Monochrom B&W Post Processing Tools

[colint544]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

If you can face getting to grips with using the layers facility in Photoshop, you can really fine-tune an image. The Monochrom DNG files respond very well to this treatment, since they start off flat and muddy because they contain such a wealth of detail. 

Photoshop allows you to create tools (seen in mustard colour here) where you can simply click 'safe levels and contrast'. This gives an immediately punchier image. Most importantly it does so without blowing any highlights (assuming they weren't blown to start with) or crushing the shadows.

Thereafter, you can click to adjust the highlights or shadows in 5% increments. It's very subtle and, combined with some dodging and burning, you can really turn a flat file into a picture. The beauty of this is it's a non-destructive method of Photoshopping your image. You're only making changes to one layer at a time, then sandwiching all the layers together.

If you're working on an image without using layers, and go in too heavy with contrast, levels, dodging, burning etc, you can sometimes see the image start to break up and display artefacts, banding and so on. Layers is the best way to retain all that luscious detail in your original image.

That said, I work with an M9M. The M10M can record a lot more detail, so it could be a different situation. Maybe layers isn't as vital, but it's probably still the best way not to damage your original file.

One last thing I've found (again with the M9M) is that it captures so much detail, and the files are so malleable, that you can bend highlights and shadows quite far in every direction without them breaking up. Get carried away and you can end up with pictures which look unrealistic. Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. Be wary of that clarity slider!

Oh, and always save as a TIFF file. I regard my finished TIFF files as the original negatives, so to speak.

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

Edited May 6, 2020 by colint544

[Advertisement]

The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[Likaleica]

2 hours ago, colint544 said:

If you can face getting to grips with using the layers facility in Photoshop, you can really fine-tune an image. The Monochrom DNG files respond very well to this treatment, since they start off flat and muddy because they contain such a wealth of detail. 

Photoshop allows you to create tools (seen in mustard colour here) where you can simply click 'safe levels and contrast'. This gives an immediately punchier image. Most importantly it does so without blowing any highlights (assuming they weren't blown to start with) or crushing the shadows.

Thereafter, you can click to adjust the highlights or shadows in 5% increments. It's very subtle and, combined with some dodging and burning, you can really turn a flat file into a picture. The beauty of this is it's a non-destructive method of Photoshopping your image. You're only making changes to one layer at a time, then sandwiching all the layers together.

If you're working on an image without using layers, and go in too heavy with contrast, levels, dodging, burning etc, you can sometimes see the image start to break up and display artefacts, banding and so on. Layers is the best way to retain all that luscious detail in your original image.

That said, I work with an M9M. The M10M can record a lot more detail, so it could be a different situation. Maybe layers isn't as vital, but it's probably still the best way not to damage your original file.

One last thing I've found (again with the M9M) is that it captures so much detail, and the files are so malleable, that you can bend highlights and shadows quite far in every direction without them breaking up. Get carried away and you can end up with pictures which look unrealistic. Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. Be wary of that clarity slider!

Oh, and always save as a TIFF file. I regard my finished TIFF files as the original negatives, so to speak.

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

You should do a YouTube tutorial, Colin!  The internet has a dearth of good information on post-processing files from the monochroms.  

[colint544]

19 hours ago, Likaleica said:

You should do a YouTube tutorial, Colin!  The internet has a dearth of good information on post-processing files from the monochroms.  

Cheers, Tim. I wouldn't know where to start! I bit the bullet back in 2011 and went on a course called Advanced Photoshop. Every Wednesday evening for two hours for, I think it was two or three months. I'd been using Photoshop for the previous 15 years, and was fed up just winging it.

A lot of the course went over my head. Photoshop is almost like a religion. There is so much to it, and everyone interprets bits of it in different ways, or puts emphasis on different areas.  

The guy - Dave Stanton - who taught the class was brilliant. He was a true Photoshop believer, and he could barely contain his enthusiasm. I felt I was one of the slowest learners in the class. But the one thing I took away is layers. Understanding layers is the key to Photoshop.

