Other Black-and-White Conversion Techniques

There are far more black-and-white conversion methods than we can cover in this book. If you’re using CS3 or later, you’ll probably find the Black-and-White adjustment to be the best way to convert to black and white. If you’re using an older version, or something other than Photoshop, then you’ll probably have access to one or more of the following features.

Channel Mixing

Photoshop, Aperture, Lightroom, and Capture NX all provide a variation on “channel mixing.” As you’ve learned, your image editor can convert your image to a Grayscale mode by using a stock formula for combining the red, green, and blue channels in your image. Using a Channel Mixer, you can specify your own recipe for how the red, green, and blue channels should be combined.