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Nik Silver Efex Pro

canon400dcanon400d Banned Posts: 2,826 Major grins
edited December 8, 2008 in Finishing School
Does anyone have any knowledge of Nik Silver Efex Pro? I was looking at a tutorial on a disc from PhotoPlus magazine, about changing coloured images to black & white. After listening and watching the tutorial I was quite impressed so I downloaded the 15 day trial. I know it is quite expensive for the plug in, at 199.99 Euros. From what I saw on the demonstration it appeared to be quite a powerful tool to use in CS3. However, to be honest I have never been in the habit of changing coloured images into black and white although I do see quite a lot within the forums here on Dgrin.
I really would appreciate any comments anyone has on this.
Regards
Bob

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    pathfinderpathfinder Super Moderators Posts: 14,698 moderator
    edited December 8, 2008
    Hi Bob,

    Nik software is nice, but expensive. I do use Color Effects Pro and like it.

    Conversion of digital color images to B&W is straight forward, and has been discussed numerous times here on dgrin. A search should turn up dozens of links.

    This link will get you started - http://www.dgrin.com/showpost.php?p=635260&postcount=6

    Learn to use the Channel Mixer or the Image >Adjustments>B&W in CS3 too - they work pretty good.

    Greg Gorman's method I have use frequently. You can find it here - http://www.gormanphotography.com/bw_conversion.pdf

    Here is a review of the chapter in Professional Photoshop on B&W conversion that I wrote - http://dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=52724
    Pathfinder - www.pathfinder.smugmug.com

    Moderator of the Technique Forum and Finishing School on Dgrin
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    RogersDARogersDA Registered Users Posts: 3,502 Major grins
    edited December 8, 2008
    I have played around some with this. I find that I have to turn off Film Types and Styling each time before tweaking an image. These affects can add noise to the image that may not be desired. You can always add film-type noise later.

    I do like how it shows you the Zones in the lower right corner to help you balance the overall image from dark to light. You can put your cursor over each of the zones and it will show you approximately which part of the image is within that zone.

    You really need to make sure your monitor is properly calibrated, though.
    David
    GreyLeaf PhotoGraphy
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    canon400dcanon400d Banned Posts: 2,826 Major grins
    edited December 8, 2008
    pathfinder wrote:
    Hi Bob,

    Nik software is nice, but expensive. I do use Color Effects Pro and like it.

    Conversion of digital color images to B&W is straight forward, and has been discussed numerous times here on dgrin. A search should turn up dozens of links.

    This link will get you started - http://www.dgrin.com/showpost.php?p=635260&postcount=6

    Learn to use the Channel Mixer or the Image >Adjustments>B&W in CS3 too - they work pretty good.

    Greg Gorman's method I have use frequently. You can find it here - http://www.gormanphotography.com/bw_conversion.pdf

    Here is a review of the chapter in Professional Photoshop on B&W conversion that I wrote - http://dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=52724

    Thanks for looking and commenting Pathfinder. I will certainly have a look at the links you have sent me. I have been in the habit of using Black and White in CS3 and have also used the Channel Mixer. As you say they do work quite well.
    Thanks again for replying.
    Bob
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    canon400dcanon400d Banned Posts: 2,826 Major grins
    edited December 8, 2008
    RogersDA wrote:
    I have played around some with this. I find that I have to turn off Film Types and Styling each time before tweaking an image. These affects can add noise to the image that may not be desired. You can always add film-type noise later.

    I do like how it shows you the Zones in the lower right corner to help you balance the overall image from dark to light. You can put your cursor over each of the zones and it will show you approximately which part of the image is within that zone.

    You really need to make sure your monitor is properly calibrated, though.

    Thanks for replying David. I start off using the list from Neutral on the left side and then go to the top right side, Brightness, Contrast and Structure. Yes you are right about the noise which I have found very annoying and I find using grain doesn't seem to improve it any. Do you turn these off at the very beginning, before you start tweaking? I recently had my monitor calibrated and it was OK.
    Thanks again
    Bob
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    RogersDARogersDA Registered Users Posts: 3,502 Major grins
    edited December 8, 2008
    canon400d wrote:
    How do you turn off the Film Types and Styling. Do you turn these off at the very beginning?
    On the right side for each option you will see a check mark. Clear the check for Film Types and Stylizing. Remember also that each time you change the style type (from the right side) the film type and stylizing will activate again. The small triangles next to each option allow you to open up those options to play with their settings, too.
    David
    GreyLeaf PhotoGraphy
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