Silver Efex Pro

Ever since I spotted Nik's new HDR software that they came out with, I've been interested in the other products that they have to offer. I am always trying out new things Especially if they offer a plugin for photoshop. Silver efex pro does. I downloaded the trial version and played with it a bit. I wanted to share with you my favorites about it.

Number one its got plugin capability for my photoshop but I just said that ;) 2nd thing I like about it is the Control Point Tool. This is a tool that is Patent'd by NIK software and I LOVE it. It allows you to click on a spot, size the reach of the control point area, and work on only that area, adjusting brightness, contrast or structure. It Eliminates the need for layers or masking. Pretty cool feature.

3rd thing I like about Silver Efex is the structure setting. It can be used to create a softening effect to the image almost like an airbrush effect, but it doesnt give off a blurry look. It can also be set to give a more rough textured, detailed look. Very Nice.

The next thing that stands out to me when I use this photo software is the neat little style browser. It gives you several different effects to choose from, all offering a variety of different lighting and process styles. You can add that effect and then continue adjusting the settings as you wish.

Silver Efex Pro is 64bit compatible and supports; Actions, Batch Processing, Droplets, Smart filter compatibility, and includes a Selective Tool type Palette that's used to selectively apply filter effects to your image after you have closed out the plugin on photoshop. Its a handy tool as well.

If you are interested you can purchase this program from the NIK software site, or amazon. Other camera specialty stores offer the photo editing program as well. If you are interested in learning more about it go to the main site and download the demo version, its available for a 15 day, fully functional trial run. Have fun, I did!