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nik Color Efex Pro 2.0
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For some reason nik Multimedia seems to produce filters you really need, but may not have realized until you start to use them. For example, their well considered nik Sharpener Pro is one of those plug-ins that you find yourself using over and over again wondering all the while exactly how you lived without it for so long. Once installed, you realize not only a savings in time, but a real increase with regards to productivity and quality. This time, nik has done it again with a set of filters that you may see as being totally indispensable after just a few moments with them.
Having spent many nights in a dark room, I can testify that creating interesting photographic effects in traditional photography is not easy. Achieving the right effect in a photo requires a steady eye, experience and a deft hand. The same, though under wildly different circumstances, exists in the digital photo world. The key difference is that finding the right tools and knowing when to employ them is the real art of digital photograph. Hence, the creation of plug-ins like Efex Pro! that make the process that much easier.
One could effectively argue that some of the features that Color Efex utilizes are already present in most image editing programs. On one level this is true. There are some effects that can be achieved in Photoshop without a plug-in. However, there are some that simply cannot. Certain effects simply cannot be created easily, or as effectively, as nik Color Efex Pro! can. One in particular is the color to black and white conversion filter. Certainly you can do this in Photoshop without a plug-in, but Color Efex does do it with much finer results.
The interface for Efex and it’s many effects are similar to those of sharpener pro. The interface offers up variable controls depending on the effect used, as well as a help menu. This is particularly useful in explaining what an effect does because the names of features may not be obvious. There are a few that have some rather unsual names, so do take note of the names and functions listed in the booklet that ships with the program. Also, the effects are in real time. So there is no waiting to see the results of an effect. Just look in the preview window available in each effect and you see ahead of time what will happen to a particular image. The example used here, the polarization filter, gives you an idea of the form of each filter. There are of course variations, added sliders and controls depending on the options available for each filter.
Broken down into sections, the Efex Pro version is a well rounded set. These can effectively be categorized as The Photo Classic set, the Photo Design Set, the Photo Artistic Set and the Photo Abstract Set. One that I found of particular interest was the Solarization filter. I was completely blown away not only by what it does, but how well. Solarization has always been an effect I have enjoyed and it is great to see it so accessible here.
What I found amazing about Efex Pro is that one can create fascinating effects quickly easily and without a steep learning curve. The example image at right shows just how going from one effect to the other can create some truly artistic moody pieces using only Efex Pro. The image of the table at left, now almost unrecognizable, was created by literally flipping through various filters. Just by playing with filters nearly anyone can create compelling images.
The big selling points for Efex Pro is what it is, what it is not and what it can do for you. Certainly you can achieve some of these effects, arguably maybe all of them, in Photoshop, but it will take a great deal of time, trial and error and even then you may not be able to reach the level of quality that nik so easily makes available. What could take countless hours and many keystrokes to achieve, nik puts literally at your finger tips with an interface that anyone can use. What nik Efex has wisely chosen not to include are "zany" effects that you may use only once if at all. The kind of novelty effects that are fun, but hardly practical, are conspicuously absent. What you will find are color correction filters and traditional photo darkroom tools made available to digital photographers. What Efex basically offers is a no nonsense way to achieve important image effects with as little effort as possible. The time savings can be huge. It does not take long to see why a feature set this rich is essential. Once you start working with a nik plug-in you usually find yourself wondering how you ever got by before you used one.
For professionals, and serious amateur photographers, there is a great deal to like about nik Color Efex. What makes it so hard to convey is how useful, powerful and easy it is to work in these plug-ins. I don’t think I have ever seen plug-ins this far reaching, or this essential, combined in one package. If you think you don’t need this essential plug-in, you may be badly mistaken. Even for those brand new to photo editing, there is a great deal to admire and enjoy by working with the extremely user friendly, but professionally powered, nik Color Efex Pro! Once you have this set of filters installed, I seriously doubt you will ever uninstall them. The big question you may ask is how did you get by without them for so long.
Naturally, the Pro version offers everything including the kitchen sink. For those with more specific needs and those looking for a plug-in within specific price points, there are several packages available that include parts of the entire set as featured in the Pro version.
Of course, Nik Efex Pro is a professional level product, there is so much here that even a novice could get something out in using this well crafted application. So if you are new to photography and need a plug-in, nik’s Efex Pro is the one really essential plug-in you should consider.
Talk to Kurt in Graphics Unleashed Forums
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