BraveCLHow to compare black-and-white looks on Mac
Compare ten monochrome photo treatments, refine a Noir look, and inspect the result beside the color original on your Mac.
- What you'll achieve
- You'll have a refined Noir preview with adjusted shadows and highlights, plus a draggable before-and-after comparison against your original color photo.
- What you need
- Black & White Editor - Effects 3.0 for Mac.
- A color photo on your Mac to compare in black and white.
A black-and-white effect can change the mood of a photograph. Black & White Editor - Effects lets you preview ten treatments, refine their tones, and compare the result with the original. This guide follows a real seven-step capture using a landscape photo and the Noir interpretation.
1.Open a photo and view the monochrome looks
Open a color picture with Photo. In Explore, review the thumbnails of available black-and-white interpretations. The first preview shows how a neutral treatment changes the picture.
Black & White Editor in Explore with a landscape photo and monochrome look thumbnails. 2.Choose the Noir interpretation
Select Noir among the monochrome looks. The app opens the adjustment view with Noir applied so you can refine its tones.
Noir selected in the Look selector while the landscape preview displays high-contrast monochrome. 3.Recover detail in the shadows
Set Shadows to 10% to bring out darker details while retaining Noir's contrast. Inspect the large photo preview after the adjustment.
Shadows set to 10 percent in the Noir adjustments panel. 4.Pull back the bright highlights
Set Highlights to −24% to hold detail in bright areas. Leave Shadows at 10% so the tonal balance remains consistent.
Highlights set to negative 24 percent and shadows set to 10 percent. 5.Return to the Explore view
Use the Darkroom stage control to switch to Explore. The panel shows ten black-and-white looks, with Noir still selected.
Explore tab with ten monochrome looks and Noir selected. 6.Compare your edit with the original
Turn on Compare with original. The canvas displays the color original on the left and the black-and-white result on the right, separated by a movable divider.
Original color photograph on the left and Noir result on the right with comparison enabled. 7.Move the before-and-after divider
Drag the Explore before/after divider toward the left to reveal more of the Noir result. Compare the two sides and select another interpretation from the thumbnail panel if you want to test a different mood.
Before-and-after divider moved toward the left, showing most of the Noir result and the ten monochrome previews.
Tips
Start by comparing the thumbnails in Explore instead of committing to a look from its name.
Move the before-and-after divider across important highlights and shadows to check what each adjustment changes.
Watch outThis workflow previews a look and its adjustments; it does not export a finished image.
