Digital BW, The Print

Nelson:
The gamma setting for Windows is 2.2, for Mac 1.8 ... at least that's what
two genuine PS gurus have told me. When converting to BW, direct to
grayscale is the worst option because it considers converts colors to gray
equally. My preferred method is to convert to LAB color (Luminance plus
channel A color and channel B color). By doing this you remove color from
the equation and dealing with luminance only. Once converted to LAB select
the lightness channel and tweak with levels and curves in that order. Make a
copy first so if you want to start from square one you can. Now if all that
sounds like so much mumbo-jumbo, you can go to Adobe Studio>Studio Exchange
and look for a PS action called "3 Grays." The action is by Will Hammond, a
PS instructor, extraordinaire. The action converts the image to BW via
grayscale, lab and gray mapping and yields three images .... and leaves the
original color image intact. Then you can select the one that gives you  the
best results and tweak with levels and curves. LEAVE BRIGHTNESS AND CONTRAST
ALONE, THESE ARE DESTRUCTIVE ADJUSTMENTS ... levels and curves are
non-destructive adjustments. Most of the time, the map option gives the best
conversion, lab is second and straight grayscale conversion is a distant
third although sometimes with certain images, it gives you the best
conversion. The action is set up to use with rgb, but I have experimented
with using it on cmyk images. During the action there will be a pause and
you'll get a prompt saying the action cannot find a red channel. Click
continue and finish. The dynamic range on these conversions is greater,
which for some images is ok and some not ok ... and some just downright
crappy ... it's strictly an experimental thing with cmyk. Hope this helps.
Kindest regards, Joe
  -----Original Message-----
  From: Nelson Ricciardi [mailto:nelson_@...]
  Sent: Saturday, August 14, 2004 4:25 PM
  To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
  Subject: [Digital BW] From RGB to grayscale


  Hi there guys.

  What profile do you guys use in Photoshop when you convert images from RGB
  to gray?

  Dot gain x% or gamma 1.8 or gamma 2.2?

  What is the best (generally speaking) option for QTR?

  I know how to color manage when working in color. Adobe RGB and sRGB and
all
  that. But the black and white spaces are new to me.

  I'd appreciate any help.

  Thank you

  Nelson



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