: Is there a 'correct' way to convert an image to grayscale in Photoshop? In Photoshop, there are several ways to convert an image into black & white. For example: Image > Adjustments

@Kaufman565

if you really really convert an image to grayscale, the best way is:
Edit > Convert profile > Output profile > Gray Gramma 2.2
If you click in Channel panel, you look one channel (Gray), but with the other method you still look 3(RGB/LAB) o 4(CMYK) channels.

Good Luck.

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@Rambettina927

I had a teacher in college tell us the best way to convert a file to grayscale was to first convert the RGB document to LAB, then delete the A/B Channels. It provides a pretty could starting point, though I've yet to use it very often in my workflow 12 years after the fact…

I think there are a bunch of different ways to do this, and you may or may not see different results with any of them, but it might be good to try a couple and see which one gives you the bed result for the image you are working with.

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@Carla748

The "black and white" adjustment layer offers the most fine tuning options.

Photoshop tips for the best way to convert to grayscale

If you're shooting in RAW, the h/s/l adjustments are the second best option.

Other ways of executing are fine; they just offer less control over the details.

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@Lee3735518

Actually, there are even more ways to make an image gray scale, e.g. via the channel mixer or several other methods, explained in this post:

How do I change a single layer to grayscale in Photoshop CS4?

Some of them offer different opportunities of fine tuning, yielding in very different outcomes. So there isn't really a 'right' method.

See those articles for some interesting results:

Digital photography school: seven ways to create sepia images

Spoongraphics: the best way to make your photos black and white

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