Fade Color

Provides an excellent fade into grayscale.

Step 1: Open your image. An artistic picture would do just fine. Dunno about close range portraits.

I don't smoke, which is why some of them regular smokers might identify my fake smoking...

Step 2: Duplicate the background layer by dragging it to the New layer Icon in the layers palette itself, or Pressing Ctrl+J, or by going to Layers>New>Layer via copy

Step 3: Select your background layer again. Desaturate it by pressing Ctrl+Shift+U or by going to Image>adjustments>Desaturate. This will make your background layer appear in shades of gray. nothing will change in the document window though.

Step 4: Click the Top layer (should be called layer 1 or background copy). Then click the "add layer mask" button at the bottom of the layers palette. You can also add a layer mask by going to Layer > Add Layer Mask > Reveal All. This should display a white layer next to your duplicated layer. Make sure it is selected by clicking on it.

Step 5: Select your Gradient Tool (G) from the toolbox. Now, select the radial gradient in the options bar on the top. Also, make sure that Foreground to Background is selected in the Gradient picker. Now hit D to reset your colors. Keep the settings at mode: normal, Opacity: 100, and the last two checked.

Step 6: Now, just drag from where you want the color to where you want to fade into grayscale. Keep trying until you get what you desire. (use ctrl+z to get back to the previous state, or colors will tend to invert if you keep using gradients)

Step 7: Use the Brush tool to add color or gray tones to your image. Select the brush tool. Reduce your Opacity and flow to about 40%. Paint with Black if you want to reveal graytones. Paint with white if you want to reveal color.

Step 8: Right-Click on the layer mask (the black and white layer like thing next to your duplicated layer), and select apply layer mask. That's it. You're done!

Tips:

- Don't stop with graytone image backgrounds. Your background layer could have a nice filter or maybe a sepia tone..
- Use the linear gradient if you want a more one sided effect. Maybe for a portrait.
- You could experiment with other blend modes for the gradient (step 4)
- If you have daylight image, or if it is too clean, then the grayscale might not look so cool. To remedy this, just add a little noise by going to Filter>Noise>Add Noise. I recommend adding noise to the bottom layer but these are just guidelines.

My final Image: