What is TK9 good for?

[RMW]

Just found about TK9 and watched some introductory videos. And wonder what it actually can do and how difficult it is to learn.

-- Is it an AI program"
-- Is it a flexible, meaning user friendly and user editable ?
-- How useful is it for complex, high frequency edits of a set of bracketed images?
-- What are it's drawbacks?
-- How good is the support?

Thanks for any and all comments.

Richard

[David Eckels]

I have been using this in successive versions since TK2, I think. Taking your questions in order, not an AI program, I have found it friendly, you can incorporate your own actions although you can't edit Tony's, I can't answer the next question because when I bracket I do it in LR, there is a learning curve but the tutorials from Tony Kuyper, Sean Bagshaw, and Dave Kelley are excellent, finally, I have found the support from both Tony and Sean to be excellent; haven't sought help from Dave.

FWIW, I am also experimenting with Blake Rudis' panels. For a graduate school approach to color editing try f64 Academy. Let me also say I have learned a bunch from Blake, especially how to use some of the advanced PS color tools such as gradients and (eg) the Solid Color tools.
Hope this helps. I know Rajan uses the TK tools so he would be a good source of info.

In general, I think the luminosity masking in TK9 is much easier than Blake's approach, but that may have to do more with familiarity than anything else.

I also believe there is a no cost trial period for TK and if you go to Tony's website, you will find he has made an earlier version of at least parts of these tools if you want an extended trial period. I'd give you a link if I knew exactly where it was!   Good luck, Richard.

[RMW]

David,
Thank you for this all encompassing explanation.
I do think I'll try it out.
What challenges me most with making high contrast fotos from a small boat that can be moving (if only barely) is bracketing a set and dealing with foliage moving from one exposure to the next.
I'm hoping that TK9 can help blend the edges between the fotos better then I've been able to do manually.
Thank you again,
Richard

[David Eckels]

There is a TK9 action for alignment and I saw, in PS rather than TK9, a content aware fill setting that would help with hand held blends. I've done hand held panos and auto bracketing with good results, though not necessarily perfect. It helps if you shoot wider than usual. At least, that's been my experience.

Update, I saw your other post on HDR and there was a lot of good advice consistent with my experience. I don't know about the 610, but a more modern camera as I think Chris suggested would allow you to push buttons to auto-bracket, change ISO, and to use continuous high-speed shutter. This instead of delving into these setting in the menu. Does the 610 have a "My Menu" function where you might be able to set up (a) preset(s)? By the way, with regard to +2,0,-2 bracketing, change shutter speed rather than f-stop so DOF does not change. This may require using ISO 1000 or so, but bracketing is a way to increase DR anyway so your concerns can be alleviated. Also, modern noise reduction (eg, in Lightroom or Topaz Photo AI) is so good I wouldn't worry. Test it out and compare hand-held and tripod test images in your backyard, which will help your confidence.

[RMW]

David,

Thank you for your encouraging help. I now have a N d810. And will check out the TK9 one for alignment and the one in PS.

For bracketing I do change shutter speed to prevent DOF trouble.

And I try to keep from using noise reduction as much as possible as I find it "too universal" in PS and in Topaz "too universal" with sharpening.

Hope you're staying cool.

Richard


Ps: I just looked at your website. It's amazing. And thoroughly enjoyable. Your mastery of the many kind of fotos is impressive. The dark landscape with the diagonal clouds on fire is everything a foto can be.

[RMW]

To answer the question I posed: After 4 months of playing with TK9 I would say it's a complicated program that can provide some substantial refinements with Raw edits. Sean Bagwell has provided some wonderful guidance. Below is an example of a recent edit with the software. Richard

[David Eckels]

Richard, when I looked at the enlarged photo, I said, "Wow!" That's a beauty. Now was this bracketed or did you even need that? Whatever it was, it is sharp as a tack and a terrific scene. Congrats!

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

Anyone kind enough to explain what TK9 stands for?

[degrub]

https://goodlight.us/writing/tk9/tk9.html

[RMW]

David, thanks for the kind words.
 
You were instrumental in my trying TK! One of the best things about LuLa is the mutual help and support.

This image is a blend of 2 bracketed images using TK9 and ACR. With some files the results are sometimes poor , but when it works the tones, sharpness, and detail are very impressive.

Richard

[RMW]

Hi Slobadan.

TK9 is a plugin for PS. It works at the pixel level on Raw files. It can produce a more refined image. To me, it brings a digital file closer to an analog file in some important ways. But fair warning, it's complicated. Fortunately there's some help available.

Richard

[RMW]

Thanks much degrub.

[digitaldog]

It works at the pixel level on Raw files. It can produce a more refined image.

What does that mean exactly?

[RMW]

Andrew,

Good question.

I don't know if I can give a good answer to your question. But here's what I'll say.

When I want to work on the sky in a landscape foto (say darken it down) and I go to ACR sometimes the edge of the sky, especially thru fine branches or where it meets a jagged rock outcropping does not uniformly match it. It leaves gaps. When I use the TK sky tool the match is as perfect as I can see.

There are other ways it also improves, or should I say, complements PS. In a high frequency image it is possible to easily choose like tones.

I'm no master at image editing, that I know.

What do you think about all this?

Richard

[digitaldog]

Unless it's built into Camera Raw which I seriously doubt, or it's a standalone raw processor, it's got nothing to do with the raw data.

[David Eckels]

TK9 (Ninth version from Tony Kuyper) started out as a bundle of scripts that automated luminosity mask making in Photoshop. Since its earlier versions it has become much more sophisticated and in addition to luminosity masking and other scripts, it automates a bunch of PS settings through a convenient panel interface. To clarify the foregoing discussion, it is not used in Lightroom or ACR, it is limited to PS. My understanding is that once rendered to PS from ACR/LR, the data are no longer in RAW format. Andrew may have something to clarify this point. From PS, with or without TK9, you can use an ACR filter as an adjustment layer, but I believe the raw data are not affected.

As an aside, if an image is opened as a Smart Object from ACR/LR, one can return to the original ACR/LR settings, but I don't know if any changes in such settings are affecting raw or rendered data.

[digitaldog]

Exactly David, the product has nothing to do with work on the pixel level of raws. Like Photokit products of past, it's 100% PS. Someone scripting something a PS action they came up with using PS.