How to Create a Diffused (Soft) Black and White Effect

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Without Effect

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With Effect

This tutorial is to help you learn how to make a diffused black and white photo effect.  Ok, once you have your photo open in photoshop:

1. Convert the photo to black and white using a new Channel Mixer Adjustment Layer.  If you need more help with this step please refer to our tutorial on “Converting Photos to Black and White.”

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2. Then (with the background layer selected) select Diffuse Glow from the Filters menu under the Distort submenu.  (Filter>Distort>Diffuse Glow).
3.In the Diffuse Glow menu, adjust the Graniness, Glow Amount, and Clear Amount to somewhere around 5, 5, and 10.  This may vary some depending on the picture.

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For Further Training on Black & White Processing:

Check out this best-selling eBook training package on B&W which includes a masterclass on post-processing. It can be found here: Black and White Post-Processing

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