Using Levels in Photoshop

Go to the Layers dialog box and click on the Add Adjustments Layer icon and select Levels. The Levels Dialog Box the opens up has a histogram and some sliders and buttons. One way to adjust the Levels on a photographic images is to bring the left and right triangles(the dark/black and bright/white) into where the bell curve finishes at the bottom.

But a better way to adjust Levels in Photoshop on photos is to hold down the Alt key and click on the Cancel button. This turns it into a Reset button. NOw hold the Alt key down and drag the right hand white slider/triangle. The screen turns black and when colours start to appear, that is the point to leave it but back it off just a little bit. Do the same for the left hand black triangle slider until the dark shades just start to appear.

Colorizing Black and White Photos

The quick method to colorize a black and white photograph is to Select Menu item Image - Mode - RGB Color. Create a new Layer. Later on you will change the opacity of this layer. Set the Layer Mode to Color. Pick a color and then Select the Brush Tool. Change the brush size to what is appropriate and set the hardness of the brush to about fifty percent. Then you can start painting on the Black and White photograph. Create a new layer for each color. Now bring the opacity of the color layer/s down to what you want.

Click on the following link to go to a video tutorial that shows you how to do this. Colorizing Black and White Photos in Photoshop

Non-Destructive Dodge and Burn

To do non-destructive dodge and burn in Photoshop is preferable so that the original picture remains untouched. To start off hold the Alt key down and click on the New Layer icon in the Layers Window. We will get an options box. Select Mode - Soft Light. Tick the check box where it says Fill with Soft Light - neutral color(50% gray). This will not affect anything below this layer.

Go to the Tools menu and select a brush that is about one hundred pixels wide and perhaps six percent hardness. Hit the D key for default colours(Black and White) then start painting with low opacity about twenty five per cent. This makes the darker shades darker but does nothing to anything above fify per cent gray. Hit the X key to swap colors and now paint with white. This will make the lighter shades lighter(dodging). You can also use a fifty per cent Gray color (HSB - 0,0,50) to paint with as well.

Go to the video tutorial for Non-Destructive Dodging and Burning in Photoshop

Creating Black and White Photos

The rough way to create a black and white photo from a coloured photo is to go to Menu Item Image - Mode - Grayscale. But that way is destructive because it throws away the colour channels. In Photoshop it is best not to destroy any information if you can help it.

A better way to create black and white photos from color photographs is to go to Menu item Image - Adjustments - Desaturate. Now the image is still an RGB image but without the color information. Create a New Adjustments Layer - Channel Mixer. Click on Monochrome. Red is one hundred per cent. Knock it down to zero. Bring the blue up to one hundred per cent. Look at the photo and you will see it has good contrast but it is a little dark. So back it off to about 66%. Add Green to 20%. Put Red at 14%. The total should be 100%. Click oK to apply it.

The best way to create Black and White Photographs in PHotoshop from color photos is to firstly create two nes Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layers. Click on the top layer and take the Saturation down to -100. Click on the lower Adjustment Layer and set its blending mode to Color. Double click that layer and when you drag the Hue slider you can see the colors being mixed together. You can adjust the Saturation, Lightness, etc on different channels/layers and have a lots more control.

Click on the next link for the Photoshop video tutorial that will help describe it more - Photoshop Tutorial - Flawless Black and White Photos.