Photoshop tutorials:
How to simulate the new Black-and-White Filter in an older version of Photoshop
Photoshop's Black-and-White adjustment layer is awesome, but here's how to achieve similar control in older versions of Photoshop.
The Black-and-White Filter:
Adobe introduced the Black-and-White adjustment layer in Photoshop CS3. It's an easy and precise way to control your monochrome images. For some people, who love their black-and-whites, it was probably worth the upgrade price alone.
In previous versions of Photoshop, we had to use other methods of conversion, such as Channel Mixer (which offers a degree of control via the Red, Green and Blue channels) and Desaturate (which offers no control whatsoever).
The Black-and-White adjustment allows us to individually control the tonality of each of the six principal hues:
A decent alternative:
If you're using a pre-CS3 version of Photoshop (or Photoshop Elements), here's a nifty method to convert to black-and-white. It's not quite as good as the Black-and-White filter, but it's pretty darn good all the same, and I've had some great results with it.
Step 1: Add a black layer
Press D to make sure your colour swatches are reset, then add a new "Solid Color" layer.
Press "Ok" to accept black as the colour fill.
It doesn't have to be black - any shade of grey works too. I just find black easier.
Step 2: Change the layer Blend Mode
In the Layers palette, change the Blend Mode from "Normal" to "Color".
Again, it doesn't have to be "Color" mode - "Hue" and "Saturation" modes work just the same.
Now you can see your image in basic black-and-white. If it looks good to you, you don't need to do anything else! But if you'd like to tweak it some more, read on ...
Step 3: Select the image layer
In the Layers palette, click on the image layer again. (In most cases, this will be the "Background" layer.)
Step 4: Add a Hue/Saturation layer
Make a new Hue/Saturation adjustment layer. It will sit between your image layer and the black layer. Now you're ready to fine-tune your conversion.
Option 1: Quick and easy
In your Hue/Saturation dialog box, just grab the Hue slider and move it around a bit. You'll be surprised at the results you can achieve with this simple method!
Option 2: Controlling individual tones
In your Hue/Saturation dialog box, pull down the "Edit" menu. What do we see? That's right - six colours ready to be controlled individually, just like the Black-and-White filter.
Choose each colour individually, and darken or lighten them to taste using the Lightness slider. Voila! A lovely black-and-white image, ready for further processing.
Conclusion:
As I said at the start, this method is neither as easy nor as precise as the new filter. But it's pretty handy, and it's available to you right there in your version of Photoshop or Elements.
Have fun!