Convert a photo to black and white

The B&W tab converts a photo to black and white by mapping each source color to a gray. You pick a starting film look, adjust how individual colors read, then finish with a contrast curve.

1. Enter the B&W tab. Press 3, or press M to toggle between the Color and B&W tabs. Any color edits you made stay in place underneath.

2. Choose a film look. Open the Film look dropdown and pick a preset: Panchromatic, Red filter (25), Orange filter (21), Yellow filter (8), Green filter (11), or Orthochromatic. Panchromatic is the default. Each preset sets a different starting relationship between color and gray — for example, Red filter (25) darkens blue skies, and Orthochromatic darkens reds.

3. Adjust the source colors with the B&W EQ. The EQ shows your colors as a hue spectrum, with the gray each color becomes shown below. Drag a point up to lighten that color's gray, drag it down to darken it, and scroll a point to widen or narrow the range it covers. The aim is to separate colors that would otherwise land on the same gray — so a red barn reads distinctly against green foliage, or a subject lifts away from a similar-toned background.

4. Finish with the Contrast curve. In the Contrast section, drag the curve to shape the overall light and dark tones. The two ends set the black and white points; the horizontal axis runs from shadows to highlights. Use this for tones the colors can't reach, such as white skies or fog.

Reading tones as you work

To check where your blacks and whites fall, open the Histogram in the scopes rail at the right edge; it shows the output the photo would export right now. Turn on Clipping to mark pixels crushed to pure black or white, so you can pull the Contrast curve back if either end loses texture.

Color and black and white together

A color grade and a black-and-white grade live on the same photo at the same time, and neither changes the other — your color pins stay put while you work in B&W, and the reverse. Your Tone edits (exposure, white balance, and the tone curve) apply to both. Switch between them with M at any time.

When you export, Tone Caliper renders whichever mode is active in the editor — the color version or the black-and-white one — so you can keep both on one photo and choose at export time. For the color grade underneath, see Your first color grade; to render the result, see Exporting.