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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.
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)
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:
“I eagerly await new concepts and processes. I believe that the electronic image will be the next major advance. Such systems will have their own inherent and inescapable structural characteristics, and the artist and functional practitioner will again strive to comprehend and control them.”
– 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
- 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
- Black and White, the digital wayAn introduction to black and white photography in the digital age. An extended version of an article Keith Cooper wrote for Canon.
- A Digital only trip to ColoradoA look at some of the changes when moving from film photography to digital photography after a trip to Colorado by Keith Cooper. The same, but different and better...
- Better Digital Black and White printing on your Inkjet printerSimple technique to make linearising curves for black and white photo prints. Measuring test prints with flatbed scanner provide data for curve construction
- A 35mm black and white landscape photographer goes digitalLooking at what changed and what didn't when a film based landscape photographer decided to make the switch to an all digital workflow.
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There are over 1300 free articles, videos and reviews on the site - thanks to everyone who helps support it. We appreciate any purchases you make through our partners such as B&H which help us sustain the site.
Reviews
- Fotospeed Legacy Gloss 325 paper reviewFotospeed Legacy Gloss 325 paper review. Smooth unglazed gloss surface, Cotton based 325gsm natural warm white paper. OBA free. Making large exhibition quality prints.
- Fotospeed Platinum Baryta 300 paper reviewFotospeed Platinum Baryta 300 paper review. Smooth unglazed gloss surface 300gsm natural white paper. Making large exhibition quality prints
- Nik plugins by DxO – review info.Looking at the Nik image editing plugins - The updated version of the Nik plugin collection is launched by DxO with improved compatibility for modern apps. Links to all of Keith's detailed reviews of the plugins
- Canon imagePROGRAF TX-3000 reviewTesting the Canon TX-3000 36" width printer. Keith Cooper reviews the Canon TX wide format printer and plotter for photo and graphics printing. Also covers the 24" TX-2000 printer and 44" TX-4000
- Fotospeed Matt art papers reviewFotospeed Platinum Cotton 305 and Cotton Etching 305 matt art papers review. Cotton acid free fine art paper. Natural white smooth and Etching finish bright white
- Epson P5000 printer reviewReview of the Epson Surecolor P5000 printer. 17 inch width A2, with roll support and paper cartridge for sheet media. Looking at print capabilities and colour management
- Epson SC-P20000 printer reviewReview of the Epson SC-P20000 printer by Keith Cooper. 64 inch width large format printer with new UltraChrome Pro 10-colour ink-set including high density Mk/Pk inks and three grey inks for better Black & White printing
- Paper review Platinum Gloss Art Fibre 300Paper review, looking at Platinum Gloss Art Fibre 300gsm paper by Fotospeed. Tested on the Canon PRO-2000 pigment ink printer for colour and black and white printing
Printing
- Printer Test ImagesCollection of printer test images - colour and monochrome (black and white). Test photos for printer and monitor checking.
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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?
- 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
- 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.
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
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