Hue Adjustment for Black & White? You Bet!

By Liz Ness · February 3rd, 2011

· 20 Comments · Add to my favorites · Print

So help me, trying out an odd combination of Photoshop Elements tools on occasion is fun! True, sometimes these trials bomb. You should see some of the resulting images — wait, maybe you shouldn’t. They’re bad, if not humorous. Other times, a strange combination yields unexpected delight; a discovery that blows me away and becomes a part of my process. After all, who knew that a Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer would be a great tool for black and white processing?

I’m not sure what possessed me to apply a hue adjustment under a gradient map, but I’m sure glad I did. The result of this odd combo — an adjustment often reserved for color plus an image without color — meant great control over specific values (or shades of gray). What a find! Moreover, what a great reason to step out of the box now and then and experiment!

The following video illustrates better than words about how using a Hue/Saturation Adjustment is a wonderful option for your black and white photo treatments. In addition, you’ll learn how to apply the technique, use masks, and get a glimpse of Photoshop Elements’ Convert to Black and White tool.

Enjoy!

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20 Replies to Hue Adjustment for Black & White? You Bet!:

Hans
February 4, 2011 at 2:10 am

I enjoyed this tutorial very much. By showing what you can do with finetuning the color channels it added more than “standard” tutorials which describe the conversion to black and white.
Thanks.
- Liz
  February 4, 2011 at 8:18 am
  
  Thanks for your comment Hans — I’m so glad you enjoyed the tutorial! =)
James
February 4, 2011 at 2:26 am

More tools in the toolbox! Thanks, Liz!
- Liz
  February 4, 2011 at 8:18 am
  
  You bet, James — thanks for your comment, too! =)
Steve
February 4, 2011 at 7:49 am

Thank you Liz, I followed your tutorial…so easy to follow. I have posted my final image on my blog. In Elements I ran an action that placed a piece of tap on my image. I really like the conversion to Black and White. Thanks so much.
- Liz
  February 4, 2011 at 8:21 am
  
  Thanks Steve — I’m so jazzed that you’ve had a chance to try the tutorial already! Also, I LOVE the results — very cool image and the tape is awesome, too!
Mary
February 4, 2011 at 11:51 am

Thanks for the great tutorial. I found it very helpful and easy to follow. It seems that it can be hard to convert a photo to black and white without leaving the photo looking flat. The ideas in your tutorial definitely change that!

Thanks again-

-Mary
- Liz
  February 4, 2011 at 1:57 pm
  
  Thank you for your comment Mary and I love your point about how the adjustment allows for greater depth — I think so, too! =)
Esther
February 5, 2011 at 9:21 pm

Thanks for this detailed tutorial. I haven’t been very talented in converting to B&W, so now I have another method for working with them.

Also, thanks for visiting my blog and commenting there. I appreciate your visit.
- Liz
  February 6, 2011 at 8:14 am
  
  Thank you, Esther! =)
Lee
February 9, 2011 at 9:15 am

Excellent content and very helpful. However, I notice that the cursor (and the words, words, words) almost never stop. Okay? Maybe it’s just me, but I find that distracting. Okay?
- Liz
  February 9, 2011 at 11:05 am
  
  Thanks for the feedback Lee! =)
  - Lee
    February 9, 2011 at 12:46 pm
    
    Roger that.
Joseph
June 20, 2011 at 6:23 pm

Russell Brown developed a similar black and white conversion technique, using 2 hue/saturation adjust layers, the first in color blend mode, the second in normal mode with complete color desaturation. Is there a difference in the final output? Your technique seems to give my pictures a little more depth and clarity. What’s your take/
- Liz
  June 20, 2011 at 7:43 pm
  
  Hmm… Off the top of my head, I’m not sure. I’ll have to try it out and get back to you Joseph. Thanks for the tip (and the name) — I’ll be playing…er, I mean testing out the technique for sure!
  
  =) Liz
Joseph
June 21, 2011 at 7:44 pm

I’ve been comparing “Convert to Black and White” with your conversion technique using the gradient map and hue/saturation adjustment layers. You win, hands down! One of the bigger problems is the small “after” image.You can’t evaluate and tweek (or is it tweak) on the big screen. More importantly, “Convert to B&W’ offers only global changes on the sliders and they ain’t that great. Your simple process is better visualized (that big screen thing) AND more precise localized tonal adjustments. The only really excellent feature in ELEMENTS is the default infrared used as a layer in soft light mode over the original image. Adjusting the opacity down puts the WOW into any picture. And who thought of that? Oh yeah, the intrepid Ms. Liz.
- Liz
  June 21, 2011 at 8:42 pm
  
  LOL! I love my new name! =)
  
  Also, thanks for investigating this — love that! I’ve been busy packing up for a summer vacation coming up soon. And, I haven’t had any time to play — I’m getting itchy!
  
  Thanks again for all of the tips!
  
  =) Liz
  - Joseph
    June 22, 2011 at 10:46 am
    
    Have a nice vacation, YOUR INTREPIDNESS! I have some itchy questions re: layer masks when you return.
Abegail
January 5, 2012 at 3:27 am

Good Morning,
I’m writing to inform you that this video stops working less than half way in. It’s a shame too b/c she made everything easy to understand. Email me when the video is fixed or replaced, so I may start where I left off. Thank you kindly.

ABBIGIRL316
- Rick LePage
  January 5, 2012 at 11:43 am
  
  Give the “Download this movie” link a try, Abegail. It should download the movie to your computer, and you can double-click on it from your Downloads folder.
  
  Sometimes, your web browser’s cache can cause these movies to ‘stick’ when there’s a problem on the initial viewing.
  
  If you continue to have problems, send us a note via our Contact Us page.
  
  Rick