingly overwhelming amount of information to take on through text books
alone, especially if the subject matter is not our full-time job. Most text books
focused on digital photography and Photoshop, have historically taken either
an extremely technical or all-encompassing approach to the subject matter.
As creative users ourselves with extensive experience as workshop educators
in the field, our approach with this text is to address the material more like
a workshop, condensing and directing content specifically toward practical
photographic application of the materials for the black and white enthusiast.
When teaching many of our workshops, we ask our students two questions:
first, how many text books have they purchased on Photoshop? Second,
Mac vs PC
how many of those text books have actually been read? The overwhelming
We have used Mac
majority own an average of three to four texts, most of which have never been
Key commands in this
book. The following is a extensively read. For the average user, professional or hobbyist, the interest
conversion chart for PC in digital technology is practical. Most users know photography already
users: and enjoy making images. How to apply this new technology to existing
Mac PC knowledge and skills tend to be the question of the day.
CMD CTRL In this text, we go to great lengths to present concepts as simply as possible.
OPT ALT We use metaphor extensively and sometimes even a few silly made up terms
CTRL Right mouse to describe more complex topics in order to help make the material more
click accessible and easier to understand. Most importantly, however, we have
Delete Backspace also weeded through the vast amount of information available in this digital
Return Enter
domain, and eliminated a great deal of it in order to assist practitioners in
gaining more practical and digestible information specific to black and white
processes utilizing Photoshop CS3 and Lightroom. After all, any book that is
too complex, too technical or too overwhelming to actually read cannot be
very helpful in the learning process.
License to Drive
Learning about digital technology and new methodologies is similar to
the process of learning to drive a car. Knowing about the rules of the road,
signaling a turn, how to parallel park and when to stop for the school bus
xv
How to Use This Text
is enough to get a new driver out on the road with a license to drive. The
rest of a driver’s education is acquired on the road experientially over time,
potentially hitting a few curbs and bumpers in the process. Learning how to
change a tire, the engine oil or how to jumpstart a dead battery however, are
not license requirements, and whether or not one chooses to learn these skills
is optional. Although there is an enormous amount of complex mechanical
information buried under the hood of an automobile that can be extremely
useful on the road, a driver can still get to many exciting places with just a
license (and maybe an AAA card). The process of learning digital technology
is very similar in that much of the more complex information on how and why
things work can stay under the hood for the more technically curious and
adept to explore when and if they choose.
We hope this text will help you learn to drive the technology first, bringing you
to fun places where you can play with your images, make mistakes, run into
a few curbs, keep you from crashing off the road and leave the engine to the
mechanics until you are ready for more complex technical information. There
are many technical books on the market today written by qualified experts. We
do not intend to try and reinvent the wheel, nor replicate information found
commonly in other texts. Rather, we hope to provide a practical and integrated
color managed workflow – specific to black and white processes – that will help
you understand what you need to know to get you in the digital darkroom and
playing, having fun, being creative and making images as quickly as possible.
To that end, we present you with the latest information on Photoshop CS3 and
Lightroom, pruned, refined, and simplified to increase your imaging enjoyment
and productivity at the same time. Hopefully that is what it is all about anyway!
Happy image making and best wishes in all your photographic endeavors!
With every good wish,
Leslie Alsheimer & Bryan O’Neil Hughes
© Leslie Alsheimer
xvi
SALUTATIONS
© Leslie Alsheimer
W hile the digital landscape has become less complex with the latest
software releases, we also recognize that we are standing on the
shoulders of giants. We salute the Photoshop gurus and divas who navigated
the complexities of the digital world before us, who were not only willing,
but enthusiastic and passionate enough to pass on their wisdom, knowledge
and expertise. Because of their perseverance and dedication, the technology
is where it is today. Hats off to all those folks for laying the foundation and
paving the way for the rest of us!
Special acknowledgement and appreciation must also go out personally
to all of my many mentors who challenged my vision and ignited the
passion for the digital world that carried me into my career as a professional
photographer and educator. To Julieanne Kost, Katrine Eisman, as the
pioneering women of the industry, and my high school photography teacher
Karen Jenks each of whom inspired me with great impetus and will forever be
my industry heroines and role models!
To Jonathan Singer, Norman Mauskoph, Thatcher Cook, Stephen Johnson,
Andrew Rodney, Mac Holbert, Jeff Schewe, George DeWolfe, Maggie Taylor,
John Paul Caponigro, Jack Davis, Jerry Courvosier, Michael “Nick” Nichols,
Dan Burkholder, David Alan Harvey, Sam Abell, Tom Gaukel, Josh Withers,
Genevieve Russell, David Lyman, Reid Callanan, Martha Callanan, the staff and
everyone at the Maine Photographic Workshops, and the Santa Fe Workshops.
Leslie Alsheimer
xvii
xviii
© Leslie Alsheimer
Salutations
SEEING IN BLACK AND WHITE
I recall when shooting film that there was a mental shift necessary
when I swapped from, Velvia to TMAX; shooting in Black and White required
a different state of mind. Though much has changed in the never-out-of film,
instant gratification world of digital, a change of mind is as important as ever.
In color you can have similar tonal values, but completely different colors,
and so the two side by side can still create a dramatic image. The same colors
in a black and white image simply blend together and appear drab. To look
back again to those distant days of film use; many times I would find myself
before a brilliant, colorful sunset, only to realize that I was loaded with black
and white film. As a young rookie, I would snap away, insisting that something
so beautiful would surely be so with or without the accurate reproduction of
color; while a white sun, white clouds and a dark red (almost black) sky helped
with the wrong film, my images were never the same.
There are several techniques that can help make compelling images in black
and white; many of which lend themselves uniquely to a monochromatic
image. What follows are but a few ways to visualize and look for clues to
create more impact in your black and white images:
1. Look for contrast. Strong tonal differences in a color image can be both
busy and confusing; in a monochromatic image, they can pull the eye
and define the tone of the shot. Contrast is everything in a stunning black
and white shot; and though you can digitally manipulate it after the fact,
looking for it ahead of time helps greatly.
2. Look for shapes. Bold shapes, curves, edges and details become almost
abstract in a black and white image; the same shapes can easily be lost in
the splashy rainbow of a like color photo.
3. Look for texture. Whether it is wood grain, sand, skin or hair, texture is just
yet another thing that seems to “look better in black and white”. Combine a
macro lens with good, strong texture and see how much better that color
image looks in black and white!
4. Look for lines. Lines can break and bisect an image, true, but they can also
direct the eye. In a black and white image with strong contrast, lines are so
powerful that they can be the sole subject matter.
5. Look for shadows. Deep, black shadows, thin, almost invisible, light
shadows; the mirror of a subject in a gray mask is always appealing.
6. Look for patterns. The same repetitive grain, stitch, row of hedges, sea of
brick or set of waves can be noise for your eyes in a color image, and the
same in black and white can become mesmerizing.
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