What’s the best way to convert photos from color to B&W in Photoshop?
Really, I don’t know. I’m an exceedingly impatient photo post-processor. Thus, I’m happiest when I can fix photos well, simply, and FAST.
I came across a simple, fast method for converting color photos to B&W recently. It uses the Photoshop duotone mode. Rather than paste the steps here, I’ll direct you to the page where I first learned about it.
Here’s a better way to convert photos from color to B&W in preparation for duotoning — it takes longer but yields more pleasing results than Image > Mode > Grayscale.
The first two photos are reduced in size, but you can click the third (duotoned) photo to see it at larger sizes. Ken Rockwell’s example shows an impressive result with a photo of a car. I think it’s worth considering for photos, too.
