How can I mimic Lightroom’s black-and-white color controls in Photoshop?
Asked 2/21/2016
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I usually do my RAW corrections and global adjustments in Lightroom, then finish editing in Photoshop. I prefer to convert to black and white late in the workflow, but Photoshop’s Black & White adjustment only gives six color sliders, while Lightroom offers eight, including orange and aqua. Is there a way in Photoshop to get similar control over those extra color ranges when making a black-and-white conversion?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
10y ago
2 Answers
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Have a look at the "Channel Mixer" adjustment. (It's in the "Image" menu under the "Adjustments" submenu.) It allows you to choose the amount of red, green, and blue from the input to use to calculate the final value for each channel. If you select the "monochrome" checkbox it allows you to use the same output value for all 3 channels, creating grayscale. It also include a few presets specifically for black and white.
There's an "Orange" filter setting that should do something similar to having an orange filter on a film camera with black and white film. While there's not one for aqua, you would probably be able to create one by favoring the blue and green channels in the output. For example, a mix of 40% green, 40% blue and 20% red might give you something close.
Originally by user22895. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user22895
10y ago
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Photoshop doesn’t match Lightroom’s eight-color B&W panel exactly, but you can get similar control with the Channel Mixer. Enable its Monochrome option and mix the red, green, and blue inputs to control how colors render in grayscale.
This won’t give you separate dedicated orange and aqua sliders the way Lightroom does, but you can approximate them:
- orange: use the built-in orange filter preset or favor the red channel
- aqua: emphasize a combination of green and blue
For example, a mix weighted toward green and blue can simulate an aqua response, while stronger red emphasis can brighten orange-toned subjects.
If you want an alternative workflow, some users prefer Nik Silver Efex for black-and-white conversion, finding its results more natural than Lightroom or Photoshop’s standard tools.
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