Elements Black And White Conversions
At first look it would appear that Photoshop Elements black and white conversions consist entirely of creating a Grayscale image in the Image Menu (Image > Mode > Grayscale).
Once you have converted a color image to black and white using the Grayscale command you have no further adjustments available to you.
Another Elements black and white conversion can be accomplished using a Hue and Saturation Adjustment Layer. To remove the color you simply move the Saturation slider all the way to the left.
With this method you can make some minimal adjustments to the lightness of your black and white image using the Lightness slider.
Photoshop users have had the Channel Mixer Adjustment Layer available for many versions of the program and in the latest version (CS3) there is the fabulous new Black and White Adjustment Layer.
Sadly this is not available to Elements users but there is a really neat method for doing Elements black and white conversions.
Gradient Map Adjustment Layer
This is a really neat method to convert your color images into black and white with Photoshop Elements.
Here's how to do it ...
Open your image in Elements and press the D key to select the default foreground and background colors. Press the X key to make black the foreground color.
Create a Gradient Map Adjustment Layer (Layers > New Adjustment Layer > Gradient Map). Click OK.
Gradient Map Adjustment Layer

Wow - you've got yourself a nice black and white image - but not much different from the previously mentioned methods!
Gradient Map Adjustment Layer
Now comes the neat part. When the Gradient Map comes up click on the gradient directly below the words Gradient Used For Grayscale Mapping or on the down arrow directly to the right of gradient to bring up Gradient Editor.
Gradient Editor

Now you have some adjustments available to you! Just for the heck of it click on some of the Presets to see what will happen. When you are finished fooling around make sure you have selected the black and white gradient and you will see your image become what you want it to be.
To make adjustments to the image you can click on either the lower right or lower left Stop and slide them left (dark) and right (light). When you click on either one you will see a small diamond shape appear in the middle - this is your mid-tone slider.
If you somehow manage to introduce new stops in the middle of the gradient you can get rid of them by dragging them down to the bottom of the box.
Mess around with the sliders until you are satisfied and then click OK and OK again and you are done.
While this technique does not have the amount of adjustments like the full Photoshop techniques, you can create some striking results with the Gradient Map.
Give it a try - you'll like it.

Video of Color to Black and White Conversion
With Photoshop Elements

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