Silver Efex Pro
by Nik Software
(Click here)
Software Summary
Manufacturer: Nik SoftwareBrand: Nik Software
Format: CD-ROM
Release Date: 2008-12-07
Platform: Mac, Windows 2000, Windows Vista, Windows XP
Model: nik-5100
Product features:
- Silver Efex Pro provides complete power and control to create professional quality black and white images from your color digital photographs, featuring award- winning U Point technology for precisely controlling detail and tonality without the need for complicated selections or layer masks. Advanced imaging algorithms protect against unwanted artifacts, a comprehensive collection of emulated blac
Software Reviews of Silver Efex Pro
Customer Review: B&W effects for digital users that reproduce old-timey film!
Summary: 5 Stars
I started doing photography in high school and we used good old Panatomic-X and Plus-X from Kodak, D-76 or Microdol developer and we printed on silver bromide paper. In fact, I still have some of my photos and I still love the look of black and white photography.
My digital image software, Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 can produce a black and white effect, using the "Enhance Color" setting, or you can remove color. You can also apply filters to make a sepia effect. But what you don't see are the full range of shades of gray, nor the look of film grain, fine for Pan-X, coarser for Plus-X (a medium speed film) and very coarse and grainy for "push-process" film like Tri-X.
Nik Silver Efex Pro lets you reproduce the look of black and white processed silver film as a plug-in for your digital software. You install it into the plug-in directory on your hard drive (so, during installation, you have to go find which directory this is, the software will not automatically locate the correct folder. It's typically under the installed software folders already named "plug-in.") What gets installed is a small window that shows up when you start the editor, and you can pull it down as a filter in the Filters menu (this applies to Adobe Photoshop Elements, as that is what I tested it on.)
If you pull down the Film menu, you can see your photo change from "neutral" to the grain and contrast effects of various typical types of film and you can add photo filters like red (blocks green light, passes red light through), orange or yellow (blocks blue light) and more. These color filters are used in black and white photography to darken certain areas of the photo, typically landscape, as silver film is unevenly sensitive to the various colors of light. So, on a snowy day, you'd use a yellow or red filter to make the blue shadows darker and the sky show up dark gray rather than washed out gray.
You can also tint the photos (sepia, selenium, coffee--if you soak silver bromide paper photos in coffee, they take on a permanent brown tint, copper, and blue.) You can create vignette framing.
There is a "loupe" feature which enlarges the work area to show you grain and shading. A scale based on the Zone System of grades of gray shows you the balance. When you click on each Zone, the areas corresponding to that grade of gray are hatched. This allows you to balance your photos digitally as if you were doing Zone printing.
All in all, powerful and useful if you love black and white. Nothing in my Photoshop Elements quite does what this software plug-in can do. Recommended.
Description of Silver Efex Pro
Silver Efex Pro provides complete power and control to create professional quality black and white images from your color digital photographs, featuring award- winning U Point technology for precisely controlling detail and tonality without the need for complicated selections or layer masks. Advanced imaging algorithms protect against unwanted artifacts, a comprehensive collection of emulated black and white film types, and a state-of-the-art grain reproduction engine help produce the highest quality black and white images possible while providing more freedom to experiment.Photo Editing Software
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