As the Color Balance tool can be used to make localized adjustments, it is ideal to tone highlights, mid-tones, and shadows when working in monochrome conversions. Note that the highlight, mid-tone, and shadow color wheels can be used for producing split-toned images. When adjusting the Master color wheel in a monochrome conversion, the color balance adjustment is in-effect applied before conversion.
When adjustments have already been made (i.e., prior to mono conversion), it is advisable to make a clone of your color image first (Ctrl/right-click -> Clone Variant) and optimize the Levels and Curves adjustment after the conversion.
- Select an image in the Browser.
- Create a clone by pressing Ctrl/right-click -> Clone Variant if needed.
- Go to the Black and White tool and put a checkmark the Enable Black & White option. The color image will be converted to monochrome.
- Make adjustments in the Levels tool and the Curve tool for the conversion if needed.
- Create an adjustment layer using the Layers tool. For example, select the Gradient mask (G) and apply it to the area on the image for further adjustment.
- With the layer selected, go to the Color Balance tool and adjust the highlight, mid-tone, and shadow wheels as required. The mono image will be updated with the adjusted color-tones.
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