Grey and White is a free Lightroom preset that converts colored images to bright gray monochome. It has muted tones that give a soft vintage film look. It also defines depth and detail using a cool blue accent in the light regions.
Collection: Black and White Presets
Best for: Outdoor, Natural Light
Style: Soft Matte, Soft Blue Tint, Light Tones, Vintage
This light black and white presets can be used in various types of photography but works best outdoors under diffused natural light. Its tones, after all, blend well with sunlight. You can try using Grey and White on landscapes, travel photography, and portraiture.
You can use this unique monochrome look to set a visual theme on your social media. Try it as an Instagram filter to achieve a cohesive look and feel.
Brightens and Tints
Bright and Cool. The preset’s aesthetic is primarily defined by its brightness and subdued tones. Grey and White initially sets these in Lightroom’s fundamental settings. It increases exposure to add more light and adjusts both temperature and tint to set brilliance. The resulting illumination is based on the image’s original colors.
The preset produces the cool gray tones you see in the example above by tinting highlights with an airy blue. This, of course, sets most of the preset’s signature monochrome look. Notice how this also heightens the mood of the image.
Amplifies Contrast
Intensified Tones. Grey and White may have a soft look, but its tones remain rich and deep. The preset intensifies both contrast and clarity to do this.
It amplifies contrasts fully. Given its extensive softening adjustments, this is a welcome setting. This then goes hand in hand with the boost in clarity that strengthens midtones. Try to examine the After photo above and see how these two enhancements keep visual elements well defined.
Softens Tones
Muted Monochrome. To create its light and airy look monochrome aesthetic, Grey and White narrows the tonal spectrum. This means that highlights are darkened while shadows are lightened. Doing so makes sure that no tone, whether light or dark, would appear harsh.
The preset darkens both whites and blacks as well. This helps the softened light regions to blend better with the added blue tint. The deepened blacks, on the other hand, help reinforce definition along with the previous contrast and clarity settings.
You can see the results in the After photo above. Look a how the preset processes its tones in the landscape: the light grays still look complex and crisply textured. You can also notice how the midtones set the scene’s overall definition.
Sets Custom Mix Channels
Custom B&W. Grey and White fine-tunes its tones’ luminance by setting the brightness of each color’s corresponding gray, at varying levels. As a result, the preset produces slightly brighter grays for purple, magenta, and red. These primarily produce clear and smooth skin tones.
In contrast, the preset lowers the luminance of the gray tones from green, aqua, and some yellow hues. Because of this group of adjustments, fields, plants, and trees would look darker than the rest of the scene.
Adds Film Texture
Film Effects. The preset draws out the texture from its soft tones by boosting sharpening. This complements its brightening enhancements, as you can see in the example above. Then, to give it some charming analog film look, the preset adds vignetting and some fine grain.
Grey and White preset is for Lightroom Mobile, Desktop and…
Like all our presets, you can absolutely use Grey and White preset as is, right out of the box. With any preset, you might need to make adjustments to accommodate your specific camera, settings, lighting and subject matter.
- Entirely Adjustable
- Compatible with Lightroom 4, 5, 6 and CC
- Performs with both PC, Mac, and Mobile
- Applicable to both RAW and JPG images
- 100% Free
Free Lightroom Preset by Forrest Lane
