How to make a Black & White video in Premiere Pro
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Overview
I am here to help you learn Adobe Premiere Pro and to show you the tools you need to become a successful video editor. Premiere Pro is the industry standard used by professional designers to create stunning, high class videos and, after completing this course, you too can become a confident, skillful and efficient creator of stunning videos.
This course is aimed at people who are completely new to Premiere Pro.
If you are self taught using Premiere, this course will show you techniques you never dreamed were necessary or possible and will show you efficiencies to help speed up your workflow.
The course covers many topics - all of them on a step-by-step basis. We will use real world video editing examples to work through:
- An interview
- A wedding video
- A short commercial
- A documentary
- Social media advertising videos
- YouTube ‘how to’ videos
- Talking head footage mixed with screencasts and voiceovers
We will work with text, animation, motion gfx, special effects and we will add music to our video.
We will learn how to do colour correction, colour balancing and also how to create amazing video transitions within our movie. Technical ‘guru’ topics such as HD v 4K, frames per second, exporting work, fixing up bad audio, balancing and synching audio will all become manageable tasks for you. Best of all...I will show you amazing shortcuts and techniques to speed up your workflow.
Throughout the course we will work on mini projects and I will be suggesting assignments which will add value to your portfolio.
Start your Premiere Pro training now and fast track your career as a video editor.
* Please note, you have full permission to transform and upload any work using footage of Daniel as a part of this course.
Daniel Walter Scott
Founder of Bring Your Own Laptop & Chief Instructor
I discovered the world of design as an art student when I stumbled upon a lab full of green & blue iMac G3’s. My initial curiosity around using the computer to create ‘art’ developed into a full-blown passion, eventually leading me to become a digital designer and founder of Bring Your Own Laptop.
Sharing and teaching are a huge part of who I am. As a certified Adobe instructor, I've had the honor of winning multiple Adobe teaching awards at their annual MAX conference. I see Bring Your Own Laptop as the supportive community I wished for when I was first starting out and intimidated by design. Through teaching, I hope to bring others along for the ride and empower my students to bring their stories, labors of love, and art into the world.
True to my Kiwi roots, I've lived in many places, and currently, I reside in Ireland with my wife and kids.
Certificates
We’re awarding certificates for this course!
Check out the How to earn your certificate video for instructions on how to earn yours and click the available certificate levels below for more information.
Downloads & Exercise files
Transcript
What I want to do first is, let's go back to our 'Project Window'. So remember this little arrow here and go back to 'Project'. What I'm looking for is-- you might have to close them all up, tidy it up a little bit. I want to find our footage. I'm going to use the little arrow to get into it. I'm going to open 'C Cam', and I'm going to go down to something called 'CO19'. That's why I like List View for looking for file names.
What we're going to do is right click it, and we're going to go to 'New Sequence from Clip'. It's giving it the same name as our movie. Yours are going to be dot mp4, '.mp4', because I've reformatted them to make them a little smaller for the exercise files, but it should have the same name. We're going to call this one Experiments; Experi-ments, that's close enough. Now it's in the wrong folder, remember how to get it back to the root? You click, hold, vaguely drag it around here, and it should disappear from that list; scroll up, and there it is down here. Experiments, that does it for me. Cool.
So what we're going to do is we're going to experiment with black and white, plus a few other effects we'll learn in the next couple of videos, and I want you to get used to toggling between these two Timelines. You now have a project with more than one sequence. We're going to keep it pretty light for this course, but I want to show you a file, wait there. So this is a file I just grabbed out of my archive, because it looked impressive. Look how many, can you see all these folders here? So this is one Premiere Pro project that has 92 different separate sequences in it. So you can see, it's up in number 3. There's a video that I've made, it's the third video in this series, and is a 4K version, but I also made a version that's not 4k. I made a version that gives away some free stuff at the end, so there's a different version of it.
They're all separated into their own little bins, there's a 4K and an HD version, and that goes on forever. So you can get projects that are huge, in terms of the amount of sequences they have. You can see, all mine are open over here, all the different Timelines. My media's missing at the moment because I didn't want to, download and link all that up because it takes forever, but just know that we've got two new projects now, right?
We've got our Wedding one and our new Experiments. We're going to toggle between them, but you might end up with ten, five, or me, a hundred and-- well, was it 92. So I've now got two projects open at the same time, which is real confusing, we looked at this earlier, I'm going to go to 'Close the Current Project'. And by doing that you need to be on the project when it closed, not this one, I want to close this one, this is just an example for you. You don't have this file so you can't play along, but I'm just going to show you. I close this project, and this is going to disappear, all the sequences that are all open, in a second. I'll speed it up, and I'll see you again in a sec.
