Photo Effects: Dramatic Black & White Effect in Photoshop

Step 3: Sharpen The Black & White Layer

With the new layer selected in the Layers palette, go up to the Filter menu at the top of the screen, select Sharpen and then select Smart Sharpen. This will bring up the Smart Sharpen dialog box:

Enter an Amount value of 75% and select the More Accurate option at the bottom, then click OK.

If you're using Photoshop CS or older, you can use the Unsharp Mask filter instead, in which case you would enter 75% for the Amount, set the Radius value to 1 pixel, and set Threshold to 0 levels, then click OK.

Step 4: Add A New Layer Above The Black & White Layer

Click the New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers palette once again to add another new layer, this time above the black and white layer. You should now have three layers in your Layers palette, with the new one at the top:

Step 5: Choose A Black-To-White Gradient

Select your Gradient tool from the Tools palette, or press G on your keyboard to access it quickly:

Press the letter D on your keyboard to reset your Foreground color to black and your Background color to white if they're not already. Then go up to the Options Bar at the top of the screen and click on the gradient preview area:

This will bring up Photoshop's Gradient Editor. In the "Presets" at the top, click on the Foreground-to-Background gradient in the top left corner. This will set your gradient colors to black and white:

Then click OK to exit out of the Gradient Editor.