Adobe Photoshop CS6 Top 100 Simplified Tips and Tricks by Lynette Kent

CONVERT A COLOR PHOTO to a black-and-white photo
You can convert a color image to black and white
using many different tools and techniques in
Photoshop, and because there are no fixed rules on
which colors in an image should match specific levels
of gray, you can create a variety of different
grayscale images from just one color photograph.
Both the Black & White adjustment layer and the
Channel Mixer adjustment layer offer powerful
conversion methods with complete visual control. You
interactively determine what shade of gray is applied
to any particular color range in the image by moving
the sliders in the Properties panel for either of these
types of adjustment layers. And because you are
editing using a nondestructive adjustment layer, the
original image data is preserved without duplicating
the Background layer.
The Black & White and the Channel Mixer Properties
panels each include a number of presets that you can
use or modify, or you can create and save your own
preset. You can also apply a tint to the photos using
either of these adjustment layers.
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Convert with a Black & White
Adjustment Layer
1 Open a color image to convert to
grayscale.
2 Click the Black & White button in
the Adjustments panel.
Note: You can optionally click the
Adjustment Layer button ( ) on
the Layers panel and click Black &
White.
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The image converts to a default
grayscale image.
3 Click Auto to see the changes.
The grays in the image change.
Note: The Auto function in the
Black & White Properties panel
maps the colors to grays differently
from the Default setting.
4 Click and drag any of the
color sliders to vary the grays
according to the colors in the
image.
5 Click the Preset drop-down menu
to try a different preset.
Note: To tint the image, click Tint
( changes to ) and then click
in the color box. Select a color from
the Color Picker that appears.