[Jeff S]

Understanding contrast curves seems another fundamental concept, which sometimes appears lacking based on comments and postings by some.  Techniques for adjusting curves vary from one software to another, say LR vs Photoshop, but the concept remains the same.  More importantly, though, is learning to see and develop a style, or styles (Colin's is apparent).  Once one has a clear vision of what they want to achieve, the techniques to get there are relatively easy to learn.  Books, workshops and tutorials for most all editing software are abundant. The hard part is deciding when, where and to what degree to apply the respective techniques on any given picture.

Jeff

Edited May 7, 2020 by Jeff S

[250swb]

10 hours ago, colint544 said:

 

A lot of the course went over my head. Photoshop is almost like a religion. There is so much to it, and everyone interprets bits of it in different ways, or puts emphasis on different areas.  

 

You only need to know as much about Photoshop as you need to know for what you want to do, which makes Photoshop pretty small for most photographers, you don't need the book. And Silver Efex integrates many of the Photoshop and Lightroom functions and calls them things you can understand. In effect with Sliver Efex you are working with Layers and Curves, it's just that you don't need to know that because it puts the results into something you can see directly as you go along and puts the actions into more easily understood darkroom terms.

[colint544]

4 minutes ago, 250swb said:

You only need to know as much about Photoshop as you need to know for what you want to do, which makes Photoshop pretty small for most photographers, you don't need the book. And Silver Efex integrates many of the Photoshop and Lightroom functions and calls them things you can understand. In effect with Sliver Efex you are working with Layers and Curves, it's just that you don't need to know that because it puts the results into something you can see directly as you go along and puts the actions into more easily understood darkroom terms.

Agreed. I used to have Silver Efex 2, back when you had to buy it. I thought it was a tremendous piece of software. A colleague was fiddling with my Mac Book Pro at work one day, determined to install some plug-in he said was great, and he managed somehow to crash my Photoshop and lose the Silver Efex 2 plug-in. To cut a long story short, I felt so bereft without it, I re-bought it the next day.

You could apply the effects as a layer, then reduce them to whatever level you liked. That was a great boon with some of the more extreme looks it had. 

Photoshop is subscription these days. For some reason, since it went that way, even though SFX2 is now free, my Photoshop just doesn't want to know it. Tried everything. Gave up on the whole thing about five years ago. But I enjoy the process of Photoshop more now. The pain of loss has faded with time.

[Jeff S]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

People tend to like and get comfortable with whatever software they invest time to learn and use. That is, unless the interface is a real turnoff.  No magic bullets, any more than choosing a camera or lens.  Pick one (or two) and proceed. The best tools are between the ears.  

Jeff

Edited May 7, 2020 by Jeff S

[Likaleica]

4 hours ago, colint544 said:

Agreed. I used to have Silver Efex 2, back when you had to buy it. I thought it was a tremendous piece of software. A colleague was fiddling with my Mac Book Pro at work one day, determined to install some plug-in he said was great, and he managed somehow to crash my Photoshop and lose the Silver Efex 2 plug-in. To cut a long story short, I felt so bereft without it, I re-bought it the next day.

You could apply the effects as a layer, then reduce them to whatever level you liked. That was a great boon with some of the more extreme looks it had. 

Photoshop is subscription these days. For some reason, since it went that way, even though SFX2 is now free, my Photoshop just doesn't want to know it. Tried everything. Gave up on the whole thing about five years ago. But I enjoy the process of Photoshop more now. The pain of loss has faded with time.

SEFx2 isn't free anymore, ever since DXO rescued it from Google.  They haven't changed it much but it does work as a Photoshop plug-in, and it's great as a layer for the reasons you mentioned.

https://nikcollection.dxo.com/silver-efex-pro/

[peterm1_Leica]

As do some others here who shoot in color and then convert to black and white I will most often use Nik Silver Efex for that purpose though sometimes I have good success just using Lightroom. I run the Nik suite of plugins under Lightroom and can drop into any of them with a click of the mouse. It works in the same way with Photoshop. 

As you are shooting with a Monochrom in DNG format I do not know that you get the full benefit of Silver Efex though. Except perhaps in one  respect -  I really like using the toning available in Silver Efex. I use the default silver toning to warm up the image ever so slightly - so little that most people would not even realize it. (If however the slider is slid too far to the right it becomes sepia which I am not interested in.) In any event it produces a much nicer slight warming effect in black and white output than Lightroom's Split Toning effect which I find very limited in the range of tones available and quite a bit too obvious. .

