We heard a lot of praise for this B&W conversion filter for the Mac and also used the older versions of this filter. The older filter was a solid performer but we really did not like the small preview as this is not helpful to judge tonality. Now the new filter is also available for Windows.

ConvertToBW Pro 3.0

Preview Pane

Size matters (preview size)

This new filter allows the preview to be as large as your screen. Because the controls are in a separate window you can use in a dual monitor setup even the full screen to judge the image. This is exactly what we wanted to see.

Otherwise this filter features the classic functionality for a great B&W filter:

Prefilter

Prefilter

Tries to simulate the filter you would otherwise use in the field (you cannot really simulate IR and polarizing filters though).

Color Response

Color Response

This is hard to simulate in Photoshop and is a big plus of a B&W conversion filter. We often use the TriX preset.

Contrast

Contrast

Contrast is key for any B&W conversion and here the filter helps a lot.

We did not use the sepia settings.

Sample session

Color original

We like to start with a soft color original.

Conversion using the above settings

After the conversion we optimize the contrast with a Levels adjustment layer. Here we would think that adding levels with a histogram could even improve this filter.

Some Levels Corrections

Final image

Preliminary 32 bit support

ConvertToBW Pro 3.0 also works on the new 32 bit images that HDR Merge can create in Photoshop CS2.

We think that ConvertToBW Pro 3.0 a great and easy to use B&W conversion filter. It is also intuitive and easy to use.

Highly Recommended

More Info at theimagingfactory can be found here.