How to make a photo in black and white in Photoshop: instructions for beginners

Today we will consider methods that allow you to make a photo in black and white. I want to say at once that there are many ways to perform this operation. And no matter how strange it may seem, a black and white photo can be different in tone. We will take our picture in gentle and light colors.

Preparation. First you need to know that you can make a photo in black and white using only three keys. Press the combination: "Ctrl + Shift + U", and then the picture will lose its color. Or through the top control panel: "image - correction - discolor". Then the picture will consist only of black and white shades. But we are trying to achieve the greatest possible amount of light tone. Next, you will learn how to achieve this.

This instruction is intended for beginners. Therefore, each step will be signed in detail.

1. First you just need to make a black and white photo. In "Photoshop" we open the required image. And immediately copy it to a new layer. You can do this using the Ctrl + J keys.
2. Use the combination of the following keys: "Ctrl + Shift + U". As you already know, this operation will discolor the image.
3. Make the predominant amount of white hue. For this we need the "Levels" option. To call it, you can apply the Ctrl + L key combination. Or open the "image" tab (in the toolbar), select "correction" and find the "levels" item.
4. Here we need to change the position of the sliders. Drag them to the left. Here the most important thing is not to overdo it and not fully light the image. Change the position until the picture begins to lose its basic shape.
5. Then go to the "filters" tab (in the top panel), select "sharpening" - "contour sharpness". We leave the values unchanged.
6. Copy the black and white layer.
7. For a new layer, select the new overlay method. In the layers panel there is a special drop-down menu, through which this parameter is controlled. There you need to find the "overlap" item. Or use the "Shift + Alt + O" key combination.
8. On the new layer, go to the "filters" tab, where we select "blur" - "Gaussian blur". We put a rather high value (from 20 to 50).
9. Take the tool "eraser" (hot key E). With its help, we will allocate places such as eyes, lips, hair and other areas that have become almost invisible. In eraser parameters, reduce the value of "hardness" to zero. The size is adjustable depending on the situation.
10. It is necessary to erase the last (third layer). Produce this process slowly. If you accidentally erased the desired area, you can use the cancel Ctrl + Z.

Additional information. With the help of this instruction you can make a beautiful photo in "Photoshop", while it will be significantly different from a simple discoloration of the picture. You can experiment using different filters and values. After all, "Photoshop" is a huge platform for creativity and experimentation.

Conclusion. You can take a photo in black and white in seconds. And if you do not need more, then perhaps this instruction will be useless for you. But if you want to make a photo in black and white, where certain parts of the image will be highlighted in a special light, then do all these 10 simple steps. Especially it takes only 15-20 minutes.