Despite its name I would also strongly suggest using Nik Color Efex as well. It has a wide range of useful filters that you can experiment with even as a black and white shooter. (I do not however like its filter that converts to black and white - the effects are too dramatic for my tastes). Like many Nik products its effects can be applied selectively with the selective tool and I use this feature a very great deal as it avoids hassles with masking that might otherwise be needed if using Photoshop, say.  Another feature of Color Efex that I like is that you can apply multiple filters and effects to the image. And if you decide that you like a filter you have applied but it is not strong enough you can even apply it two or more times for a stronger effect. Be aware that some (but not all) filters will react differently depending on where they are in the filter "stack" - order in which they are applied can make a difference to how the final image looks. 

The filters I use most for both color shots and black and white are as follows:

Tonal Contrast - This is like a clarity filter (in Lightroom) but one which allows you to boost or suppress detail selectively in highlight, mid tones and shadow areas. Very useful. This filter is best applied first, before you make other changes in Color Efex  if you plan to use it. 

Glamour Glow - this filter must be used with discretion but it applies a dark and usually pleasant smudgy glow in areas affected by it. This has a softening effect which I often find very attractive in artistic shots and as a means of heightening the effect of natural shadows. Very nice.This filter should be applied last in the filter "stack" as if applied early (especially before the tonal contrast filter) some strange artifacts can result. 

Darken / Lighten Centre - this filter does what its name suggests though mostly I use it to lighten the centre and darken the edges for a very subtle vignette effect. It works extremely well for this purpose  as it can be very subtle.

Vignette Lens - For a more robust vignette it can work extremely well. And I like to vignette images when being artistic.

Classic Soft Focus - Sometimes I find myself in a situation where I want more blur in the background. When this effect is applied selectively to  background objects this works quite well. I do not use the any of the first three styles most times, I last three styles available and mostly use these unless the image demands otherwise. 

Levels and Curves - This can be useful when using the plugin but most times I will adjust levels and curves in Lightroom before dropping into Color Efex. But sometimes I need it when still in the plugin.

Image Borders - I like a border or frame on my pictures. The plugin offers a useful range of options. 

Contrast Color Range - this filter changes contrast of different colors each in a different way. This gives a flexible way of changing image contrast selectively within an image by affecting different colors in different ways. I think it will work with Monochrom DNG files as well given that I understand that those files preserve underlying color information.

The above are the main filters I use and I find them very useful indeed. 

If you really feel like pushing the boat out you can also experiment in Nik Analog Efex. At first I thought this too gimmicky for words particularly as the default settings for most of its effects and filters are really terrible (you have to be prepared to experiment) and the user interface is confusing till you get used to using it. Now I rather like some of its effects as you can, once you know what you are doing, simulate film quite nicely  though it is a bit hit and miss (there are no film like presets, as I say you must experiment and if you stumble on a formula you like save it as a preset) I find it is more useful for color films than black and white (however this may be because I have not tried it much for black and white). Never the less having said that I do sometimes use it for black and white as well. 

 

 

Edited May 8, 2020 by peterm1_Leica

[colint544]

On 5/8/2020 at 2:50 AM, Likaleica said:

SEFx2 isn't free anymore, ever since DXO rescued it from Google.  They haven't changed it much but it does work as a Photoshop plug-in, and it's great as a layer for the reasons you mentioned.

https://nikcollection.dxo.com/silver-efex-pro/

Did not know that, Tim. Thank you

[jaapv]

On 5/8/2020 at 5:49 AM, peterm1_Leica said:

Contrast Color Range - this filter changes contrast of different colors each in a different way. This gives a flexible way of changing image contrast selectively within an image by affecting different colors in different ways. I think it will work with Monochrom DNG files as well given that I understand that those files preserve underlying color information.

This is completely incorrect. Monochrom  DNG files have no colour information as there is no bayer filter. That is the whole point of the camera....

I am no fan of SEP on Monochrome files. They react  very badly to  Efex overcooking with strong and wide haloes. If you must use them, pull back as much as possible.

