XtremeCamera

Over the years Adobe Photoshop has grown in sophistication with each new version. It has become the de facto leader in the digital imaging and any real competition has been nonexistent for the past decade.

In fact, competition has mostly come from Adobe itself by expanding the Photoshop “family” with two editions of Photoshop (Extended or Standard), Photoshop Lightroom, a version of Photoshop directed almost exclusively to Digital Photography, and Adobe Photoshop Elements, a version for those that do not need the million-and-one powerful features of Photoshop proper and can get by on the top one thousand Photoshop functions. (Seriously, Photoshop Elements 10, the latest release, is incredibly powerful yet so easy to use, and priced to be affordable to hobbyists everywhere.)

The plugin industry has had to become more sophisticated as well in order to keep up with the advances made by Adobe Photoshop, or they would simply drift away. Many plugin companies have come and gone over the past decade because they just couldn’t keep up. Of the companies that remain a mere handful are even relevant in today’s market, and of that handful, perhaps two or three are attempting to keep up with the advances taking place in Adobe Products. Oh, and let’s not forget about Apple’s entry into the digital photography software arena with its powerful, yet not fully realized, software product called Aperture.

In order for a plugin company to remain prosperous and viable, they must not only keep up with the advances of the ‘host’ application, they must also offer something truly valuable that Photoshop does not. The days of the ‘WOW’ factor are gone, there is no need for the excesses of a ‘Kai’s PowerTools’ among today’s users. Today its about real usefulness, the “How badly do I need this?” mindset. Not only does the plugin have to be affordable in today’s economic environment, it has to add value to the end-user as well as fill a need.

Finally, any company that creates a plugin for Photoshop without addressing the users of Adobe Lightroom or Apple Aperture do so at their own peril. Digital photographers often combine the power of Photoshop and Lightroom or Photoshop and Aperture and a successful plugin must work in all three, equally well, to be truly useful to the digital photographer.

NIK Software

Over the past half-a-dozen years or so the one company I have truly come to trust to provide to me the tools I need to get the image in my mind’s eye to the computer screen and then onto the print magazine or high quality archival prints is NIK Software Inc. NIK Software has survived and prospered because their product line is every bit as sophisticated and powerful as the host application.

NIK Software’s flagship plugin, Color EFEX Pro has recently seen a new upgrade, to version 4, and it is a most remarkable upgrade. There are so many new features and refinements that I am finding it difficult to know where to begin.

I can say that the level of excitement I’ve noticed from photographers that already use NIK products could not be contained when the ‘feature set’ was announced for Version 4 last year. From ‘stackable’ effects to ‘recipes’ that you can mix and share with others, Color EFEX Pro 4 became the most talked about topic in dozens of photography message boards over the globe. Photographers rushed to buy the product last November and it is the top selling plugin to this day.

A Modern Workflow

Before getting into the specifics of this new version I’d like to write a bit about today’s workflow, which has changed dramatically from the days when the digital SLR first became a serious contender to the film-based SLR. It’s been such a remarkable journey, in such a short time, that keeping up with the advances is nearly impossible.

Workflow – Shoot in RAW

There is no longer any doubt among Digital Photographers that the best format to shoot in is RAW. This format captures every bit of data entering the lens of the camera and leaves it up to you to decide afterward exactly what you what to do with that data. The abilities of the top-of-line DSLR’s from Nikon and Canon, as well as Fuji and Olympus and a handful of others, can perform in-camera operations that make it very easy to capture excellently exposed images on the fly, yet much of the postproduction still needs to be performed on the computer.

Shooting in ‘Program’ mode, which allows the camera to make the decisions regarding aperture and shutter settings, or ‘Aperture Priority’ and ‘Shutter Priority’ that allow you to choose the aperture you want or the shutter speed you need, Is just the beginning. These types of decisions are often left to the camera to decide, but others, such as JPG compression, White Balance, and more are ALWAYS best left up to you, the photographer, and are always best to decide upon AFTER you capture the images, bring them back to your home or studio, load them into your computer with your software of choice. These procedures are what are known as your ‘workflow’. Shooting in RAW mode create images that are primed for a proper workflow.

Enhancements to Radical Manipulation

Digital Photography can be an exercise in restraint or an opportunity to go all out. The final image, after your tweaks and enhancements, can be totally unrecognizable, or very subtle. The choice is yours of course, and your toolset should offer you the best way to get to where you want to go.

NIK Software’s Color EFEX Pro 4 should be the first, and last, tool you use when postproduction begins. From the tiniest tweaks to the biggest transformations, Color EFEX Pro 4 provides the most comprehensive set of tools for color correction and retouching, and to extreme stylizing for that unique look which will set your images apart from the sea of other images. Now, that’s not to say that other plugins, particularly those by NIK Software, aren’t needed or wanted. You should begin with Color EFEX Pro 4, and if you want to, move into NIK HDR EFEX Pro, or SILVER EFEX Pro 2, or massage the image with Viveza 2, but then always finish up by going back to Color EFEX Pro 4 to make the final touches. Well, that’s how I do it anyway.

Transfer The Photos

Transferring the images to your computer’s hard drive by importing them with Lightroom or Aperture is the first step in the beginning of every workflow. Once they are properly stored and organized on your hard drive (and backed up on another storage device, untouched) you can begin to work on each photograph.

(For the sake of brevity from this point on I’m going to refer to Photoshop and Lightroom since those two applications are what I use. Aperture is a fine application, and I am a Mac user, but I have found that Adobe Lightroom has the edge for my way of working.)

