Photoshop provides several options to convert a RGB picture into a monochrome black & white masterpiece. In this article we show you 7 creative techniques to get there and yield better black and white conversion results.
Corrections: Black & White
Photoshop CS3 and all following versions offer the easy option of black and white correction. Simply go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Black & White to go for the non-destructive version. If you don’t like the result you can easily change the settings or delete the layer altogether. Choose one of the 8 available colour ranges to change brightness values. Problem is that the picture is already monochrome, which makes it quite hard to identify all the colours in your image.
It’s much more intuitive and easier to do it directly in the document. In the panel for the adjustment layer Black & White you click the little hand icon in the top left corner to activate the function. If you now hover over the image you see the eyedropper symbol. Click on an area you want and drag left to darken or right to brighten up the image. Photoshop knows the colour channel associated to the area you clicked on and does the selection for you.
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Tags:Black & White, Black & White conversion, Channel Mixer, Desaturation, Gradient Map, Grayscale, Image Calculations, Image Corrections, Lab Colour, photoshop, Photoshop tutorial, Textured Black & White, tutorial
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In our printing basics series we address the most common issues with print data setup and show you how to avoid them. A very common one, which we almost see on a daily basis is embedding fonts.
When we access your files to prepare them for printing we need various bits of information. Among them are images, graphics, borders or margins, bleed settings and most importantly: Text. Texts are defined by their content and their visual presentation. The visual presentation is mostly a matter of the font, which defines size, letter spacing, shape and overall appearance.
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Tags:Adobe, Distiller, embed fonts, files, InDesign, layout, pdf, print, print data
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Regularly we introduce you to new tutorials, inspirational collections and all kinds of design resources. This year we have once again featured a wide range of inspirational articles and helpful guides exclusively for you. This is way too much for a recap. So we put only those articles you liked most in 2011 in one single article for some end of the year goodness. Enjoy and share the love! 
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Tags:design, Highlights, resources
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Photoshop is a dauntingly complex program. This makes tips and tricks very welcome while discovering, exploring and hopefully understanding new functions. Enhance your portraits and landscapes, change the mood of light and find ever more effective ways to use all those tools at hand.
01 Painting with light
First, open a photo you think could use a bit more light and shadow. Then press Shift+Ctrl+N to create a new layer and call it “light” or something more creative if you wish. The mode of this layer you change to Overlay. Also activate the radio button for “Fill with Overlay-neutral color (50% grey)”.
Pink Sherbet Photography / http://www.flickr.com/photos/40645538@N00/305742748
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Tags:Adobe, beginners, design, enhancing, functions, landscape, photoshop, Photoshop toolbar, portrait, tools, tutorial
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The second part of our basics is all about colors. We receive a lot of print data with the wrong color mode for perfect offset print results. This article explains RGB and CMYK, differences between the two and when you should use which one.
What is RGB?
All colors of the RGB color model are created with the 3 primary colors Red, Green and Blue. Mixing these light primaries equals white. This additive color method can display a very wide range of colors.
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Tags:additive color, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop, basics, CMYK, color models, how to, primaries, print, print setup, rgb, subtractive color
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We deal with data mistakes on a daily basis and often receive faulty print data. As a result customers become dissatisfied because the product doesn’t come out as they’ve planned it. To avoid such printing issues we start to share some basic tips & tricks for correct data setup.
Today we start with a simple, but very important topic: bleed.
Every commercially printed artwork needs 2 mm (0,079 inches) bleed on each side in order to compensate for unavoidable cutting irregularities. Basically it is an area of tolerance which you add to the size of your layout. If you take a business card with 85x55mm as an example you setup the file with 89x59mm to get the 2mm (0,079 inches) tolerance.
All elements directly located on the edge of your design and backgrounds are extended by 2mm (0,079 inches)on each side. So, if the cut happens a millimeter outside the original format no one will see a difference. Elements and typography not to be cut should be placed about 1.5 mm (0,059 inches) away from the bleed area.
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Tags:Adobe, basics, bleed, factsheet, Howto, InDesign, knowledge, photoshop, print, whitepaper
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Adobe Illustrator is a fairly complex piece of software. Even after years of working with the vector powerhouse you likely find new features and options, extending the well known tools. Sometimes it’s a simple key stroke which allows creating complex geometric shapes with a only few mouse movements.
Circles and squares can likewise be turned into ornaments with a single effect. All you need is a bit of preparation. The gradient brush, which we explain in this article, also requires a bit of basic work to build on. If that isn’t what you need how about some stylish retro waves – all with only a few steps. Feel inspired and don’t forget to tell us what helped you most.
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Tags:Adobe Illustrator, bloat, duplication, gradient brush, Illustrator tools, Illustrator tricks, Inspiration, pucker, retro waves, tutorial
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There are quite a few rules to consider when designing icons. The visuals have to work on very small scale, which means that every pixel has to be well placed. A well designed icon is a symbol that works without description when used within a graphic interface.
It’s also important to take note of existing standard sizes for icons used in operating systems or interfaces before you start working. This collection of icon design tutorials, however, is more about the techniques, styles, tips and tricks for creating convincing symbolic visuals. The workshops may also serve as a great source of inspiration for your work.
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Tags:Adobe, icon design, Illustrator, Inspiration, tutorial
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It’s time for another Photoshop Quick Tip. This one is about High Key. Like most digital effects it originally comes from analogue photography. High Key is a typical studio effect, often used for portraits. Characteristics are light colour shades throughout the image, a very light background and evenly spread lighting. In some cases photographers even apply overexposure to reduce contrast and smooth out rough skin. The resulting loss of contours gives the whole thing a rather stylized appearance.
In this week’s Quick Tip we show you how to generate this effect in Photoshop. As described above, low contrast portraits with a light and even background work best.
As so often with How-To’s you’ll find many ways to achieve the same effect. One easy option Photoshop offers here would be to use the Black & White adjustment. As by far not everyone uses the latest Photoshop version we decided to go the classic way through channels and curves.
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Tags:High Key, how to, Inspiration, photography, photoshop, Photoshop Quick Tip, Photoshop techniques, portrait, tutorial
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