B/w refers to black-and-white illustrations, photographs, and the like. It can also refer to any book or publication not printed with color printing for aesthetic or cost reasons. At the same time, in other instances, colored and b/w versions might coexist within an edition.
B/w or black and white printing refers to the appearance of text and images in books or publications printed using black-and-white ink on white pages. However, there may also be publications that use additional colors, such as one or two hues, in addition to black-and-white printing. It has become the industry standard since black-and-white ink can achieve such effects more effectively than color.
There are various methods available for creating black-and-white printing effects. One way involves combining duotone ink with two other colors of inks to produce shades of gray; halftone generates different tones through printing dots of differing sizes; these techniques can produce results similar to each other when used individually or combined.
Black and white printing is often preferred when publishing books and publications; however, color printing may sometimes be preferable depending on its intended audience and economic considerations. If a publication contains mostly text with only a few images included, then printing it in black and white might be more economical; or for titles targeted towards younger readers, more colors may make for more visually engaging publications.
B/w printing tends to be more flexible and less costly than color printing, which explains its popularity with books and publications.
Black and white printing of books and printed materials is integral to publishing. Black-and-white printing allows publishers to utilize various fonts and techniques that make their books more readable and visually appealing while being less costly than color printing, providing more cost savings to many publishers.