I have NIK Software products installed in both Photoshop and Lightroom so that according to the enhancements I want to make I can choose to do them inside Lightroom, which I have used to bring the photos from my camera to my computer’s hard drive, or export them to Photoshop if needed. Either way, NIK is there, at the ready. Often times I will begin some enhancements while in Lightroom with a NIK title and then move the photo to Photoshop and continue making enhancements with the same NIK titles. That can look like overkill or unnecessary steps, but for me postproduction is the most important part of image creation and I like to spend all the time I want in post.

Most Important New Features

These “top” features are the most important to me, and perhaps to you as well. Certainly not the only new features, but features that made the biggest impression on me.

Color EFEX Pro 4 offers, for the first time, ‘stackable’ effects. It is now possible, and quite easy I might add, to combine multiple effects filters at one time. You no longer have to apply the effect you want, close out Color EFEX Pro, and then bring it back up to apply another filter (and another layer!). Now, you simply apply and tweak the effect you want, choose “Add Filter” and begin working with a new effect. Best of all, you can adjust the opacity of each effect and make selective adjustments to each one, all within a single session. Once you’re finished with making the enhancements you click ‘OK’ and close out the interface. All the effects are applied to a single layer, which you can bring up whenever you want to make further changes, or back out of others using the History Browser. This one feature is worth the price of the upgrade alone.

Next is Color EFEX Pro 4’s aforementioned History Browser. Using the History Browser lets you see how a certain effect looked during a specific period of the postproduction. This is huge for those of us that can easily forget what the image looked like 10 or 15 ‘enhancements’ back. If it turns out I likes a previous edit better I can go back to that effect with a click.

While not exactly a “new” feature, I think a bit about NIK Software’ U Point technology should be mentioned here. This U Point technology provides precise control points in the image you are working on that the area you choose with the control point is where the effects are applied. These ‘enhancements’ to the control point area are automatically blended throughout the image so that although you’ve applied an effect to a particular area of the image it appears completely natural.

A good example of using a control point is to envision a photograph that is underexposed. The photograph captured an important moment in time but sadly part of the image is too dark to be properly appreciated. By applying a control point to this specific part of the image you can use various filters to bring out the details without having to worry about destroying other parts of the image. When you are through applying your effects to the control point area, you click ‘OK’ and magically the effects are applied to the photograph, yet blended in such a way that no one notices the subtle changes that bring out the details from the darkness.

U Point technology makes it easy to apply effects to any portion of an image while protecting the remaining parts of the image, and NIK Software is the only plugin company to offer it. Over a million users depend on this technology, and once you try out your first control point you’ll wonder how you applied effects without it.

See below for a full list of new features

Color EFEX Pro 4 Effects

In the new, upgraded version there are a total of 55 filters that provide countless effects for every type of photograph and photographer. Even the “Select” version, offering the top 26 filters, provides the widest array of effects over any other plugin suite.

If you are upgrading to version 4 you’ll notice 8 completely new filters, including Advanced Contrast, Natural Image Borders, and more. 10 filters have been updated dramatically, including Film Grain, Tonal Contrast, Sunlight, and High/Low Key.

Visual Presets as an Effect’s Starting Point

Photographers often begin their postproduction in Color EFEX Pro 4 by choosing an effect and then choosing a visual preset as a starting point.

NIK Software provides numerous visual presets that not only make a great starting point for your exploration but many times the preset is exactly what you want, saving you time by providing a single-click solution. Still, by starting with a preset and exploring from there, you have the option to save that “recipe” and make it a preset just for you.

Explore & Create … or Not

Wedding and Portrait photographers will love Color EFEX Pro 4’s ability to draw out details, correct any unwanted color casts, and balance saturation and tone. Skin tones can be enhanced to reveal a balanced tan, eliminate blemishes or discolorations, or to smooth out areas that need a bit of smoothing (how’s that for dancing around a wrinkles issue?). In other words, with help provided by Color EFEX Pro 4 you can bring out the best in your clients while maintaining a realistic environment to please the most discerning viewers.

But what if you want to go out to left field and get wildly creative? With Color EFEX Pro 4 you can go “out there” as far as you want, the only limitation is your imagination.

Effects such as Tonal Contrast can be used to create a rich HDR look while at the same time being able to control the color palette as well as not having to use multiple photos shot with varying aperture settings, something you would do with a true HDR image. Creating this look requires only a single photograph and your vision/style.

Looking to create an ethereal image requires nothing more than the right amount of Dynamic Skin Softener and Glamour Glow and your talent.

What I’m trying to get across is that Color EFEX Pro 4 is without a doubt the most important Photoshop/Lightroom/Aperture toolset you can own and its powerful enough to provide you with the tools you need to do just about whatever you want, in countless ways.

If your livelihood depends on the quality of your images then you need Color EFEX Pro 4. If photography is a hobby, or simply a passion, Color EFEX Pro 4 will provide you with an affordable toolset that releases your creativity in ways never before possible. Either way, with Version 4 Color EFEX Pro has become the most important plugin suite on the market.

At A Glance

Color EFEX Pro 4 is available as a download ‘electronic’ version or as a boxed product. You can download it from NIK Software directly or purchase the boxed version at various software outlets, including the Apple Retail Stores. At $199 for the ‘Complete’ package it is the most affordable version of Color EFEX Pro yet.

For those of you that may not need the complete version, NIK Software offers a trimmed down, ‘Select’ version at $99. This ‘Select’ version is available as a download only. It contains the best 26 filter effects. Compare the list of effects do make a decision on which one is right for you.

By visiting NIK Software’s website you can download a trial version of this, and other, NIK titles. Try it out free for 30 days and I’m betting you’ll find it indispensible.

NIK’s site also offers Live Webinars (they are excellent ways to see how the masters use NIK products), training videos that you can watch at your leisure, and more. As a NIK Software customer, you’re never alone.

For a schedule of Live Webinars visit this page for the latest information.

If you’re interested in viewing a few tutorials on Color EFEX Pro 4, visit this page.

John Manzione