Photoshop Elements gives us at least 47 and a half ways to do any one task, and creating Black and Whites is no exception.

For my black and whites, I use a Gradient Map adjustment layer to make the conversion. It’s incredibly versatile.

With it I can:

Adjust the contrast of black to white

Create a tinted black and white (also known as duotone)

Make a vintage look

Go moody and artsy

Or even let color shine through the B&W for a selective color effect

Are you ready? This is how I do it.

Create a Black and White

Start with an image whose exposure, white balance and contrast are good.

Type the letter D to set your colors to Default Black and White.

Add a Gradient Map Adjustment layer to it. And note that Gradient is not the same as Gradient Map – make sure you choose the correct type of layer!

If your image doesn’t look like a good B&W at this point, you probably forgot to type the letter D before adding the adjustment layer. If it looks infrared (white and black rather than black and white), click on the reverse button in the Adjustments panel.

If it has completely different colors in it, double click on the gradient bar. The Gradient Editor will open, and you can simply select the Black, White gradient, which is the third one from the left on the top row of gradients in the image below. The name of each gradient will appear as you hover your cursor over it.



So that’s your basic B&W. Easy, right? Let’s enhance it a bit.

Enhance Contrast

First off, the all-important contrast. This can make or break a B&W. You need to control how much of your image converts to white, how much to black, and how the shades of gray distribute between the two.

So, open that Gradient Editor again by clicking on the Gradient Bar. See the circled color stop in the image below? Click once on it. Clicking on it will activate a tiny diamond under the gradient, right in the middle. It’s called the Color Midpoint. You have to look close to see it!

This is one of the most sensitive areas of Elements as far as clicking precisely goes. If you accidentally create a new color stop, either delete the stop (highlight it and press the delete/backspace key) or delete the entire layer and start over.

Once you have that diamond activated, you can click and drag it. Make sure your cursor changes from a finger to an arrow before dragging. Otherwise, you’ll create a new color stop (see above). Drag the diamond to the left to make the image brighter (more white). Drag it to the right to make the image darker.

If you need even more contrast, add a levels adjustment layer.

For the Midpoint %, look at the location field under the midpoint while it’s active for editing.

Add Tint to Your Black and White

You can use that same Gradient Editor to add tint to your B&Ws. You might have seen a chocolate B&W, or images that have a navy tint. To do this, open the Gradient Editor and double click on either of the bottom color stops. The key to getting a good look is to make the dark color stop very close to black, and the light color stop very close to white.

See the little circle next to the arrow in the screen shot above? You can click and drag it to the color that you want – just make sure it stays close to either black or white. Click on the color family to the right to select different colors. You can also type in the numbers directly if you know their codes.

Experiment with the looks here – it’s completely up to you. The tint I chose above warms the image very subtly. Good starting points for other looks are:

Chocolate B&W with cream highlights: #0f0600 for the darks and #fbf8f0 for the lights

Navy B&W with the lightest of pink highlights: #00010b for the darks and #fcfafb for the lights

Create a Vintage Look

This is super easy. Just reduce the opacity of your Gradient Map Layer until you are happy with the look.

Go Arsty and Moody

Change the Blend Mode of your Gradient Map layer to either Soft Light or Overlay. Adjust the opacity as needed. You can adjust the color of the color stops too in the Gradient Editor.

Selective Color

Selective Color gets a bad rap these days. It’s considered by many in the industry to be a trend that has outlived its useful life. I know for a fact though that some people still like it. And these Gradient Map B&Ws make it super easy.

Create your B&W following the instructions above. Adjust it until you’re happy, and then use a black brush to paint on the layer mask to hide the B&W effect from the areas where you want the color to show through. This tutorial shows you how in depth.

Weekend Homework

Yes, your homework for the weekend is to experiment with the Gradient Map in Elements. Post your beautiful Black and Whites on the Texas Chicks Facebook page to show off what you did!