Creating dual tone and B&W images in Luminar Neo

Sometimes you capture an image that is nice, but could do with a bit more pizazz. That’s when creating dual tone images in Luminar Neo can make a real statement. I’ll walk you through how to do it.

Start with some Supercontrast

I started by cropping my image, but that is purely optional — you can always crop at the end too. I then added some Supercontrast in my Highlights, Midtones and Shadows. Not too much, but you can use the Balance slider to even things out a touch as well.

Now the black & white conversion

You could try one of the presets, but I just went for the Black & White in the Essentials tools. Click Convert to B&W, which will strip away the colors in your photograph.

Note that you can still move the colored sliders to make changes to the luminance (or brightness) of the different color channels within your image. This can really make the details pop.

Add some toning

This is purely optional but I quite like to add some dual toning to my black and white images. You will find Toning in the Creative set of tools.

I am partial to a touch of blue in the shadows and some yellow in the highlights. I think it gives a bit of a vintage vibe. Swap between the Shadows and Highlight sections, pull the saturation up a touch then adjust and slide the Hue slider for each section (Highlights and Shadows). You can then adjust the Saturation back down to the required amounts. It’s all personal choice here.

Same with colors — you could go Monotone and have the same color for Highlights and Shadows, like cyanotype (Cyan) or selenium (darker blues). Maybe try Red/Green or any other combination you like.

Finish it off

You could add the Supercontrast here if you prefer, or some Matte. Crop your image here if you haven’t already. A little Film Grain can also add that real vintage touch and you’re done. Of course, if you just want to stick with the B&W conversion, you can miss the Color Toning step altogether.

How much or how little you change is entirely up to you. have fun, play with a few sliders and see what you can create with dual tone and B&W images in Luminar Neo.