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How Do I Make a Picture Black and White With Some Color in Photoshop?

Last updated on September 24, 2022 @ 1:30 pm

When it comes to black and white photography, there are a number of different ways that you can go about achieving the look that you want. One popular method is to use Photoshop to convert your images to black and white, while keeping some of the color in the image.

This can be a great way to create some stunning black and white images with a bit of color added in for interest. Here is a quick guide on how to make a picture black and white with some color in Photoshop.

The first thing that you will need to do is open up your image in Photoshop. Once your image is open, go to the “Image” menu and select “Mode”.

From here, you will want to change your image mode to “Lab Color”. This will allow you to work with the colors in your image more easily.

Next, go to the “Channels” panel. Here, you will see three different color channels – “L” for lightness, “a” for green/magenta, and “b” for blue/yellow.

What you want to do is click on the channel that contains the most contrast – this will usually be either the “a” or “b” channel. Once you have clicked on the appropriate channel, press “Ctrl+A” to select all of the pixels in that channel.

Now, go back to the “Image” menu and select “Adjustments” followed by “Threshold”. A new window will pop up asking you to enter a threshold level.

For most images, a threshold level between 128 and 200 works well. However, feel free to experiment with different threshold levels until you find one that works well for your particular image.

PRO TIP: If you are not careful when using Photoshop to make a picture black and white with some color, you can end up with a picture that looks unnatural or even comical. To avoid this, be sure to use a black and white adjustment layer and not simply desaturate the image (which will remove all color). Also, be judicious with the amount of color you allow to remain in the image; a little goes a long way. Finally, experiment with different colors to see which ones work best with your particular image.

Once you have found a threshold level that works well, press “OK”. This will turn your image into a high contrast black and white image. At this point, you can go ahead and deselect the pixels by pressing “Ctrl+D”.

If you want to add some color back into your image, there are a couple different ways that you can do this. One way is to simply create a new layer and fill it with a solid color of your choice. Then, set the layer blending mode to “Color Dodge” or “Linear Dodge (Add)”.

Another way that you can add color back into your image is by using a gradient map. To do this, create a new layer and fill it with a black to white gradient.

There are many different ways that you can achieve a black and white effect in Photoshop. This is just one method that can produce some stunning results. So experiment with different techniques and see what works best for you.

Conclusion: Overall, using Photoshop to convert an image into black and white while still retaining some color can create beautiful images worthy of printing or displaying as art pieces. Try different threshold levels when working with Lab Color mode images until finding one that suits both the photograph’s needs as well as your own creative vision before adding color back into the now high contrast black and white photo using either solid color layers or gradient maps set on Color Dodge or Linear Dodge (Add) blend modes respectively..

Madison Geldart

Madison Geldart

Cloud infrastructure engineer and tech mess solver.