Making Photographs Black & White in GIMP

Black and White images have been neglected ever since the introduction of colour into film photography, due to the fact that colour is ‘best’ and what we see (colour) is the true beauty of a scene/object. As this is the case now, whenever black and white images are created it is perceived as a kind of artistic aesthetic that the photographer has wanted to achieve and considering colour is the norm now, this photograph is viewed in a different light and more of an artists creation rather than the representative. So, I hope to get you more creative in experimenting with your photographs with these easy Black and White conversion processes!

Black and White - Uluru, Northern Territory, Australia

Black and White - Sand Dune, Northern Territory, Australia

1. Choosing your preferred method:

There are a few different methods to achieving the black and White image:

Here is the original photograph in colour:

Original colour image

Desaturate > Simple, yet no control over end result:
Go, Colors –> Desaturate:

Desaturate - Lightness

Desaturate Luminosity

Grayscale > Easy enough, just loses all colour data:
Go, Image –> Mode –> Grayscale

Grayscale

Channel Mixer Monochrome > Great control and results are excellent:
Go, Colors –> Components –> Channel Mixer…

Channel Mixer

Lab > Quick, yet results are not great – best for when working with other layers:
Go, Colors –> Components –> Decompose (Select LAB)

LAB

Gradient Map > Good contrasts and easily made as another layer to change intensities with Opacity:
G0, Create a new Layer (if wanting to change Opacity) –> Colors –> Map –> Gradient Map (Make sure you have FG Black and BG White):

Gradient Map

I usually go for the Channel Mixer as it offers the most control over the result! For more information on B&W go here!

2. Using the Channel Mixer

Open your photograph up in GIMP.
Go, Colors –> Components –> Channel Mixer…
Select Monochrome and leave Preserve Luminosity until the end (optional).
Now, you can experiment with the channels:
The Red Channel moved to the right will increase the brightness in the highlights like clouds and sand.
The Green Channel moved to the right will increase the brightness in the regions like grass.
The Blue Channel moved to the left will darken the blues such as sky and water.
The Channels are very simply and correspond to the colours in your photograph, so you’ll get the hang of it quickly!
So, in this photograph I have blackened the sky by decreasing the Blue Channel, and intensified the brightness of the orange/red sand by sliding the Red Channel right and kept the Green Channel in a similar spot to the Red:

Black-White Channel Mixer (click to view larger)

To increase contrast you can open up Levels (Colors –> Levels) and cut the edges off, as shown:

Levels adjustment - Contrast (click to view larger)

Here is the end result:

Channel Mixer Result!

This is the original colour photograph:

Original Photograph

3. Recolouring

Selective colour is appealing in some black and white photographs so experimenting with this is fun:
You can achieve this by selecting the individual colours with the Select by Color Tool (Shift + O), however this only works best in simple images.
You could use the Scissors Select Tool, to get a selection as I have done for this photograph, below:

Selecting Colour

Another great method is HUE/SATURATION desaturating colours, which is very easy:

You can easily remove the unwanted colours from your image by selecting the colour and setting the saturation to -100:
As you can see all I have left is the Red:

Selective desaturate (click to view larger)

That’s It!

If you get stuck anywhere just comment below!

If you’d like to use these photographs please Contact Me!

Please comment below if you have any questions and I’ll answer them ASAP!

Written by Mike

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Michael Scott is the publisher and photographer behind Scott Photographics! He is very passionate about his photography and enjoys sharing the best of his experiences for others to enjoy too! Contact Mike via email!

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