Make Images B & W In GIMP

Nowadays everyone seems to be a photo manipulation expert but that doesn’t mean that the programs for such tasks are easy to get your head around. Transforming colored images into black and white is likely to be an essential skill you’ll need to learn. This tutorial is based on GIMP a photo manipulation program which basically acts as the free version of the costly Photoshop software. I feel that this program is far easier for beginners to use.

Once you have retrieved the image you would like to edit from your digital cameras or the internet, your best bet for learning these methods is to stick on the kettle, boil yourself a tea and simply try out the different methods of achieving B&W images to see which works best.

I myself am no GIMP expert but these are the three methods I have learnt by experimenting with the program and my Dell laptops own editing program that came packaged with it.

Grayscale:

(Right click the image - Mode - Grayscale)

This is the most popular method for creating B&W images, though it works less well with images with low green channels (read as; less green colouring). The grayscale method supposedly mimics the human eyes sensitivity to different colours.

Desaturate:

(Right click the image - Colours - Desaturate)

Unlike Grayscale, the RBG channels in Desaturate mode are not remixed to different percentages, so different results should occur. Images transformed to B&W via this method tend to have more ‘noise’ (or blur) which can be desirable or undesirable depending on what you want for you image.

Channel mixer:

(Right click - Components - Channel Mixer - Monochrome (tick box))

Flexibility is the main attraction of this method. Once the monochrome box has been ticked, you can experiments with the levels of the red, blue and green channels. Experimenting with these levels will affect the contrast and noise of the picture. Working out which percentages of each work best is all part of the fun!

Tags: kettle, photoshop software, image mode, digital cameras, image channel

Related posts:

1. Make Sure You Know Where You’re Getting Emoticons Download From
2. Why Photoshop Free Brushes Might Be What You Need To Enhance Your Next Project
3. The Best Way To Make XP Quicker – A Trick To Make Windows XP Run Fast
4. 10 Methods To Make Positive Your Image’s Vibrant Purple Is Shiny And Red
5. The Benefits Of How To Make A Slideshow