Luminous Landscape Forum
Raw & Post Processing, Printing => Digital Image Processing => Topic started by: bretedge on March 03, 2011, 12:13:21 pm
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I downloaded Nik Software's Silver Efex Pro 2 on the day it was released and have been experimenting with it since. I was a big fan of the original version and v. 2 is a significant upgrade. I wrote a step-by-step demo of a conversion I did recently for a client who wanted to see some black and white images for a project she was working on. I thought the folks here might find some value in my post.
From Color to Monochrome with Nik Silver Efex Pro 2 (http://blog.bretedge.com/2011/03/02/from-color-to-monochrome-with-nik-software-silver-efex-pro-2/)
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I think your demo would be helpful to those who are new to Silver Efex. I also am very pleased with the additional controls in SEP v2, and I feel that the amount of control over the image is astounding. NIK is very responsive to photographers' needs, and their controls are quite intuitive.
Acutally, I sometimes wonder what a NIK approach to a total image editing program would be.
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Nice demo. Thanks.
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Acutally, I sometimes wonder what a NIK approach to a total image editing program would be.
I've often wondered the same. I bet they'd create something to be a Photoshop fighter. It would certainly be interesting to see a comparison, to say the least.
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There are a few presets that were there in v1 that are not part of v2. However, there is a library on the Nik website from where you can import the presets that are not packaged with the v2 release.
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Acutally, I sometimes wonder what a NIK approach to a total image editing program would be.
Nik makes Nikon Capture NX2 which gives you a program that handles most (but not all) frequently used editing tools--curves, levels, saturation, white balance, color space, shadow/highlight, exposure, distortion control, warmth, cropping, contrast, etc.,--all with the ability to apply them with control points like Viveza, or apply them selectively as in Photoshop. It's very slick, and once you understand how it works, you can get a lot done very quickly with very nice results. You can add the Nik Color Efex filters to NX2 and they work much more easily in NX2 than in Photoshop, because the filters work natively like any other adjustment in the program. I asked a Nik representative whether the next version of Capture NX2 will have the ability to use SEP2 and other Nik features. His only response was that the Capture NX2 features are determined by what Nikon wants.
Before anyone jumps in and protests...yes, I know there are many features in Photoshop (which I use daily) that are not available in Capture NX2. NX2 has some editing capabilities beyond Lightroom, but it is probably closer to Lightroom or ACR than Photoshop in terms of editing. (And obviously, Nikon Capture NX2 is of little use with Canon RAW files.) I agree...it would surely be nice to see Nik's approach to a complete editing package...NX2 suggests it could be a winner.
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Thank you Bret,
I'ev never used or consider Silver Efex and your article is really helpful.
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Francois: Nik allows you to download free, fully functioning trial versions for 15 days. Plenty of time to decide whether you want to plunk down cash to purchase it. That's how they suckered me in. ;D
Re: Capture NX. I've heard really good things about it, which doesn't surprise me at all. As I said, I'd be VERY interested to see what Nik's version of a robust editing platform would look like. No doubt, it would be quite powerful.