johnbee418 Loc: Manchester Conn.

Hello. I have been using Picasa for several years and am very happy with it. Lately I am wishing I could get a major increase in the "pop" factor of my images. I define "pop" as extreme contrast. This is something that is limited in Picasa. I use a GE 600 bridge camera, shooting almost entirely landscapes and structures...especially old and/or decrepit(no portraits, no macros, no sky or air or birds or planes or beaches or animals). Back in the day I used some filters on my Pentax MX and ME Super and the "pop" was a given. Now I am digitized and cannot use filters on the GE lens. Does anyone know of an on-line editing program that provides good B&W filtration? I tried GIMP and it totally confuses me. Thanking you all in advance. Enjoy the summer.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

If you're looking for something strictly online, take a look at befunky.com

$35/year for all the features. Here's one I just did quickly to show you, and the color shot I used to convert is below it. Though they aren't labeled as such, the pre-sets appear to mimic color filters (red to make sky darker, etc), and then you can do additional tweaks to levels and exposure (separate sliders for shadows and highlights). There is a brush tool that I haven't really learned how to use (in case you see some "oops" here) because my normal editors and go-to for b&w conversion are PS Elements and Nik Collection's Silver Efex.

But I have this befunky app on my Chromebook and it does come in handy on occasion

(Download)

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

Something to keep in mind with editing if you weren't doing previously: make the contrast and other choices, such as upping the saturation, on the color version first. That may help you get a more contrasty b&w with these modest little online apps.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

You might want to download a trial for Photoshop and Lightroom. You have a myriad of options for pop. And along with that Nik collection. Which has a great B&W enhancer.

https://photography.tutsplus.com/tutorials/7-black-and-white-photoshop-conversion-techniques--photo-488

You can push and pull a raw image in Photoshop/Lightroom to your heart's content.

sueyeisert Loc: New Jersey

The Nik software now owned by DXO has an excellent b & W software called silver effects pro.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

https://nikcollection.dxo.com/

The suite is designed to be used as a plug-in to Lightroom, Photoshop, PS Elements and maybe others - I didn't check. Each can be used as stand-alone - or could prior to the most recent tweaks by DxO. There is a 30-day free trial, and if anyone wanted to see if can use without a host program, just Google "using Nik as standalone." I tried it when the non-updated Nik wasn't working with PS Elements 2018, and also with just the HDR module, which was never compatible with Elements.

mizzee Loc: Boston,Ma

You might want to check out On1. Not free tho.

pithydoug Loc: Catskill Mountains, NY

Not sure the NIK free stuff is still available since Dxo took it over but you can get a trial version. NIK is now about $80 although it was on sale for $50. They just came out with their first set of updates which are not compatible with the free version. Personally I'm a big fan of having a supported tool set. Murphy will often bite you in the ass with free stuff.

Bob Locher Loc: Southwest Oregon

Re Linda's picture - Wow! The Her result of the rendition into b/w is terrific! Very unusual too - Lens cloud meets mountain. NOT a common occurrence. Very well done indeed.

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

Will you be printing? Simple 4-in-1 printers with 5 cartridges can't reproduce true B&W, those with at least 7 can.

johnbee418 Loc: Manchester Conn.

Thank you each and everyone.

gerdog

Since you already have Gimp, load your photo and select Image -- Mode-- Grayscale for a quick change to black and white. The best way to learn Gimp is to look at the many online tutorials for each topic. For example:
https://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+change+color+photo+to+black+and+white+with+gimp&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS794US794&oq=how+to+change+color+photo+to+black+and+white+with+gimp&aqs=chrome..69i57.24557j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
Of course, just changing to black & white is sometimes just the beginning. Plenty of ways to process and enhance those photos too.

gerdog

I should also add that when you save your image with Gimp, use File -- Export as, and then select the format at the bottom that you want Gimp to export it as (jpg, png, etc.).

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

Nice color to B&W treatment there Linda! And you did it with PSE!

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

I have pretty much complete control of my B&W conversions shooting RAW and processing as 16-bit using Ps CS6 (now Ps CC by subscription), and ACR. I can independently control each color channel plus a few non-primary colors like Orange, Purple, and Aqua. I agree adjust your Color (copy of original) version first, perhaps tweaking many parameters up before doing a B&W conversion. And then I play more with contrast and perhaps use Topaz or Nik.

You might actually try placing a yellow filter over your lens as long as you plan to make a B&W from it. This removes the excess and usually unneeded blue from a "B&W" image. Say like for film. I once tried a Red filter when photographing rocks and mountains. That did not work. Digital does seem to act differently than film to such filtration. If you would like to photograph old wooden buildings with some sky and foliage in the image, you might want to try Infrared Photography. With say a 740nm to 880nm over the lens or with a converted camera with similar filter over the sensor. That can give you IR B&W. You may want to think about a DSLR for much more flexibility.