All right, so we're back, we're in Experiments, practiced toggling between these two. What we're going to do with this one here, is we're going to apply the black and white look. So with it selected here, make sure Lumetri Color's open, remember, 'Window', Lumetri Color', and where it says Creative, click on that, go to 'Look'. You've probably discovered these already. Let's go to 'Noir'. So either of these three, 1965, I quite liked, but you can maybe click through them, click on them, decide.
Now the thing is, with black and white there's different kinds of black and white. There's another one here called Monochrome, where are you? There's, these group, different-- They have these things like Kodak and Fuji, just to kind of represent old-style actual physical film. Remember, you might not remember, but there were film that went into cameras, and they were-- Kodak had their version and Fuji had their version, of what black and white should look like, and they're just different, and it tries to mimic it here digitally.
Anyway, pick your black and white. What you can do though is once you've picked that Look you might go back down to Basic Correction, and start adjusting it in here. Things like the blacks and whites, and shadows, and against there, at the bottom, and just kind of work through and decide what works for you in this film, to get it how you want it to be.
What I think is quite cool when you are doing black and white, is to look under Creative, I click these words just to close them up because it does get confusing. So under-- close down Basic Correction, open up Creative, and the Faded Film effect is pretty cool. Just kind of built into there. So you can decide on, whether that works for you. Let's add some noise in the next video. Kind of hopefully finish off our lovely black and white look.
Lastly, before we go, let's just practice toggling between these two, closing that one down, you can close both of them down. There's still here, my Project Window, so I can open up Experiments, and Wedding if I need to, I can close down Wedding, but still have Experiments open. Was getting used to having multiple sequence in a Premiere Pro project. One project, potentially lots of sequences. In this case there might be a small version and a long version, like a 36-- a 30-second version that's kind of more of a promo one and then a real long version.
That's what we had for-- that's what I had for my wedding. Just a short one, everyone. Good to see, was quite cool and quickie, didn't last very long. Then there was the one that only me, Mum, and Nanna sat down and watched where-- it's the really wrong-- and my wife, sat down and watched. So in this case you might have two sequences. All right, let's get into the next video, we'll look at Film Grain.
How do I make a video black and white in Premiere Pro?
Select your clip in the timeline, open Lumetri Color, then go to Creative and choose a Monochrome look from the Look menu. For a more tailored finish, compare the Noir presets, adjust blacks, whites and shadows in Basic Correction, and try Faded Film for a softer, older-film feel.
How to Make Black and White Video in Premiere Pro
Key Takeaways
Create a separate sequence to give yourself a place to experiment.
Use Lumetri Color’s Creative looks to apply a black and white style.
Compare presets rather than treating all black and white looks as identical.
Refine the result with tonal adjustments and the Faded Film control.
Keep multiple edits organised inside one Premiere Pro project.
Making a clip black and white is the quick part. Choosing the right kind of black and white takes a little more experimenting. Some looks are punchy, others are softer, and a film-inspired preset can give the same footage quite a different feel.
We’ll set up a little experiment sequence first, apply the look, then tidy up how we move between timelines. That last bit is worth getting comfortable with: one project can hold far more than one edit.
1. Create a Sequence for Your Experiments
Start in the Project panel, where your footage and sequences live. If it feels a bit cluttered, collapse the open bins so you can find your way around.
For this example, I’m using the wedding clip C019 inside the SeaCam bin. You can use your own footage instead. List View is handy here because it makes finding a specific filename much easier.
Locate the clip in the Project panel.
Right-click it and choose New Sequence from Clip.
Rename the new sequence Experiments.
If it appears inside the footage bin, drag the sequence into the top-level area of the Project panel to keep it easy to find.
Create a new sequence from your chosen clip, then give it a name that makes its purpose clear.
Premiere initially gives the sequence the same name as the source clip. Renaming it helps distinguish the footage from the timeline you’re working in.
You now have two sequences in the same project: the existing wedding edit and the new Experiments sequence. Click their timeline tabs to switch between them. There’s no need to create a separate project just to try a different treatment.
2. Apply a Black and White Look in Lumetri Color
With the Experiments sequence active, select the clip in the timeline. Then open Window > Lumetri Color if the colour panel isn’t already visible.
Expand the Creative section in Lumetri Color.
