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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
- Printer Test ImagesCollection of printer test images - colour and monochrome (black and white). Test photos for printer and monitor checking.
- Dye inks or pigment inks for photo printingWould a dye based ink printer or one using pigment inks be better for your photo printing. What prints look best on what printer ink type?
- PRO-200 Black and white printingPrinting black and white on the Canon PRO-200 A3+ dye based ink printer. Addressing the problem of colour tints under different lighting. Different types of paper and optimising the reproduction of your photos.
- Black and White printing with the P700/P900Black and white printing on the Epson SC-P700 A3+ pigment ink printer. Different types of paper and optimising the reproduction of your monochrome photos
- Custom media for the PRO-300Creating custom media settings for the Canon PRO-300 printer with the MCT software. Using the free Media Configuration Tool software for the PRO300 A3+ (13")printer
- Black and white printing with the PRO-300Printing black and white on the Canon PRO-300 A3+ pigment ink printer. Different types of paper and optimising the reproduction of your photos.
- Keith Cooper’s paper reviewsKeith's photo paper reviews - collected data from all the papers for printing photos that we've tested over the years. Helpful if you can't get them where you live. Matt, satin, lustre and glossy. Regularly updated for new papers tested
- Digital black and white photographyExploring black and white photography and image editing. Methods of converting colour to B&W. How to get the monochrome image you want from a colour photo.
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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
- 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.
- Video: Using a black and white test imageKeith looks at print quality testing using a black and white test image. Test B&W printing and new papers on your printer. The test image is available for download (10m 20s)
- Video: Which printer is best? – it dependsKeith is often asked which photo printer is best. The answer is always 'it depends'. Not always what people want to hear. Some reasons for this and a guide to what Keith looks at in printers and why you need to know what matters to you (10m 18s)
- Video: Why prints come out wrong and what to doKeith looks at the top reasons photo prints don't come out right, along with the steps needed to fix your print problems. Based on years of sorting out print problems for photographers (22m 30s)
- Video: Where are the high quality A4 photo printersWhy you don't get high quality photo and fine art printers at A4 or Letter size. What features do you get with larger printers apart from the ability to make larger sizes photo prints (6m 30s)
- Video: What printer marketing doesn’t tell youWhat printer marketing doesn't say. Keith Cooper looks how much better prints you will get from a new printer and why it probably won't be significantly different from the last model (13m 20s)
- Video: From landscape to printKeith looks a the whole process of making a black & white landscape print, from stopping to admire the view, taking some photos, editing and processing them through to paper choices & printing (32m 16s)
- Video: Are third party inks worth it?Keith Cooper looks at ink choices for inkjet printers and asks if third party or 'compatible' inks are really worth trying, or are they a false economy if print quality and consistency matters? (7m 30s)
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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...or use the search box at the top of any pageReference pages and test images
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- B&W printer test image
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- Paper reviews
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