Digital Black and White

Our specialist black and white digital photography page

We’ve lots of articles on this site covering digital black and white photography and other monochrome issues.

If you are just starting out with digital black and white, then this particular article may be of interest. It’s a 2020 version of the original I wrote in 2004.

The basics of digital Black & White photography

This page is the reference point for all our digital black and white photography related articles and reviews.

It covers all aspects from taking photos for black and white use, processing and editing them (converting colour to b&w) and producing black and white prints.

Articles listed here are those with significant sections dealing with aspects of black and white photography. There are also some of my older Black and White Photos in the Gallery

Reference pages and test images

• Printer Test Images
• B&W printer test image
• Printer cleaning
• Paper reviews
• Black & White from colour – 20+ conversion techniques

Videos

• Keith’s YouTube channel has a specific digital black and white playlist.

Current printer reviews (include B&W sections)

• Dye based: G550 | XP15000 | PRO-200
• Pigment ink: PRO-300 | P700 | WF8690
• Hybrid ink set:  ET-8550
• 17″ width: P900 | P5000 | PRO-1000
• 24″+ PRO-2000 | P7000 | P7500 | P20000

^ All about making this image
…from idea to print

Other article index pages

• Keith’s photo blog
• Keith’s photography videos
• Articles and Reviews
• Prints and printing
• Photography book reviews
• Colour Management

Why Black and White

Black and white photography still inspires me.

I’m reminded of this quote from someone who’s original work, and ability to explore new techniques I admire:

– Ansel Adams
forward to his book “the Negative”, published January, 1980

Digital Black and White Photography

The image to the right is a special black and white printer test image.

Keith Cooper has created it to test the quality of black and white printing.

This is the current version of our standard black and white printer test image, first published in 2005.

The test image incorporates a number of features designed to make it useful in testing and then improving monochrome print output.

Many features are also directly copied from the old version so as to maintain compatibility with existing test prints.

It’s quite a harsh test, but covers most areas where printers have difficulties, such as shadow detail, colour casts, and linearity.

All the various parts are explained and an A4 300ppi sized version is freely available for download. There are versions with a 51 and 21 step greyscale ramp available for creating QTR ‘correction’ profiles. There are also numerous articles that include its use.

Black and White photography articles on this site

The articles and reviews are grouped into different categories. You can look through all the articles via the categories selection at there right, or use the search box.

Videos

These are videos embedded in articles/reviews.

For a full index of all videos on YouTube, there is a categorised index page here:

Index: All of Keith’s YT videos

• Video: What is the best photo printerWhat is the best photo printer? I'm often asked about printer and print quality, but unless you know what it is you actually want the printer for, then it's difficult to answer. Some of the ways I decide what's good about a printer I'm reviewing
• Hahnemuhle natural line papersVideo and notes: Hahnemuhle natural line papers. The four tested are based on bamboo, hemp, agave and sugar cane fibres. Fine Art printing colour and B&W
• Video: Fixing unwanted colour tints in black and white photo printsVideo: Fixing unwanted colour tints in black and white photo prints. How to adjust the B&W printing mode for Epson and Canon printers. Removing green/brown/magenta casts seen in prints under some lighting
• Video: making ICC printer profiles for my reviewsVideo: Making icc printer profiles for my reviews. A review of using i1Profiler and the i1iSis spectrophotometer for making printer profiles
• Video: BW print workflowVideo: An example fine art BW print workflow with the 100MP GFX100S. Making a large black and white print from a medium format image

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Articles

• Choosing the best paper for your photo printsWhat photo paper is best for printing your photos? What paper is best to use with your printer? Why when choosing a paper for your prints needs, you need to start with the basics
• SpyderPrint black and white print refinementBlack and white printer test image for use with the Datacolor SpyderPrint spectrocolorimeter. Check linearity and black and white print performance with Photoshop & Affinity Photo
• What goes into a great printWhat goes into a photo print - getting more from your prints. Looking at printers, image preparation and just what makes a print worth going on your wall. Why are you making prints and who are they for?
• Black and white test image for use with i1iSisBlack and white test image and 51 step (2%) greyscale step wedge for use with X-Rite i1iSis scanning spectrophotometer. Includes target files and downloadable test image
• Fine tuning black and white photo printingFine tuning black and white photo printing with a flatbed scanner when using using monochrome print settings such as Epson ABW or Canon Black and White photo print modes. Test for optimal media settings. Print linearisation with curves.
• Using effects lens filtersAfter being given some assorted lens filters dating back to film days, Keith wonders if they are still of any use with modern digital cameras and how B&W film 'emulation' has its limits.
• Black and white linearisation with the i1Pro 3Updated linearisation for black and white printing with the X-Rite i1Pro3 spectrophotometer. Using the free chart measurement features of i1Profiler. Includes files and data for incorporating test strips into printer test images
• A simple black and white printA simple black and white print workflow aimed at showing just how easy it is to create a black and white landscape print, with a few simple edits.

