I spent some time trying out the monochrome conversion method that VIncent Versace describes in “Welcome to Oz”. It’s complex and I don’t fully understand it. Some of the steps don’t result in the state he describes in the book. Some of this may be changes in Photoshop CS2 to CS3 however.
He describes a method in which rather than blending the RGB channels together, three separate layers are created- one for R, one for B and one for G. He then goes through the effects of changing the order of the three layers and then, of course, using masks to select how different areas of the image are converted.
For example, in this image I wanted the grate to be dark, which it isn’t in the color version. I wanted the sill to be close in value to the rest of the paint. This took a bit of painting back bright or dark layers in these areas.
Overall, it’s a destination that I couldn’t have gotten to without the methods. Using the transformation preset that engineered into a monochrome film is a much more constrained process.
I haven’t read Versace’s book, but Paul Caponigro describes the same technique on Adobe’s White Papers page, and also provides an action that will automate the placement of all three RGB grayscale channels into the layers palette, ready for masking and blending.
See: http://www.adobe.com/digitalimag/ps_pro_primers.html
Alex