Photoshop Elements offers fewer options than Photoshop CS. With Photoshop CS, you get extra settings during the raw conversion, as well as two Adjustment Layer choices: Black and White and Channel Mixer.

The beauty of these extra options is that they enable you to control the shade of grey that each colour in your image becomes. Typically, you can use these tools to make blue skies appear darker and to ensure that faces become the precise shade of grey that you desire.

All is not lost, however: Elements users can get this degree of control using a cunning trick with a pair of Hue/Saturation Layers. Here’s how to do it…

01 Add a new layer
Open your start image in Photoshop Elements’ Full Edit mode. Ensure the Layers palette is visible by clicking Window>Layers. Click on the half-moon Create Adjustment Layer icon in the Layers palette and choose Hue/Saturation from the drop-down menu. Don’t move any of the sliders on the window at this point, click OK if necessary.

02 Second Adjustment Layer
Now create a second Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer. This will be used to turn the colour shot to black and white, while the first will be used to change the brightness of particular tones in the image. Click the half-moon icon once more, choose Hue/Saturation from the drop-down menu and click OK if using Elements 7 or earlier.

03 Change the Blending Mode
In the Layers palette, ensure that the Hue/Saturation 2 layer is highlighted. Click on the word ‘Normal’ at the top left of the palette, which brings down a menu of all the available Blending Modes. Choose the Colour option from the list. This simple change will mean that you can use both the Lightness and Saturation sliders in steps 5 to 8.

04 Convert to black and white
In the Layers palette, double-click the left-hand icon on the Hue/Saturation 2 layer. This brings up the Hue/Saturation controls. Leave the Edit mode set to Master, but move the Saturation slider to the far left, a setting of -100. This turns your main visible image of the pier from colour into black and white. Next, we’ll tweak this image.

05 Shades of grey
We now need to adjust the black-and-white conversion so that the shades of grey are the desired density. Double-click on the left-hand icon on the Hue/Saturation 1 layer. We’ll start off by working on the sky area. Click on the Edit mode (where it says Master) and choose Blues from the drop-down menu.

06 Lighten the yellow sand
Click on the Edit options again (where it currently says Blues) and now choose Yellows from the drop-down menu. This will enable you to adjust the tone of the beach area in the foreground of our seaside image. Move the Lightness slider to +35 to turn the sand into a lighter shade of grey.

07 Boost contrast in Levels
As is usual with mono conversions, the image lacks contrast. In the Layers palette, click on the Hue/Saturation 2 layer, so that the top layer is selected. Click on the half-moon Create Adjustment Layer icon and choose Levels. Move the Black input slider to 19, the central Grey input slider to 0.92, and the White input slider to 241 (click OK).

08 Darken the sky blues
The range of blues affected is preset, but we can tweak the exact selection using the Eyedropper tools. Pick the Eyedropper with the + symbol next to it and then click on two or three points in the sky in the image (this adds to the colour range affected). Move the Saturation slider to +54 and the Lightness slider to -62 to darken the sky.

09 Mask the red writing
The process of altering the grey shade that each colour becomes can be used to hide unwanted details. Here, the dodgems banner is distracting. Pick Reds from the Edit drop-down menu. Move Saturation to -12 and lightness to +75. The wording blends into the background, so is less noticeable. (Click OK, if using Elements 7 or earlier.)

10 Add a blue rinse
As a final touch, you can add a toned effect to the image. Click on the half-moon Create Adjustment Layer icon again. Choose Hue/Saturation. Click to check the Colourise option. Choose the colour tint by moving the Hue slider – we set a value of 238 to add a blue tone. Use the Saturation slider to adjust the intensity of the tint; we chose a setting of 14. Click OK if necessary when you’re done.

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However, messing about with the Black & White tool’s color channels without restraint can lead to serious image quality issues such as haloes, blocking and noise.

There are many ways to skin a cat in Photoshop and converting to mono is no exception. Here we’ve compile 8 of the most popular alternative ways to convert to black and white.

For more on black and white photography, check out our in-depth guide Black and White Photography: what you need to know for perfect mono pictures.