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Reviews

• Epson ET-8550 printer reviewFull review of the Epson ET-8550 EcoTank printer. The 13"/A3+ six ink printer includes both pigment and dye based black inks which are filled from 70ml bottles of ink.
• Canon PRO-310 printer reviewDetailed Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-310 printer review. Keith tests the PRO-310 pigment ink printer with a range of glossy and fine-art media, including panoramic prints up to 1800mm long
• Canon PRO-1100 printer reviewDetailed review of the Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-1100 17" pigment ink printer. 11 inks and a colour optimiser coat. Tested for colour and B&W printing on a range of media types. Paper sixes up to A2, with borderless print options. Successor to the Canon PRO-1000
• Epson SC-P5300 printer reviewDetailed review of the Epson SC-P5300 17" (A2) pigment ink printer with sheet feed and powered roll paper feed and paper cutter. It has 10 inks and no matte/photo black ink switching
• Canon TC-20M printer reviewDetailed Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-300 printer review. Keith tests the PRO-300 pigment ink printer with a range of glossy and fine-art media, including panoramic prints up to 990mm (~39") long
• Epson ET-18100 printer reviewFull Epson ET-18100 printer review. The 13""/A3+ sized six ink EcoTank printer filled from individual 70ml bottles of dye ink . Dye based printer excels
• Epson ET-8500 printer reviewFull review of the Epson ET-8500 EcoTank printer. The 8.5"/A4 six ink printer includes both pigment and dye based black inks which are filled from 70ml bottles of ink. Is it a good choice to learn high end art and photo printing?
• Epson ET-2850 printer reviewEpson ET-2580 printer review. The EcoTank 8.5"/A4/Letter four ink printer includes pigment based black ink and dye based colour inks which are filled from 127ml/70ml bottles of ink.

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Printing

• Black and white photo printingKeith Cooper is interviewed about his approach to printing his black and white photography. Extended version with additional notes and information from a printed magazine article.
• BowHaus True Black and White reviewBowHaus True Black and White review. Black and white specialist printing software for Canon iPF large format printers. Offers full ink control and linearisation.
• Canon iPF6300 reviewCanon iPF6300 review, testing the imagePROGRAF iPF6300 24 inch large format printer, for colour and black and white fine art printing.
• Epson Stylus Pro 3880 reviewReview of the Epson Stylus Pro 3880 printer. Desktop printer is 17 inch print width and takes A2 sheets, photo and fine art papers. Colour and black and white printing
• Which side of the paper to print onSome fine art papers look almost the same on each side. How to tell which side of the paper to print on if you are unsure
• Full width printing Epson 3800 and OSX 10.6Solving full width (17") printing problems with the Epson SP3800 and Mac OSX 10.6 (Snow Leopard). tested with Epson Traditional Photo Paper
• Canon Pixma Pro9500 Mk II reviewDetailed Canon Pixma Pro9500 Mk II review, using the Canon 9500 II A3+ printer for colour and black and white photo printing.
• Olmec Photo papers – reviewA review of several photo and fine art printing papers in the Olmec range, now supplied by Innova. Gloss, satin and matte.

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News

• Epson SureColor SC-P5000 STD Printer announcedLatest information about the new SureColor P5000 17" large format printer from Epson. The replacement for the SP4900 A2 sized desktop printer.
• Keith Cooper’s talks about printmakingKeith Cooper talks about making large prints at The Photography Show 2017 - Getting great looking big prints from your work. From camera to print, the complete workflow
• New Canon papers announcedCanon USA announce three new Premium Fine Art papers — Premium Fine Art Smooth, Premium Fine Art Bright White and Premium Polished Rag. Designed to produce, rich-color reproduction, and detailed expression of gradation. Keith has a roll of the Fine Art Smooth for an upcoming paper review