By adjusting a RAW image’s colours and tones you can produce an impressive black-and-white portrait with instant impact
Because RAW image files contain more information than standard JPEGs, you can use them to produce high impact monochrome images without compromising on quality. By altering your picture’s natural colours and tones, you can come up with something truly outstanding.
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1. Reduce saturation
To start, drag the Saturation slider to the left to create a mono version. This creates an unattering, flat-lit mono portrait that lacks contrast. Set the Saturation slider back to 0 and get ready to create a mono conversion with better shadows, highlights and midtones, and much more impact.
To start, drag the Saturation slider to the left to create a mono version. This creates an unattering, flat-lit mono portrait that lacks contrast. Set the Saturation slider back to 0 and get ready to create a mono conversion with better shadows, highlights and midtones, and much more impact.
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2. Spot clipped highlights
Before converting the shot to mono youll need to enhance its contrast. You can see from the red section of the Histogram graph that some of the highlights in this image are in danger of being clipped. Check the Highlight Clipping Warning box at the top right of the Histogram and youll see the clipped pixels appear as patches of red.
Before converting the shot to mono youll need to enhance its contrast. You can see from the red section of the Histogram graph that some of the highlights in this image are in danger of being clipped. Check the Highlight Clipping Warning box at the top right of the Histogram and youll see the clipped pixels appear as patches of red.
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3. Reduce exposure
Although the RAW shot has been overexposed, it contains enough information for you to alter the exposure and restore detail to the clipped pixels. Drag the Exposure slider left to -0.35. The clipping warning will vanish and the highlights in the Histogram will slide left towards the midtone section of the graph, revealing more detail in your portrait.
Although the RAW shot has been overexposed, it contains enough information for you to alter the exposure and restore detail to the clipped pixels. Drag the Exposure slider left to -0.35. The clipping warning will vanish and the highlights in the Histogram will slide left towards the midtone section of the graph, revealing more detail in your portrait.
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4. Improve contrast
To give the mono conversion process a wider range of tones to work with, drag the Recovery slider to the right until it has a value of +40. This restores more detail to highlight areas such as the face, the whites of the eyes and the teeth.
To give the mono conversion process a wider range of tones to work with, drag the Recovery slider to the right until it has a value of +40. This restores more detail to highlight areas such as the face, the whites of the eyes and the teeth.
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5. Enhance the eyes
The eyes are an important part of any portrait, and youre often drawn to them first. For a high-impact mono conversion you can enhance the contrast between the eyes and the dark lashes. By dragging the Blacks slider to 15 you can strengthen the intensity of the dark eyelashes without altering the midtones and highlights of the overall image.
The eyes are an important part of any portrait, and youre often drawn to them first. For a high-impact mono conversion you can enhance the contrast between the eyes and the dark lashes. By dragging the Blacks slider to 15 you can strengthen the intensity of the dark eyelashes without altering the midtones and highlights of the overall image.
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6. Colour and mono
The black-and-white conversion process that well look at later in this tutorial can convert different colours into a wide range of greyscale tones. By boosting the intensity of the imageís colours you can give the mono conversion process more information to work with, resulting in a wider tonal range of blacks, greys and whites.
The black-and-white conversion process that well look at later in this tutorial can convert different colours into a wide range of greyscale tones. By boosting the intensity of the imageís colours you can give the mono conversion process more information to work with, resulting in a wider tonal range of blacks, greys and whites.
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7. Stronger skin tones
The Saturation slider increases all the colours in a portrait equally, but this can create unhealthy looking orange skin. Leave Saturation at the default setting of 0 and slide Vibrance to +43. This enhances the portraits overall colours but also works more gently on the skin tones.
The Saturation slider increases all the colours in a portrait equally, but this can create unhealthy looking orange skin. Leave Saturation at the default setting of 0 and slide Vibrance to +43. This enhances the portraits overall colours but also works more gently on the skin tones.
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8. Remove imperfections
To create a more flattering portrait, zoom into 100%. If your subject is having a bad skin day, grab the Retouch tool and set it to Heal. Click and drag the cursor to draw a red circle around an unwanted spot. Position the green circle over a clear patch of skin. The clear skin will be cloned over the spot, removing it seamlessly.
To create a more flattering portrait, zoom into 100%. If your subject is having a bad skin day, grab the Retouch tool and set it to Heal. Click and drag the cursor to draw a red circle around an unwanted spot. Position the green circle over a clear patch of skin. The clear skin will be cloned over the spot, removing it seamlessly.
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9. Convert to greyscale
Click on the HSL/Greyscale tab and check the Convert To Greyscale box. The Greyscale Mix sliders will automatically try and create a shot with a healthy range of shadows, midtones and highlights. Hit Default to set them to 0.
Click on the HSL/Greyscale tab and check the Convert To Greyscale box. The Greyscale Mix sliders will automatically try and create a shot with a healthy range of shadows, midtones and highlights. Hit Default to set them to 0.
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10. Add sparkle to the eyes
To enhance the contrast within the skin tones, drag Reds to -11 and oranges to -15. To create contrast between skin and hair, drag Yellows to -27. Theres a hint of blue in the eyes, so drag Blue up to +28 to brighten them up. By adjusting the colour sliders you can really enhance the contrast between the hair, skin and eyes of your subject.
To enhance the contrast within the skin tones, drag Reds to -11 and oranges to -15. To create contrast between skin and hair, drag Yellows to -27. Theres a hint of blue in the eyes, so drag Blue up to +28 to brighten them up. By adjusting the colour sliders you can really enhance the contrast between the hair, skin and eyes of your subject.
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11. Create a vignette
Click on the Lens Corrections tab. The Vignette slider is designed to lighten or darken the edge of the frame to compensate for defects caused by lenses. You can use it more creatively by dragging the Amount slider to -86 and Midpoint to +18. This gently darkens the edges of the portrait and draws the eye to the main subject. Try creating different versions using the same techniques.
Click on the Lens Corrections tab. The Vignette slider is designed to lighten or darken the edge of the frame to compensate for defects caused by lenses. You can use it more creatively by dragging the Amount slider to -86 and Midpoint to +18. This gently darkens the edges of the portrait and draws the eye to the main subject. Try creating different versions using the same techniques.
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12. Spoiled for choice
All the changes youve made to your portrait can be undone at any time, even after youve clicked Done to close the file. The original RAW file will remain untouched. The changes youve made are stored alongside the RAW image in a separate file so that Photoshop knows which image adjustment settings to use next time you open the portrait.
All the changes youve made to your portrait can be undone at any time, even after youve clicked Done to close the file. The original RAW file will remain untouched. The changes youve made are stored alongside the RAW image in a separate file so that Photoshop knows which image adjustment settings to use next time you open the portrait.