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Colour to mono There are several ways of converting your colour images to mono, and here we offer four of the simplest and most effective; each gives subtly different results, and you may want to try a couple of them out on a particular photo before you make a final choice. The methods we’ve outlined are for Photoshop – you’ll find similar options in most other image editing programs, although the exact commands may differ slightly. If you’re using Photoshop you can speed up this process by recording actions, and you can also save History snapshots of each conversion, so that you can compare them quickly. Three of these conversion processes are automatic, in that you have no control over the tonal relationships; the fourth, using the Channel Mixer, is the most complex, but also the most interesting.

Convert to greyscale Selecting Image > Mode > Grayscale is the simplest method for converting colour images to black and white, and it’s perhaps for this reason that it’s not generally well regarded by black and white aficionados. However, it actually does a pretty good job of separating colours tonally – more so than simply ‘desaturating’ the image; what’s more, it reduces the number of colour channels in the image from three (RGB) to one (greyscale), so your files become one-third their original size. The disadvantage of this method is that you’ll have to convert the image back to RGB mode (it’ll still appear mono, as the colour’s been removed) in order to apply many filters and image adjustments.

Desaturate the colours You can retain the three colour channels in your image by ‘desaturating’ it (Image > Adjustments > Desaturate); this saves you having to convert from greyscale back to RGB to apply adjustments that only work on RGB images. However, although desaturation sounds ideal in principle, because you’re removing the colours without altering the brightness values, it can leave images looking tonally very similar. Look at the red/yellow logo on our subject’s shirt – the greyscale conversion has distinguished the tones well, but the desaturate conversion produces identical brightness levels, and the red/yellow markings have become indistinguishable

Convert to Lab mode Many mono enthusiasts prefer this slightly more complex solution. If you switch to Lab mode (Image > Mode > Lab Color), Photoshop splits the image information in a very different way. Instead of red, green and blue channels, you’ll have a Lightness channel. el accompanied by two (‘a’ and ‘b’) colour channels. If you delete the ‘a’ and ‘b’ channels, then convert the image into greyscale mode, you have in theory ditched all the colour information and retained only the lightness values. You might think this would give the same results as desaturation, but it doesn’t; it separates colours just as well as the greyscale conversion, but also gives noticeably lighter, more ‘open’ tones.

Channel Mixer The Channel Mixer (Image > Adjustments > Channel Mixer) is the most complex conversion option, but it can also be the most effective. First, make sure the Monochrome box is checked; you can now adjust the proportion of the red, green and blue channels to mimic the effect of traditional black and white filters. In our example we’ve used only the red channel, and this has the same effect as using a red filter with monochrome film. Non-red colours (such as the blue sky) are darkened, while red colours (such as the subject’s face) are lightened. When the process is complete, you have an RGB image which is perfect for toning, or further editing. 


Article from Digital Camera Magazine:
Published: 03/11/2005 12:28:00 GMT
© Digital Camera Magazine MMV

For details on equipment used, please see below.

May take a few minutes to download.

The Moon from Swindon, Wiltshire, UK.
Equipment used:- 3" reflector, modified Intel webcam, K3CCD capture software.

The Moon; 3 inch reflector, Intel webcam, K3CCD, Registax, 3 image pan assembly using PanaVue.

1st Series 1954

1. 1- 1 Nov 2 54 The First Night Party
2. 1- 2 Nov 9 54 The Diamond Ring
3. 1- 3 Nov 16 54 The Idol
4. 1- 4 Nov 23 54 The Boxing Champion
5. 1- 5 Nov 30 54 The Hancock Festival
6. 1- 6 Dec 7 54 The New Car
7. 1- 7 Dec 14 54 The Department Store Santa
8. 1- 8 Dec 21 54 Christmas at Aldershot
9. 1- 9 Dec 28 54 The Christmas Eve Party
10. 1-10 Jan 4 55 Cinderella Hancock
11. 1-11 Jan 11 55 A Trip to France
12. 1-12 Jan 18 55 The Monte Carlo Rally
13. 1-13 Jan 25 55 A House on the Cliff
14. 1-14 Feb 1 55 The Sheik
15. 1-15 Feb 8 55 The Marriage Bureau
16. 1-16 Feb 15 55 The End of the Series

2nd Series spring 1955

17. 2- 1 Apr 19 55 A Holiday in France
18 2- 2 Apr 26 55 The Crown Jewels
19. 2- 3 May 3 55 The Racehorse
20. 2- 4 May 10 55 A Visit to Swansea
21. 2- 5 May 17 55 The Holiday Camp
22. 2- 6 May 24 55 The Chef That Died of Shame
23. 2- 7 May 31 55 Prime Minister Hancock
24. 2- 8 Jun 7 55 The Rail Strike
25. 2- 9 Jun 14 55 The Television Set
26. 2-10 Jun 21 55 The Three Sons
27. 2-11 Jun 28 55 The Marrow Contest
28. 2-12 Jul 5 55 The Matador