1. Greyscale
Simply changing the Mode of your image from Colour to Greyscale actually offers a pretty reasonable mono conversion. Click Image> Mode>Greyscale, then click OK when asked if you want to ‘Discard colour information’. The problem is that you have zero control over the result. Switching to Greyscale also blocks many Adjustments and Filters, and you need to choose Image>Mode>RGB Colour to free them up again. If you’re really pressed for time this might be just the job, though.

+ Reasonable results almost instantly
- No control over result

2. Lab Color
Another quick and easy conversion technique. Again there’s no control, but it does generate a particularly light, airy and smooth looking result that’s well suited to delicate subjects and/or high-key or low-contrast treatments. Click Image>Mode>Lab Colour. Now click Window>Channels and click on the Lightness channel. To finish, choose Image>Mode>Greyscale and click OK.

+ Creates smooth, airy results quickly
- No control over result

3. Desaturation
Clicking Image>Adjustments>Desaturate is even quicker than converting to Greyscale, but the result is just slightly rougher and again you have zero control. Desaturation via Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Hue/Saturation, however, provides much more control and more pleasing results. First drag the Saturation slider to -100, then use the drop-down Edit menu to selectively vary the Lightness of the Reds, Yellows, Greens, Cyans, Blues and Magentas to taste.

+ Lightness control over individual channels
- Limited control compared with RAW

4. Calculations
Calculations (Image>Calculations) enables you blend two source channels to create a mono conversion. By default, the channels are set to Red and the Blending Mode to Multiply. It’s worth experimenting with different combinations, but for non-portrait shots, this set-up plus a reduction in Blending Mode Opacity will usually produce the best results.

+ A quick way to create dramatic results
- Limited number of conversion settings

5. Channel Mixer
The Channel Mixer is a formidable device, allowing precise blending of the Red, Green and Blue channels to create a wide variety of mono effects. Choose Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Channel Mixer. Check the Monochrome box and vary the Source channels, ideally keeping the overall percentage total to around 100.

+ Great control and good results
- Requires time and experimentation

6. Gradient Map
For harder, high-contrast results, try the Gradient Map. Click Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Gradient Map and click OK. Set your Foreground Colour in the Tools Palette to Black, choose the Foreground to Background gradient and click OK. Refine the contrast by dragging the Colour Stop and Smoothness sliders.

+ Punchy results and fine-tuning available
- Best for mid to high contrast subjects only

7. Adobe Camera Raw: HSL/Greyscale
The Camera Raw HSL/Greyscale tab offers an effective method for converting RAW image to mono. Once you’ve primed your shot using the standard Camera Raw controls, click the HSL/Greyscale tab and choose Convert to Greyscale. You can then separate and enhance the individual tones using the eight Greyscale Mix colour controls. Further refinements are then possible within Photoshop.

+ Offers vast array of controls and effects
- Changes must be applied to entire image

8. Plug-ins
You can re-create in Photoshop virtually all of the effects offered by third-party plug-ins such as ‘Black & White Studio’ and ‘Film Grain’ by Power Retouche. For example, you could track down grainy traditional 35mm films, scan them in and turn them into mono grain filters. For those without the time or inclination to do this, dedicated plug-ins can be used.

+ Extensive new controls and effects      
- Quality plug-ins don’t come cheap

Making sense of RGB and greyscale
The colour in digital images is created by combining three different colour channels: red, green and blue (RGB).

Each of these channels can record just 256 shades of that colour, but when these channels are combined they can record more than 16 million possible colour combinations (256x256x256).

A greyscale image, meanwhile, is a black-and-white conversion made up of just 256 shades of grey, ranging from pure black to pure white.

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Quick: think of your favourite portrait photography. Tip the scales in your brain for a moment, and you’ll probably find that most of your favourites are black and white portraits, no?

Black and white portraits have an inherent classic quality about them that stands the test of time, and if you want to give your portraits this sort of impact, you’ll want to give them a really punchy black and white conversion.

Portraits are ideal for a mono makeover, because faces are more defined by shape than by shade. So why not strip out all the colour and draw attention to the form of the face instead?

There are plenty of ways to convert an image to black and white in Photoshop, but two methods stand head and shoulders above the rest: the Black and White Adjustment Layer and the HSL/Grayscale panel in Adobe Camera Raw. Both of these features offer a great degree of control by allowing you to tweak the brightness of different colours in your image during the conversion. This is ideal for portraits, because a slight increase in the luminance of reds and yellows will lift skin tones for a cleaner look.