Open the Look menu.
Choose a Monochrome look, or try one of the Noir options.
Compare a few choices and pick the one that suits your footage.
I quite like Noir 1965 for this example, but it’s worth clicking through the alternatives. The important thing is not to assume that black and white is one fixed result.
A black and white look changes the timeline image while the source image remains in colour.
Why the Presets Look Different
The Monochrome options include names associated with film stocks, such as Kodak and Fuji. These refer to the different characteristics of physical photographic film. Each had its own interpretation of what a black and white image should look like, and these digital looks aim to mimic those differences.
So, rather than looking for the single “correct” preset, compare how each one treats your shot. The same wedding footage can look quite different from one option to the next. Pick a starting point you like, then refine it.
3. Adjust Blacks, Whites and Shadows
Once you’ve chosen your look, open Basic Correction. Focus on the tonal controls towards the bottom of that section, particularly Blacks, Whites and Shadows.
Blacks: adjust the darkest parts of the image.
Whites: adjust the brightest parts.
Shadows: refine the darker areas between the deepest blacks and the midtones.
Work through the controls and judge what suits the shot. There isn’t a set of numbers to copy here. The aim is to shape the preset into something that works for your footage, rather than stopping at its default appearance.
A small practical tip: click the section headings to collapse the controls you’re not using. Lumetri Color can get busy quite quickly, and keeping one section open at a time makes experimenting much less confusing.
4. Try Faded Film for a Softer Finish
Close Basic Correction and return to Creative. The Faded Film control is particularly nice to try with black and white footage.
Adjust it and compare the result with the stronger look you started with. It can give the image a softer, faded-film character. Whether that works is a creative choice, so use it because it suits the shot, not simply because it’s there.
Faded Film offers another way to shape the character of a black and white image.
Film grain or noise is a separate finishing step you could explore afterwards. For now, concentrate on getting the monochrome look and tonal balance how you want them.
5. Get Comfortable with Multiple Sequences
Before finishing, practise switching between your original edit and Experiments. This is a small organisational habit that becomes very useful as projects grow.
A project is not the same thing as a sequence. One Premiere Pro project can contain lots of separate sequences, each with its own timeline.
For a wedding, that might mean a quick, roughly 30-second promotional edit alongside a much longer version. I had a short wedding edit that was easy to share, then the long one for me, my wife, Mum and Nana. Different purposes, different sequences, all within the same project.
Larger jobs can go much further. One of my archived projects contains 92 sequences, organised into bins. Those include 4K and HD versions, plus variations with different endings, such as an ending that offers free material.
Closing a Timeline Does Not Delete the Sequence
You don’t have to keep every timeline open. Close the Wedding tab and leave Experiments open, or close both. The sequences remain in the Project panel, ready to open again when you need them.
This is different from closing an entire project. Premiere can have more than one project open at once, which can become confusing. If you use Close Project, first make sure the project you intend to close is active. Closing it also closes its open sequence timelines.
For this exercise, keep it simple: one project, an original edit and a named experiment sequence. Choose your black and white look, refine the tones, and try a little Faded Film if it suits. That’s a useful setup for experimenting without losing track of your main edit.
Key Terms
Project
The Premiere Pro file that organises your media, bins and sequences. A single project can contain many edits.
Sequence
An individual editing timeline within a project. Separate sequences can hold experiments, shorter cuts or alternative versions.
Bin
A folder-like container in the Project panel used to organise footage and sequences.
Lumetri Color
Premiere Pro’s colour adjustment panel. Its Creative section includes looks, while Basic Correction provides tonal controls.
Monochrome look
A preset treatment that creates a black and white image. Different presets can produce different tonal styles.
Faded Film
A control in Lumetri Color’s Creative section that adds a faded-film character to the image.
FAQs
Where is the black and white option in Premiere Pro?
Select your timeline clip and go to Lumetri Color > Creative > Look. Choose a Monochrome look or compare the Noir presets.
Can I adjust the image after applying a black and white preset?
Yes. Open Basic Correction and refine controls such as Blacks, Whites and Shadows. You can also return to Creative and experiment with Faded Film.
Do I need a separate project for another version of my edit?
No. You can keep multiple sequences inside one project, including short and long edits, experiments, and different delivery versions.
Will closing a timeline tab delete my sequence?
No. Closing the tab only removes that timeline from the open workspace. The sequence remains in the Project panel and can be reopened.
Written by Daniel Walter Scott — Founder of Bring Your Own Laptop & Chief Instructor