3rd Series autumn 1955

29. 3- 1 Oct 19 55 The Pet Dog
30. 3- 2 Oct 26 55 The Jewel Robbery
31. 3- 3 Nov 2 55 The Bequest
32. 3- 4 Nov 9 55 The New Neighbor
33. 3- 5 Nov 16 55 The Winter Holiday
34. 3- 6 Nov 23 55 The Blackboard Jungle
35. 3- 7 Nov 30 55 The Red Planet
36. 3- 8 Dec 7 55 The Diet
37. 3- 9 Dec 14 55 A Visit to Russia
38. 3-10 Dec 21 55 The Trial of Father Christmas
39. 3-11 Dec 28 55 Cinderella Hancock
40 3-12 Jan 4 56 The New Year Resolutions
41. 3-13 Jan 11 56 Hancock's Hair
42. 3-14 Jan 18 56 The Student Prince
43. 3-15 Jan 25 56 The Breakfast Cereal
44. 3-16 Feb 1 56 How Hancock Won the War
45. 3-17 Feb 8 56 The Newspaper
46. 3-18 Feb 15 56 The Greyhound Track
47. 3-19 Feb 22 56 The Conjurer
48. 3-20 Feb 29 56 The Test Match

4th Series 1956

49. 4- 1 Oct 14 56 Back from Holiday
50. 4- 2 Oct 21 56 The Bolshoi Ballet
51. 4- 3 Oct 28 56 Sid James's Dad
52. 4- 4 Nov 4 56 The Income Tax Demand
53. 4- 5 Nov 11 56 The New Secretary
54. 4- 6 Nov 18 56 Michelangelo 'Ancock
55. 4- 7 Nov 25 56 Anna and the King of Siam
56. 4- 8 Dec 2 56 Cyrano de Hancock
57. 4- 9 Dec 9 56 The Stolen Petrol
58. 4-10 Dec 16 56 The Expresso Bar
59. 4-11 Dec 23 56 Hancock's Happy Christmas
60. 4-12 Dec 30 56 The Diary
61. 4-13 Jan 6 57 The 13th of the Series
62. 4-14 Jan 13 57 Almost a Gentleman
63. 4-15 Jan 20 57 The Old School Reunion
64. 4-16 Jan 27 57 The Wild Man of the Woods
65. 4-17 Feb 3 57 Agricultural 'Ancock
66. 4-18 Feb 10 57 Hancock in the Police
67. 4-19 Feb 17 57 The Emigrant
68. 4-20 Feb 24 57 The Last of the McHancocks

5th Series 1958

69. 5- 1 Jan 21 58 The New Radio Series
70. 5- 2 Jan 28 58 The Scandal Magazine
71. 5- 3 Feb 4 58 The Male Suffragettes
72. 5- 4 Feb 11 58 The Insurance Policy
73. 5- 5 Feb 18 58 The Publicity Photograph
74. 5- 6 Feb 25 58 The Unexploded Bomb
75. 5- 7 Mar 4 58 Hancock's School
76. 5- 8 Mar 11 58 Around the World in Eighty Days
77. 5- 9 Mar 18 58 The Americans Hit Town
78. 5-10 Mar 25 58 The Election Candidate
79. 5-11 Apr 1 58 Hancock's Car
80. 5-12 Apr 8 58 The East Cheam Drama Festival
81. 5-13 Apr 15 58 The Foreign Legion
82. 5-14 Apr 22 58 Sunday Afternoon at Home
83. 5-15 Apr 29 58 The Grappling Game
84. 5-16 May 6 58 The Junk Man
85. 5-17 May 13 58 Hancock's War
86. 5-18 May 20 58 The Prize Money
87. 5-19 May 27 58 The Threatening Letters
88. 5-20 Jun 3 58 The Sleepless Night

Christmas Special 1958

89. S- 1 Dec 25 58 Bill and Father Christmas

6th Series 1959

90. 6- 1 Sep 29 59 The Smugglers
91. 6- 2 Oct 6 59 The Childhood Sweetheart
92. 6- 3 Oct 13 59 The Last Bus Home
93. 6- 4 Oct 20 59 The Picnic
94. 6- 5 Oct 27 59 The Gourmet
95. 6- 6 Nov 3 59 The Elopement
96. 6- 7 Nov 10 59 Fred's Pie Stall
97. 6- 8 Nov 17 59 The Waxwork
98. 6- 9 Nov 24 59 Sid's Mystery Tours
99. 6-10 Dec 1 59 The Fête
100. 6-11 Dec 8 59 The Poetry Society
101. 6-12 Dec 15 59 Hancock in Hospital
102. 6-13 Dec 22 59 The Christmas Club
103. 6-14 Dec 29 59 The Impersonator