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212 Chapter 13

Next, we’ll show you several ways to strip color
from a layer without changing the document color
mode. Our favorite way (described here), is to use a
Black & White adjustment layer because it enables
us to control how the individual R, G, B and C, M, Y
color channels are converted to grayscale values.
To convert a layer to grayscale via a
Black & White adjustment:
1. In an RGB image, click a layer or the
Background.
A
2. On the Adjustments panel, click the Black &
White button. e Black & White controls
appear on the panel.
3.
Do any of the following:
Click Auto to have the program choose the set-
tings for you (
A
, next page)

or choose a preset
from the Preset menu. You can customize the
settings, as described in the remaining steps.

Adjust the sliders to control how each color is
converted to a particular gray level. A lower
value produces a darker gray equivalent for a

color; a higher value produces a lighter gray
equivalent.


Click the Targeted Adjustment tool on the
panel, then drag horizontally over an area in
the image to lighten or darken it. e slider
corresponding to the predominant color in that
area will shift accordingly.
4.
To further adjust the grayscale conversion,
move the sliders, starting with Reds, Yellows,
Cyans, or Blues. For example, you could try
using the Yellows slider to lighten or darken a
portrait or to correct a landscape image that
contains a lot of green (
B–C
, next page).
5.
Optional: To apply a tint to the whole image,
check Tint, click the color swatch, choose a
color from the Color Picker, then click OK.
6.
Optional: To restore some original color to the
whole layer uniformly, lower the opacity of the
adjustment layer. Or to restore color to select
areas, click the adjustment layer mask thumb-
nail, choose black as the Foreground color, then
with the Brush tool, apply strokes to the image
(for a subtle eect, lower the tool opacity rst).


A
In this image, the color dierences between the skin tones and water naturally help
us to distinguish between them.
Converting layers to grayscale via a Black & White adjustment

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Adjustments in Depth 213

A
To produce this grayscale version of the image, we chose
the Auto setting for a Black & White adjustment layer. We
think the contrast between the gure and background needs
improvement.


C
Now that the contrast between the gure and background has been improved, the
gure stands out better.
AUTO-SELECTING THE TARGETED
ADJUSTMENT TOOL
★
To have the Targeted Adjustment tool become
selected automatically on the Adjustments panel
when you create a Curves, Hue/Saturation, or
Black & White adjustment layer, display the
controls for one of those adjustment types, then
choose Auto-Select Targeted Adjustment Tool
from the panel menu.
ORCHESTRATING A SCENE

In our environment, as in fi ne art and photogra-
phy, colors help to defi ne spatial and shape rela-
tionships and draw our attention to specifi c parts
of a scene. When converting an image to gray-
scale, think about how you want to reinterpret
the composition. To orchestrate visual movement
with lights and darks instead of color, choose
gray levels based on which areas you want to
draw the viewer’s attention to. For example, say
a bright red shape is located in the center of the
original composition. Using the Black & White
controls, you could lighten or darken that shape
to make it stand out from the surrounding grays.
B
To improve the
contrast, we reduced
the Cyans and Blues
values to darken the
water, and increased
the Yellows value to
lighten the woman’s
neck and cheek.

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214 Chapter 13
Applying a Vibrance adjustment

Using a Vibrance adjustment layer, you can either
strip the color completely from a layer or desaturate
a layer partially and then adjust the Vibrance to

control the color intensity.
To desaturate a layer using a Vibrance
adjustment:
1. Click a layer or the Background in an RGB
image.
A
2. On the Adjustments panel, click the Vibrance
button.
3.
Do either of the following:
For a simple, full desaturation, reduce the
Saturation to its lowest value (to–100).
To adjust the color vibrance as you desaturate
the layer, reduce the Saturation to between
–60 and –80,

then to control the color intensity
in the now almost grayscale layer, increase or
reduce the Vibrance value.
B–D
e Vibrance
option boosts the intensity of the least saturated
colors the most.

A
 i s i s t h e o r i g i n a l i m a g e .
B
To desaturate the color partially, we lowered the
Saturation value for the Vibrance adjustment layer
to –60 and set the Vibrance to –50.



C
 i s i s t h e i m a g e a f t e r w e a p p l i e d t h e V i b r a n c e
adjustment layer settings shown in the preceding gure.
D
Here the image has the same Saturation value of –60 but
a higher Vibrance value of +100.

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Adjustments in Depth 215
To desaturate a color layer and restore color
selectively using Vibrance:
1. Click a layer or the Background in an RGB image.
2. On the Adjustments panel, click the Vibrance
button.
3. Click the mask thumbnail on the adjustment
layer.
4. Reduce the Saturation all the way to –100.
A
5. Choose the Brush tool, and on the Options
bar, choose a Soft Round brush, Normal mode,
and an Opacity of 50% or less. Choose black as
the Foreground color.
6. Adjust the brush diameter, then apply strokes
where you want to restore the original
colors.
B–C
You can change the brush opac-
ity and diameter between strokes. To restore

grayscale areas, press X and paint with white.
C
Now the color is visible only in the center of the image.
A
To strip the color from this image, we lowered the
Saturation value for a Vibrance adjustment layer to –100.
B
We applied brush strokes to the adjustment layer mask
to restore color to the salad, where we want to draw the
viewer’s attention.

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216 Chapter 13
You can also use the Vibrance controls to adjust the
saturation of a full color layer. To guard against over-
saturation and clipping, the Vibrance slider boosts
the intensity of less saturated colors more than that
of highly saturated colors. For this reason, this slider
is useful for reviving skin tones. e Saturation
slider, on the other hand, applies the same change
to all colors regardless of their original saturation
levels.
To adjust the vibrance of a color layer:
1. Click a layer or the Background in an RGB
image.
A
2. On the Adjustments panel, click the Vibrance
button.
3. Do either of the following:

Increase the Vibrance value, then reduce the
Saturation value slightly.
B
Reduce the Vibrance value, then increase the
Saturation value slightly.
C

A
 e c o l o r i n t h i s p o r t r a i t i s o v e r s a t u r a t e d .
B
For the Vibrance adjustment layer, we set the
Saturation value to –25 and the Vibrance value to +40.
Now the color and the contrast are less intense.

C
For a subtle variation, we set the Saturation value to
+25 and the Vibrance value to –40. e colors are also
less intense here, but the contrast is slightly stronger.