[peterm1_Leica]

12 minutes ago, jaapv said:

This is completely incorrect. Monochrom  DNG files have no colour information as there is no bayer filter. That is the whole point of the camera....

I am quite prepared to accept this.........but.........I had read somewhere (I do not recall where) that with Monochrom DNGs in say Lightroom you can use the Black and White Mix sliders to adjust the color mix of the black and white image thereby lighting and darkening the image tones selectively. If that is true (and it may not be - I do not have a Monochrom so cannot check) surely the color information must be present in the image (and not just be present as residual tonal values in the black and white image). This was the basis for my statement - but as I got this off the internet I have no assurance it is correct. 

If I am incorrect about the above then I am happy to stand corrected. 

Edited May 10, 2020 by peterm1_Leica

[jaapv]

It is complete nonsense. LR treats the Monochrom DNGs as Greyscale, which means that there are no colour channels. If one converts to RGB (which can be done in Photoshop), the three colour channels are identical. When in RGB, one can use the colour channels for global toning by unbalancing one of the channels (which may be possible in LR as well, as it does a lot in the background) This is the only colour change possible. However, changes in the tonal scale based on colour are completely impossible.
A native monocrome DNG is not the same as a B&W conversion of a colour file. In fact, the colour DNG is a conversion of the monochrome output of the sensor.

A pixel produces no colour, just an analog signal from 0-100%. The colour information is created by  the red, green and blue colour filters in front of the pixel in the so-called Bayer matrix. The camera knows which colour filter is in front of each pixel and interpolates the data to three colour channels, which creates the colour that you see. The point is that a monochrome sensor has no Bayer filter, thus no interpolation of the matrix which is not there. This means a much cleaner data stream and no resolution loss, nor optical aberrations by the little filters. But also no colour information. Compare to B&W film. It can never produce a colour image because it does not have the three filtered layers of a colour film.

[Jeff S]

One could create a color image (probably not a great one) from a Monochrom by multiple shots using colored filters. But, yes, Peter is mistaken. 

https://www.stevehuffphoto.com/2013/05/27/color-photography-with-the-leica-m-monochrom-by-richard-greenstone/

Jeff

[jaapv]

Yes, the Prokudin-Gorsky method. We have a thread here:

 

[Exodies]

Why don’t camera makers boast about the colour filters on their sensors? There must be a number you can apply to them. Would be useful now that people have got sniffy about megapixels. But is it better to have a narrow pass or wide pass filter (not sure of the terminology)?

[jaapv]

The filters are very specific and tuned to the colour response that has been set out by the designers. I don't think there is much more than the specifications and nothing that can be turned into a marketing one-liner.

[Jeff S]

Camera makers often tout sensor technology and use/lack of cover filters, ‘better’ colors and much more. Use or lack of anti-aliasing (AA) filters are now common, some makers offering a choice.  But color ranking is not so simple; there are many other complexities involved with sensor design and color/image quality, not to mention software enhancements. David Farkas wrote about some design elements in this S007 article (near the end). 

https://www.reddotforum.com/content/2014/11/why-leica-is-staying-at-37-5mp-for-the-s-typ-007/

The Bayer vs Foveon debate is another level of discussion.

Jeff

 

[Advertisement]

Hallo,

Look here: Interesting Leica gear

[Exodies]

Interesting that the colour filters (at least up to 2006) were built using processes similar to the very earliest photographs - exposure, development and rinse.

[Tulpenwahn]

Am 29.3.2020 um 23:28 schrieb Keith (M):

Personally, as written in similar threads on the subject, I import into LR Classic, click on 'Auto' then make adjustments with the sliders.  I use SEfexPro for my b&w film files, but having briefly tried it on M10M files, much prefer my simple LR adjustments.  Works for me!

I agree with that: Silver Efex was very useful for converting colour pictures in BW (especially from a Leica M9). But since I have a M10M I often find the results coming out of Lightroom Classic already sufficient. Of course, in some cases the Silver Efex presets have nice effects, but in most cases the camera results (combined with the LR interpretation) are already too good for heavy postprocessing.

Edited June 4, 2020 by Tulpenwahn