Digital BW, The Print

On Nov 7, 2004, at 8:50 PM, Paul D. DeRocco wrote:

>
>> From: Stephen Kobrin [mailto:kobrins@...]
>>
>> If I am ultimately going to convert a digital image (saved in Raw
>> Mode) to B&W is there any point in worrying about getting the white
>> balance exactly right or does it suffice to leave it on automatic?
>
> Color to B&W conversion usually involves major transformations, not 
> just
> blindly converting to grayscale. For instance, the Channel Mixer lets 
> you do
> things like set the red to 150% and the blue to -50%, to make really 
> dark
> skies. If you're like me, you'll probably yank the curves all over the
> place, too. By then, you'll have swamped any minor differences in the 
> color
> levels you get from using different white balances.

Agreed - but just to be literal, white balance settings *do* affect B&W 
conversion; whether they are a major factor just depends on how you're 
doing the conversion. Yeah, I usually use extreme moves in Channel 
Mixer, often with an additional Curves adjustment layer beneath it. But 
the right WB setting to preserve the right channel separation (before 
you mix them back down) is important, in my experience.

-R