Lightroom in Black and White

Making photos black and white is a separate treatment today, but for much of the history of photography, it was the only option—color film first didn’t existent, and then was often too expensive for most people to process. Even long after color did become the norm, black and white remains a popular artistic choice.

Now, of course, we can create the effect easily in software. Converting a color photo to black and white isn’t just a matter of removing the color saturation, however. In Lightroom and Lightroom Classic, you’ll find multiple methods of making photos black and white and fine-tuning the appearance for the look you want.

Most photo editing programs offer similar options, but I’m focusing just on the two current versions of Lightroom for this article. You’ll find the controls in the Edit panel of Lightroom (the newer cloud-based app, until recently called Lightroom CC) and the Develop module in Lightroom Classic, depending on which version you use.

. . . .

This article is for members only. To continue reading, please sign in, or sign up for a membership today. Thanks for supporting CreativePro!

BECOME A MEMBER

CreativePro membership keeps you up-to-date with the technology, solutions, and resources to strengthen your professional development.

For just $6.50/month (billed annually), you’ll get access to valuable benefits, including:

  • 12 monthly issues of CreativePro Magazine, filled with practical, real-world tutorials written by experts
  • Downloadable resources including templates, fonts, scripts, design assets, cheat sheets, and more
  • Hundreds of members-only tutorial and tip articles
  • Top Tips for InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator ebook collection
  • Discounts on events and books
  • and more...

Sign up now!


Author and photographer Jeff Carlson (@jeffcarlson, jeffcarlson.com) writes for publications such as DPReview, CreativePro, and Macworld, and is a contributing editor at TidBITS (tidbits.com). He is the author of numerous books, including Adobe Lightroom, a Complete Course and Compendium of Features, Take Control of Your Digital Photos, Take Control of Your Digital Storage, and Take Control of Apple Watch, among many other titles. He also co-hosts the podcasts PhotoActive and Photocombobulate, and leads photography workshops in the Pacific Northwest. He believes there's never enough coffee, and does his best to test that theory.
>