Photoshop Software Download

May 26
2009

Getting To Grips With Photo Manipulation: Transforming Images To Black And White In GIMP

Nowadays everyone seems to be a photo manipulation expert but that doesn't mean that the programs for such tasks are easy to get your head around. Transforming colored images into black and white is likely to be an essential skill you'll need to learn. This quick guide is based on GIMP a photo manipulation program which essentially acts as the cost free version of the costly Photoshop software. I feel that this program is far easier for beginners to use.

Once you have downloaded the image you would like to manipulate from your digital cameras or the internet, your best bet for cementing these techniques is to stick on the kettle, boil yourself a brew and simply try out the different methods of achieving monochrome images to see which works or looks best to you.

I myself am no GIMP expert but these are the three methods I have learnt by experimenting with the program and my Dell laptops own image editing program.

Grayscale:

(Right click the image - Mode - Grayscale)

This is the most basic way to create B&W images, though it works less well with images with low green channels (read as; less green colouring). The grayscale method supposedly mimics the human eyes sensitivity to different colours.

Desaturate:

(Right click the image - Colours - Desaturate)

Unlike Grayscale, the RBG channels in Desaturate mode are not remixed to different percentages, so different results should occur. Images transformed to B&W via this method tend to have more 'noise' (or blur) which can be desirable or undesirable depending on what you want for you image.

Channel mixer:

(Right click - Components - Channel Mixer - Monochrome (tick box))

Flexibility is the main attractive trait of this method. Once the monochrome box has been ticked, you can experiments with the levels of the red, blue and green channels. Experimenting with these levels will affect the contrast and noise of the picture. Working out which percentages of each work best is all part of the fun!

(Updated 29 July 2011) Photoshop Lightroom 3 FREE License Keys HD (Download link in Description)

.
Welcome fellow Photoshop artist! I hope you find the Photoshop Software Download information that you are looking for. Below are some other Photoshop Software Download products at a "steal" which you might want to check out.