Adobe Photoshop Tutorials: Dramatic Black & White Effect

Step 11: Apply The Gaussian Blur Filter

I'm going to apply the Gaussian Blur filter at this point to smooth out that gradient, so I'll go up to the Filter menu at the top of the screen, then I'll select Blur and then Gaussian Blur. When the Gaussian Blur dialog box comes up, I'm going to set the Radius value to about 8 pixels:

Click OK to exit out of the Gaussian Blur filter.

Step 12: Lower The "Fill" To 0%

Still with the white-to-transparent layer selected, go up to the Fill option in the top right of the Layers palette, directly below the Opacity option, and lower it all the way down to 0%. This will completely hide the gradient from view, but it won't hide any Layer Styles that we're going to apply next:

Step 13: Add A White "Outer Glow" Layer Style

Click on the Layer Styles icon at the bottom of the Layers palette and choose Outer Glow from the list:

Set the color of the Outer Glow to white by clicking on the color swatch:

This will bring up Photoshop's Color Picker. Choose white in the top left corner and then click OK to exit out of it:

With white selected as the Outer Glow color, lower the Opacity value to around 40% and increase the Size of the glow to about 90 pixels as circled below:

Click OK to exit out of the Layer Style dialog box, and you're done!

Here's my final "dramatic black & white" effect: