In the digital age, we shoot full-color photographs. Which is a good thing, because it means we can distill the perfect black-and-white shot in Photoshop.

Rather than just trashing color—the way the Grayscale command does (hey, it was once our only option!)—or performing a linear channel merge—as with the Channel Mixer—Photoshop's Black & White blends the midpoints of six color ranges. This provides you with superb control and all but eliminates your chance of clipping highlights or shadows.

Here's how to convert a full-color photograph into the best of all possible black-and-white images: