They are so big that in 2012, the company was bought up by. Nik software was a software development company established in 1995 and based in san. Silver efex pro provides some nice templates for bw conversions, but ive found that the bw conversion in lightroom coupled with the channel mixer to provide. Good bw can be surprisingly hard to do with photoshop. It also features exclusive u point local adjustment. These past couple weeks have been a roller coaster for photography software. Based off of the unique nik software grain engine, this slider lets you add realistic grain into your photo. Nik software was a software development company established in 1995 and based in san diego, california. There have been lively debates about the best techniques, and doubtless there will be more. Topaz offers a fine blackandwhite conversion program, and takes a slightly different approach to adjusting the image. They allow a range of effects to be applied quickly and easily to images.
On top of providing access to nik plugins directly from the softwares. It offers a range of 200 exclusive presets and creative effects as well as a number of retouching tools. Photography tutorial black and white conversion using. I use lightroom 2, photoshop cs3 and nicks software. Photographers who want to color correct before blackandwhite conversion software and thats always a good idea. For those of you who dont know silver efex pro offers an allinone workflow to convert your raw images to monochrome. It is a complete evaluation of my main black and white converter and the plugin i use the most in my work. Luminar the new powerhouse for fine art black and white.
Nik software silver efex pro silver efex pro from nik software. Structure slider is similar to clarity in lightroom and adobe camera raw. Dxo goes headtohead with adobe as nik collection 2 becomes available as. I have tried several different photoshop plugins and silver efex is by far the best one on the market. Usually i photograph in rgb not monocrome, than do a preadjustment in lightrorm only work with rawformat by converting in bw in lightroom, than open the exported image which allready appears bw in photoshop and than open it with the nicks software psplugin and. Great alternatives to replace the nik collection lenscraft. Saving images processed by nik software plug ins affinity on. Bw conversion vorher nachher verwenden sie diesen filter, um ein. How you launch on1 just like nik, and how the filters and presets work similar to the way they work in nik. But while in those programs the clarity slider affects all the tones in the selected area, in silver efex pro 2 you can choose to adjust structure independently in the shadows, midtones and highlights. Access 55 high quality photographic filters to achieve. But while its easy to make conversions once you get the hang of the software, silver.
Nik photoshop plugin filters collection by dxo software. Theres also a soft contrast slider that increases contrast but in a less aggressive way, almost as if there is an. Tony sweets nik software blog images displayed are optimized with nik plugins only. This course is meant to be something where nik users can see what i switched to, and how it works similar to what you had with nik and how its different. Every plugin from the nik collection is now free fstoppers. Download the latest version of nik collection by dxo. Dynamic contrast, saturation to brightness, color stylizer, bicolor brown. If youre using photoshop, the nik collection plugins will be found in the filter dropdown menu, circled in red in the screen grab below. The colorwasher software together with lightmachine provide capabilities like that of nik viveza and to some degree nik color. Photo software powerhouse dxo acquired the nik property in 2017. Noisecontrol noise removal and painting like effects. Go to filter nik software silver efex pro 2 to start working in the plugin. Only after retouching do you convert the image to black and white. The silver efex pro plugin works with the applications listed above.
I wanted to find an example of a shot that was fairly pristine but needed a little tweaking and see how each program handled it with an. Folders are labeled according to their effect, such as the traditional collection or the toned collection, etc. I have found, however, that the black and white conversions and looks created by the nik collection are starting to get a little dated. When you open your image in the program, you have effects folders on the left.
Aside from that the conversions and tones from both are excellent. Recently, nik software released a major revision, silver efex pro 2 sep2. But to be honest, it didnt have any competition during that time. There is also a fine structure slider for increasing midtone contrast in areas of fine detail. A 30day free trial with all nik collection 7 plugins features unlocked. Nik software announce silver efex pro 2 johnbirchphotography. Nik software is one of the heavy hitters in the lightroom and photoshop plugin world. The contrast slider is the same as the one in lightroom or adobe camera raw.
Blackjets cfexpress type b and xqd card reader, 4bay cinema dock. The course mainly covers nik color efex pro which was the most popular plugin nik had and how to get something similar in on1 effects. Nik collection 2 by dxo is a powerful suite of 7 plugins offering an impressive range of creative effects and innovative tools for total editing control. To get you started quickly, theres a series of styles included. No new features, bug fixes, or guaranteed support for updated operating systems. A comprehensive set of filters for color correction, retouching, and creative effects. Niks blackandwhite conversion app, silver efex pro, is what has kept me interested in the collection. How to take black and white pictures photography life. Ralph b recommended elements, but im not sure nik software works with that program, so if thats what you choose to buy, id double check niks web site first to be sure itll work. Move the slider to the left, decreasing the number of grain elements applied per pixel, to increase the size and visibility of grain throughout your photo. Apps dedicated to blackandwhite conversion for pro results. Blackandwhite photography shouldnt be used only for aesthetic reasons, but for utilitarian purposes.
In years past ive relied heavily on lightroom and also nik silver efex yep remember that program. When i have the pleasure of using the software along with raw images from a dedicated blackandwhite camera like the leica m monochrom typ 246 or phase one achromatic, the output is as close to film photography as youll get from a. Having already developed an impressive reputation on many software fronts, dxo announced in june of 2018 that the nik collection had been updated and consumers could again enjoy a stable version and with customer support. The nik collection by dxo is a suite that combines seven plugins for adobe photoshop, lightroom classic, and elements as well as dxo photolab 2 essential edition. For some companies, the past couple years have been a roller coaster, too nik software in particular. Nik silver efex black and white color conversion software. I need some suggestion for a reasonable bw conversion.
Google acquired nik in 2012 from the san diego based nik multimedia software company. The nik collection is a product of the nik software company and originated in 1995. Viveza color control with advanced functions to change contrast and saturation. Whatever you decide, i think youll love color efex pro, especially version 4. The images have been shot, now the only question that remains is how will i handle the postprocessing. Dxo has just rebranded its opticspro raw conversion software as dxo photolab, and the new update includes the nik collections u point technology. Nik is dead my free survival guide on switching to on1. If you are familiar with other nik software i had used capturenx that was developed for nikon, the learning.
Some time ago i looked at the original software, which ive often used for bw prints. New nik collection 2 by dxo the most powerful photo. Nik collection is a group of 7 plugin software packages for adobe photoshop, lightroom and dxo photolab formerly dxo optics pro. This article will take you through the rich feature set of silver efex pro 1. The nik collection is an iconic name in photo editing. The amplify whites and amplify blacks sliders let you increase contrast in the highlights and shadows respectively. For years i have sworn by nik softwares silver efex pro 2, which many would say has been the best black and white conversion software for photographers, myself included. A walkthrough tutorial using adobe lightroom 3 and niks silver efex pro 2 explaining how to create a high contrast black and white from a raw file. The complete collection includes all of nik softwares awardwinning plugin software titles for adobe photoshop and apple aperture, delivering solutions for every step of the photographic workflow with powerful, easytouse image enhancement tools. Dxo launches nik collection 2 with raw processing and 40 new.
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