Of course, once you’ve converted your image to black and white you can try out a host of other effects such as split toning, adding grain or replicating traditional styles such as platinum printing. Here are a number of photo ideas to consider when exploring your own mono conversion:

Convert to black and white in Adobe Camera Raw
Adobe Camera Raw offers a mono conversion method that’s very similar to the Black and White Adjustment Layer option in Photoshop. Open an image in ACR (if you have a jpeg, you can open it in ACR by right-clicking it and choosing Open in Adobe Camera Raw) then go to the HSL/Grayscale tab. Check Convert to Grayscale, then use the sliders to adjust the luminance of different colours in your portrait. You can also use the Targeted Adjustment tool – the tool with the target icon at the top of the display – to selectively lighten or darken specific colour ranges.

Black and white adjustment layer
For ultimate control over your black and white conversion, forget about one-click commands such as Desaturate and instead use a Black and White Adjustment Layer – click the Create Adjustment Layer icon in the Layers Panel and choose Black and White from the list. This gives you the option to control the luminosity of individual colour ranges during the conversion. For black and white portraits, a quick increase in red and yellow will lift skin tones for a cleaner finish that softens spots and blemishes.

What’s more, if you want interactive control, click the hand icon at the top left of the Adjustment Panel, then click and drag within the image to the left or right to target and adjust the brightness of specific colour tones. Mono conversions work best with a boost in contrast, so add a Curves Adjustment Layer and make an S-shaped curve, as above.

Colour tints and split toning
As well as being an excellent mono converter, Adobe Camera Raw also has a very good split toning feature that enables you to add a different colour tint to the shadow and highlight tones. First, convert your file to monochrome in the HSL/Grayscale panel, then go to the Split Toning Panel. Set a Saturation level to control the intensity of the colour, then use the Hue Slider to change the colour tint. Here, we’ve given the Shadows a blue tone and the Highlights a yellow tone. Use the Balance slider to set a transition point between the colours.

Classic film grain
You can use the Grain filter (in Filter>Texture>
Grain) to add grain to your black and white portraits for an old-school high-ISO film effect. Here, our effect uses two applications of the Grain filter. First, set Grain Type to Regular, Intensity to 40 and Contrast to 50. Next, click the New Effect Layer icon at the bottom right of the Filter Gallery box, then apply the Grain filter again, but this time set Grain Type to Vertical, Intensity to 6 and Contrast to 0.

To complement the effect, add a messy film border like the one above. Copy it into your image and position it over the face with the Move tool, then use the Magic Wand tool to select the inside of the frame. Hold down Alt and click the Add Layer Mask icon in the Layers Panel to reveal the face underneath.

Mimic a platinum print
Platinum prints have long represented the pinnacle of traditional darkroom printing techniques. Typically, they display warmish brown tones and shimmering highlights. You can get the look of a traditional platinum prints by combining a couple of simple effects. First, create a Duplicate Layer, right-click it and choose Convert to Smart Object, then go to Filter>Distort>Diffuse Glow. Use the settings shown to get a glowing grainy effect in the highlights, but be careful not to blow out the details. Next, click the Create Adjustment Layer icon in the Layers Panel and choose Photo Filter. Select Sepia from the Filter drop-down menu and set Density to 50%.

Digital Camera’s 10-part series ‘Teach Yourself Photoshop’ builds into a complete video reference library. These easy-to-follow video guides will take you on a start-to-finish journey through perfecting your photos in the digital darkroom. In this video you’ll discover how to liven up a dull photograph by converting to mono and then adding a wash of colour, creating a ‘cyanotype’. Just follow these simple steps for a creative twist on classic black and white conversion. Learn to use Layers, Blending Modes, Adjustment Layers, Dodge Tool and more. Click the links to the right and build up the complete collection with each new issue of Digital Camera.

Digital Camera’s 10-part series ‘Teach Yourself Photoshop’ builds into a complete video reference library. These easy-to-follow video guides will take you on a start-to-finish journey through perfecting your photos in the digital darkroom. In this tutorial you’ll find out how to use Photoshop CS to convert your photographs to black and white photos, and discover how to make them more striking using various tools in the Camera Raw editor and the main Photoshop window. Click the links to the right and build up the complete collection with each new issue of Digital Camera.

