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Last updated on December 8th, 2023

Color is beautiful, but black and white can make an image look dramatic.

In this tutorial, I’m going to explain how to use Capture One’s black-and-white tool. It’s easy to learn.

Below I have an image of Tegucigalpa, Honduras. I applied some standard edits such as cropping, contrast, clarity, etc. The main point of the image is that it’s still in RGB color.

capture one black and white tool before image

Capture One Black and White Tool

The black-and-white tool is generally found in the color section. In order to use it, make sure you Enable Black & White.

The sliders are broken down into 6 colors. Which are red, green, and blue (RGB), plus cyan, magenta, and yellow (CMY). RGB is the opposite values or colors of CMY.

By moving the slider of each color, you can control its tonal value:

  • left makes it darker
  • right makes it brighter

The best example is a blue sky that you convert to black and white. Moving the blue slider to the left will make the sky look darker.

capture one black and white tool screenshot

But I also made the blues darker by creating a radial layer mask and increasing the blue curve resulting in darker midtones. The mask adjusted the blues outside the center.

capture one blue curve and radial mask

Then I added another radial layer mask but this time to brighten the midtones in the center of the image.

Capture One RGB curve screenshot

Now, the original has been converted to black and white, also known as monochrome, by using the black and white tool in Capture One Pro plus the curve tool.

how to use the capture one black and white tool

Split Tones

You can also adjust the colors of the highlights and shadows by using split tones. Split tones are used to add two different color overlays to an image.

In the below image, I changed the hue of the highlights to cyan and increased the saturation. I did the same for the shadows but changed them to red instead.

Capture One split tones example

Split tones are a great way to add another feel to an image.

Now you know how to use Capture One’s black and white tool plus split tones.

Vincent Croos
About the Author: Vincent Croos

Hola Parceros,

I’m the founder of Aperlust. I enjoy web development and SEO and am into snowboarding and linguistics. In my spare time, you can find me destroying my opponents in chess across the globe.

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