Luminous Landscape Forum

Raw & Post Processing, Printing => Digital Image Processing => Topic started by: DarkPenguin on October 13, 2006, 04:14:33 pm

Title: Convert to B+W Pro or Black and White Studio?
Post by: DarkPenguin on October 13, 2006, 04:14:33 pm: People have a preference for the theimagingfactories Convert to B+W Pro or the power retouche product Black and White Studio?

They both seemed fine. I had more success with Convert to B+W pro but I wasn't sure if that wasn't just me having trouble learnign Black and White stuidio's layout.

Any other suggestions?

I'm buying one this weekend.
Title: Convert to B+W Pro or Black and White Studio?
Post by: Jack Flesher on October 13, 2006, 04:31:31 pm: Quote
People have a preference for the theimagingfactories Convert to B+W Pro or the power retouche product Black and White Studio?

They both seemed fine. I had more success with Convert to B+W pro but I wasn't sure if that wasn't just me having trouble learnign Black and White stuidio's layout.

Any other suggestions?

I'm buying one this weekend.
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I DL'd both demos way back when and thought both programs were quite good yet each had their own set of pluses and minuses -- so I thnk it is simply a personal choice as to which UI you prefer. Me, I prefered Convert to B&W Pro as it emulated my B&W workflow a little better.
Title: Convert to B+W Pro or Black and White Studio?
Post by: wood on October 14, 2006, 03:57:34 pm: Hello,

Did you know this table to simulate B&W in Photoshop?

Open the PS and a file ....
Image>Adjustments>Channel Mixer
Set "Monochrome" and use the values of table to simulate a B&W film.

(http://www.postaldigital.com.br/retouching/table.jpg)

Wood
Title: Convert to B+W Pro or Black and White Studio?
Post by: Mark D Segal on October 14, 2006, 06:30:08 pm: Using channel mixer in Photoshop is a tried-and-true approach for making high quality conversions. But I use Convert to B&W Pro, simply because it is so versatile, easy and produces really high quality results. I use it on a duplicate layer of the image, allowing even greater end-use flexibility between B&W and colour.
Title: Convert to B+W Pro or Black and White Studio?
Post by: RonBoyd on October 14, 2006, 07:44:08 pm: As long as we are comparing, how do the subject programs match up to "B/W Styler"?

http://thepluginsite.com/products/photowiz...tyler/index.htm (http://thepluginsite.com/products/photowiz/bwstyler/index.htm)

Ron
Title: Convert to B+W Pro or Black and White Studio?
Post by: DarkPenguin on October 15, 2006, 06:28:18 pm: I think I need to go with convert to bw pro. I don't really know what I'm doing with it but I seem to be able to fiddle with it and get things I like a lot faster/easier than futzing with channel mixer or the rb method or etc.
Title: Convert to B+W Pro or Black and White Studio?
Post by: Eric Myrvaagnes on October 15, 2006, 06:57:05 pm: Quote
I think I need to go with convert to bw pro. I don't really know what I'm doing with it but I seem to be able to fiddle with it and get things I like a lot faster/easier than futzing with channel mixer or the rb method or etc.
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Good choice IMHO. I am delighted with Convert to BW Pro. It is highly intuitive and gives me great results, so I have no need to discover if something else is "better."

Eric
Title: Convert to B+W Pro or Black and White Studio?
Post by: pcrov on October 15, 2006, 07:34:15 pm: +1 for convert to bw pro

though i'm also *really* liking alien skin's "exposure"
Title: Convert to B+W Pro or Black and White Studio?
Post by: DarkPenguin on October 16, 2006, 01:54:06 pm: It occurs to me that I should revisit the B+W options in Lightroom Beta 4. I've barely played with the latest lightroom.
Title: Convert to B+W Pro or Black and White Studio?
Post by: mikeseb on October 16, 2006, 02:32:33 pm: I was all set to buy C2BWP after demo-ing it; but then I tried Alien Skin Exposure and went with ASE. I didn't want to buy both and I found that ASE does most of what C2BWP does, with the added benefit of nicely simulating the overall look of classic B&W and color film emulsions, both in tone and in grain.

As a film Luddite who also shoots MF digital, I have found that I miss the visual "tooth" that film grain gives a B&W image. I just can't get used to clean, shiny digital B&W images--they often don't look "real" to me. Not my purpose to stir up another film-vs-digital jihad; just one man's opinion.
Title: Convert to B+W Pro or Black and White Studio?
Post by: Jonathan Wienke on October 16, 2006, 11:07:10 pm: Due to size/space/weight issues, I've been forced to leave my Canon DSLR kit behind while I'm deployed in Iraq and shoot with my Olympus SP-350 digicam instead. At ISO 50, its' noise level isn't too bad, and when converted to B&W (I use Convert To B&W Pro) with no noise reduction, it adds a bit of texture to the image without looking too "digital". For color shots, I use Neat Image; the chroma noise detracts from images.
Title: Convert to B+W Pro or Black and White Studio?
Post by: plugsnpixels on October 20, 2006, 03:48:20 am: I recently published an ezine (http://www.plugsnpixels.com/ezine.html) (issue #6) on this very topic, with screenshots and examples from each of the popular BW conversion plug-ins. Hope someone finds it helpful!

My website (http://www.plugsnpixels.com) gets you discounts off of all Alien Skin products, should anyone else be interested in Exposure. And don't forget Actions options (http://www.plugsnpixels.com/imageeffects.html) for monochrome conversion.

PS: Jonathan, watch your back and come home safe! Thanks for your service.