Picktorial 3 vs bridge software#

So we can use the Tone Curve panel to make this image darker and richer without having to work around any existing Tone Curve settings. The advantage of using Profiles in Lightroom is that unlike Presets they don’t include ready-made editing adjustments – they are like raw ‘pre-processing’. This one is called BW 02 and looks a good starting point. Using the B&W panel to adjust the colour conversion can involve a good deal of time and guesswork, but there are newer, quicker ways to get satisfying black & white tonality using Lightroom’s Profiles drop-down in the Basic panel. With black & white film you use colour filters over the lens to do this, and you can do the same with Lightroom’s B&W panel, which becomes available when you switch to Black & White in the Basic panel. In black & white you can control how colours translate into shades of grey. Or, if you start from Adobe Bridge, you can right-click a JPEG or a TIFF image and choose ‘Open in Camera Raw’. If you’re working with JPEG or TIFF images that bypass Adobe Camera Raw, you can use the Camera Raw filter in Photoshop to access those tools. What’s more, once you’ve carried out your black & white edits here, your image opens in Photoshop, where you can carry out more advanced processes not possible in Adobe Camera Raw or Lightroom. When you open a raw file in Photoshop it opens in Adobe Camera Raw, which has exactly the same editing tools as Lightroom Classic, albeit in a slightly different interface. Our walkthrough below is based around Lightroom, but you can follow exactly the same steps in Photoshop. Photoshop or Lightroom – which is best for black & white photo editing? The editing walkthroughs are based around Adobe Lightroom since this is one of the most popular photo editing tools today, but the techniques are universal and can be used in just about any photo editor, from Photoshop to Affinity Photo. We’ll start off with basic conversion techniques for black & white photo editing that give your images real depth, move on to the advanced dodging and burning techniques used so much by darkroom experts, then finish off with ways to replicate the vintage and retro effects that were once achieved with film and chemicals.

Picktorial 3 vs bridge software#

These days, of course, we have digital darkrooms – ie your computer and editing software – where just about anything is possible.īut since digital cameras are designed for shooting in colour, how do you translate this successfully into mono? That’s what this article is for, covering three different stages in the black and white photo editing workflow. You need a different set of skills for black & white photo editing, as some of the best black & white imagery of the past was made in the darkroom, just as much as it was in the camera. Don’t miss our guides to the best cameras for black and white photography and our complete guide to black and white photography The beauty of black and white photography is that it suits many genres – landscapes, portraits, fine-art and street, for example.īefore going on any further though, make sure your black and white images are as good as they can be before you even start editing.

It relies on contrast, light and shade and composition for its effect, and you need to develop a different kind of eye when taking pictures.

It’s because black & white is visually very different to colour and not just in the obvious way. You can switch to your camera’s black & white modes, turn the saturation down to zero in your photo editor or wade through long lists of presets and still not achieve drama, depth and richness. How do you turn colour images into striking black & white? Rod Lawton shares his expert tips for colour mixing, dodging and burning and vintage effectsĪnyone who has tried black & white photography will know that it’s not as simple as it seems.