NIK Software - Silver Efex Pro 2

NIK Silver Efex Pro 2

By Ken Parks June 22, 2011

Upon NIK Software releasing their new version of Silver Efex Pro, I took the liberty of getting the 30-day free trial. Having worked with the first version, I was pleasantly surprised with the “new and improved” features. A new algorithm has been employed to refine the tonal control and faster processing.

Silver Efex Pro is a plugin application fro Photoshop, Lightroom, and Apple Aperture, and the interface does not look much different than the first version.

NIK software add some interesting functions, such as new presets with thumbnail previews and a cool designed History so one can compare their current image with a previous state. The emulation of classic films is what drew my attention; it has been expanded and more accurate.

Another update is the finishing section. You can easily incorporate borders and adjust them to your heart’s desire. Stylized print tones are a new function; you can make the viewer of your image cast their eyes by controlling the Vignette and Burn Edge controls.

Once you launch Silver Efex Pro 2, your image automatically rendered in B&W using the default Neutral preset. From there, you can choose from 38 presets and view the immediate results. The presets affect sharpness, grain, and tonality. You can also create and save your own settings as a custom presets to use again with other images.

There are the Global adjustments used to fine-tune the image with simple sliders, to adjust a range of contrast, structure, brightness, and etc. The most interesting slider is the Structure slider. It calculates the objects in your image, defines their edges despite increasing the contrast. The result is sharper details without edge distortion. There are the new sliders such as Dynamic Brightness, Amplify Banks and Whites, Soft Contrast , and Fine Structure.

The intriguing function of Film Types brings back memories of Kodak Tri-X and Plus-X. The 20 other film types replicate the grain and contrast. You can also be creative and adjust the grain, sensitivity, and levels and controls.

Color Filters replicate the effects of traditional glass filters. You can select one of the preset filters and manually adjust the hue and strength of the filter. This is especially necessary for adjusting skin tones or clouds and skies.

Silver Efex Pro 2 has become one of my favorite Photoshop add-ons.