Digital Camera’s 10-part series ‘Teach Yourself Photoshop’ builds into a complete video reference library. These easy-to-follow video guides will take you on a start-to-finish journey through perfecting your photos in the digital darkroom. In this video you’ll discover how to use Photoshop Elements and the Convert to Black and White command. Find out how to convert a portrait for best effects using different style presets and experimenting with colour sliders. Click the links to the right and build up the complete collection with each new issue of Digital Camera.

If you’ve got some dusty old black-and-white prints in your attic, or even a mono digital file that you want to breathe new life into, this is the technique for you.

In this Photoshop Elements tutorial you’ll learn how to add colour to a black and white photo in the style of a hand-tinted photograph. Hand-tinting was a traditional technique used before the advent of colour photography. It was hugely popular with adventurous travelling photographers in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

It was also a rather laborious process that took skilled workers hours of painstaking toil to get right. Today, however, Photoshop Elements makes this technique easy, using some simple techniques and tools, including brushes, Blending Modes and layers, as we’ll show you here.

Inspired by the memorable travel shots of the great travel photographer Burton Holmes, we dug out some black and white shots taken in India. After scanning the negatives, we set about giving the striking portrait shown above the hand-tinted treatment. Read on to find out how to add colour to a black and white photo…

1. Turn it sepia

Download the add-colour-to-black-and-white.jpg and open in Photoshop Elements. First, we’ll give the image a slight sepia tone. To do this, go to Enhance > ColourVariations. In the new window that appears, move the Adjust Colour Intensity slider to the left (about a quarter of the way) and click the Add Red and Decrease Blue boxes.

2. Change the Blending Mode

To add the first of your colours to the image, go to Layer>New> Layer. Change the Blending Mode to Colour using the drop-down menu at the top of the Layers palette. This change is very important, because it reveals the tones and shapes from the original layer in a way that’s similar to hand-tinting inks.

3. Pick a brush

Next, select the Brush tool from the Tools palette and choose an appropriate sized brush for the area you want to colour. In this case, we’re going to work on the large area of sky first, so choose a wide, soft-edged brush so you can colour the area quickly. Use the Colour Picker to set the foreground colour to a deep blue.

4. Start painting

Paint in the area of sky – you can use the square bracket keys on your keyboard to make the brush smaller or bigger depending on the intricacy of the area you are painting (around the tree edges, for example). Don’t worry about being too accurate – we’re replicating a hand-tinted look, so it’s OK if the edges are a bit rough.

5. Reduce the opacity

Once you have applied the colour wash it can often still look a little too modern and garish. To calm the colour down a little, use the Opacity slider at the top of the Layers palette to reduce the opacity of the layer. Sometimes it’s good to reduce it to as little as 10%. However, in most cases about 25% to 35% is perfect.

6. And repeat…

Repeat steps 2 to 5 with different colours for the other areas of the scene. It’s good practice to keep and work on different colours and areas of the scene on separate layers, because the opacity required might be slightly different for each colour. Consequently, you can end up with lots of layers – at least 30 for a fully coloured scene.

Converting colour photos to black and white is an art; it’s all too easy to make a quick conversion that looks fine on screen, but once printed loses tone and detail. When adjusting a colour raw format file, it’s important to remember that each colour directly relates to the lightness or darkness of a greyscale tone. Knowing how colours relate to a mono tone gives you the flexibility to get the conversion you want. To make sure you have the maximum amount of detail in your image, you also need to use basic tools in Camera Raw to create an image packed with tones and with minimal clipping in the shadows and highlights. Here, we’ll show you how to adjust your RAW file correctly to eliminate lacklustre conversions. See the related links for part 1.

Converting colour photos to black and white is an art; it’s all too easy to make a quick conversion that looks fine on screen, but once printed loses tone and detail. When adjusting a colour raw format file, it’s important to remember that each colour directly relates to the lightness or darkness of a greyscale tone. Knowing how colours relate to a mono tone gives you the flexibility to get the conversion you want. To make sure you have the maximum amount of detail in your image, you also need to use basic tools in Camera Raw to create an image packed with tones and with minimal clipping in the shadows and highlights. Here, we’ll show you how to adjust your RAW file correctly to eliminate lacklustre conversions. See the related links for part 2.