Digital BW, The Print

Brad,

When I first investigated converting color images to black and white, 
I was disappointed with the various techniques I read about and 
tried.  They all seemed to assume just a few simple clicks will give 
you a stunning black and white image.  So I stopped using them and 
created my own process.  In the end, it is simple in concept.  It 
starts you off with a known black and white luminance of your choice: 
either Lab or grayscale or what I call measured luminance.  From 
there, it is up to you to create the image of your vision.  The 
process I came up with retains all color information, even when 
working in grayscale luminance.  Therefore, you can managed black and 
white tone globally, locally using selections and masks, by color 
range, by color channel or by targeting tone itself.  This process, 
which I named the Tone Management System, is described on my website 
on this page.

http://www.zuberphotographics.com/page_TMSIntro.htm

Also on my website is a Photoshop action that you can download that 
will convert your image to the black and white luminance of your 
choice.  The important thing to remember about the action is when it 
is finished, you are not done.  You have just begun.  In my opinion, 
creating the final black and white image is up to us, and not 
software.  On the website is a sunset image where I explain step-by-
step how I turned it into black and white.

Hope this helps.
Thomas


--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "brad1gold" 
<brad@b...> wrote:
> 
> I am printing on a 2200 with MIS inks. Regarding conversions to 
> grayscale from RGB files, what are the virtues of using B&W 
> conversion plug-ins such as offered by Fred Miranda, PhotoRetouche 
> or The Imaging Company's "Convert to Black and White" opposed to 
the 
> various techniques for making the conversion within CS?