Silver Efex Pro by Nik Software

AndyWest

AndyWest

Suspended / Banned
Messages
8,400
Name
Andy
Edit My Images
No
Anyone got it uses it with lightroom?

I was talking to a pro photographer at work today and she said that it's a really good bit of software and does a superb job of converting images to B&W.

I'm getting into B&W more and more so wondered if it was worth the investment. The on line tutorials look very good!
 
It is very good :) I use it with Photoshop CS4 but not tried it in Lightroom.
It will not work on Photoshop 64bit only 32 so not sure about Lightroom. Worth checking.
 
Hi Andrew,

I've been using it via LR2 for about 8 months and I love it. It's the best way to convert images to black and white imo. I convert quite a lot of my weding images to black and white - especially the grainy images taken in church etc. I can't recommend it enough (although it isn't cheap).

Here's one:-

3834041885_eb9660d6f6.jpg


HTH

Ryan
 
That's good news! Looks like a really good product.

Ryan- Sorry but i can't see your image as i'm at work but will have a good look when i get home. I think a purchase is going to have to be made!! :D
 
I love it, unless I can get away with a quick conversion, I use it for all of my b&w. As mentioned above, for nice gritty shots with grain, I haven't found anything better, this is an example I happen to have to hand.

I'm currently using it though PS though, so I go LR>PS>Nik. A bit of a pain but worth it.

5576_127405401955_121500866955_2936469_4614602_n.jpg
 
Ryan- I'm now home and that is a SUPERB image! So clear and sharp!!

Dman- The film grain effect is great and as it says on the site the grain in on the image not just a layer as it would normally be.

Hmmmm, where did i leave my wallet!
 
Another user here :)

Although I am a bit of a B&W nut so I also have Jeff Acough's actions and the advantage of those is that I can batch process using actions so it's a very quick job.

Seriously considering a B&W slideshow at a reception at some point but it's still a way off because I'd need to sort the tech first with projector/screen and sound.
 
BouncyMelons said:
Another user here :)

Although I am a bit of a B&W nut so I also have Jeff Acough's actions and the advantage of those is that I can batch process using actions so it's a very quick job.

Seriously considering a B&W slideshow at a reception at some point but it's still a way off because I'd need to sort the tech first with projector/screen and sound.
Click to expand...

Ali - Where'd you get them? I've got a lot of kubota's actions but am not too mad on the black and whites. They are quicker than Silver Efex but when it really matters I go for the Silver Efex option.
 
Another :thumbs: I use it with CS4.

Does a very good job of simulating the grain and contrast of black & white film - I want to run all my pics through it!

I recently did a set of live jazz pics - full gallery at my website www.anorakus.com - here's a sample:

IMG_0548.jpg


(This was put through the Ilford HP5 simulation)

The ability to add grain raises the interesting question of where in the workflow to add it. I prefer to do the B&W conversion with grain prior to cropping/enlarging the pic.

A.
 
It's one of my favourite bits of software. I love the ability to add gentle toning, vignettes, borders, grain, filters etc. etc. These give you an idea of the different effects you can achieve.






 
BouncyMelons said:
Another user here :)

Although I am a bit of a B&W nut so I also have Jeff Acough's actions and the advantage of those is that I can batch process using actions so it's a very quick job.

Seriously considering a B&W slideshow at a reception at some point but it's still a way off because I'd need to sort the tech first with projector/screen and sound.
Click to expand...

I just recorded an action using Nik then used the batch option using the action I created.
I just converted a whole wedding set that way and works a treat.

Hope this helps
 
Excellent idea Bob!

Must try that, thanks for letting me know because I have the whole Nik suite and that would be most useful :)
 
Ok, i have downloaded the 15 day trial and to be honest it is no better than lightroom to me. Ok it is much much quicker but you can get the same result with lightroom with a bit of tweaking. It is a very good product but £130 just to save a few mins....hmmm I'm not so sure.

I also found that it does not give a good smooth tone to clear skies. It get.s very blocky when there is tone differences.

I'll keep plugging away and decide when my 15 days are up!:thumbs:
 
Andrew - I think I know what you mean about the blockiness in the tones. I think you'll find that it's just in the SFX display - when you come out of SFX (back into LR2 or whatever) I think that blockiness will have gone.

Can't explain it - I suppose it's something to do with the resolution on the screen.

Anyway - humour me on that one :)
 
ryanyboy said:
Andrew - I think I know what you mean about the blockiness in the tones. I think you'll find that it's just in the SFX display - when you come out of SFX (back into LR2 or whatever) I think that blockiness will have gone.

Can't explain it - I suppose it's something to do with the resolution on the screen.

Anyway - humour me on that one :)
Click to expand...
I did save the image so i could compare it to 'my version' in Lightroom and the blockiness was still there.

At the end of the day it does seem to do a superb job very quickly and most images only need a slight tweak in Silver Efex to get it pretty well spot on. I do like fiddling about in Lightroom so i will probably stick with that for the time being but the free trial is not over yet!!:D
 
Dman said:
Some great images there, really enjoyed looking through those :thumbs:
Click to expand...

Likewise Dave - great stuff. There's one there of Lauren (#19) which I think was a candid shot - I absolutely love the conversion :thumbs:

BTW Danni was in touch a couple of weeks ago. She was asking if she could have a few jpegs of herself from the shoot in Letchworth. If you could let me have some I'd be very grateful. (Sorry to go OT).
 
OK, after converting many many images and trying to replicate the same look I have come to the conclusion that SilverEfex Pro is a damn good bit of kit!!!

I watched a vid on youtube that said that Silver Efex does things to an image that Lightroom can not [layer masks was mentioned I think] which is why the images look almost spot on straight away. They just have a quality about them and it's not often that I have been able to replicate the effect by just using Lightroom alone.

It's going to have to be bought!!!! :D :D
 
AndyWest said:
I watched a vid on youtube that said that Silver Efex does things to an image that Lightroom can not
Click to expand...

Watch the tutorial vids on the Nik website too, especially the one about using the control points (think it's the last movie)... loads better than using adjustment brushes in LR.

AndyWest said:
It's going to have to be bought!!!! :D :D
Click to expand...

Wise decision! :thumbs:
 
AndyWest said:
OK, after converting many many images and trying to replicate the same look I have come to the conclusion that SilverEfex Pro is a damn good bit of kit!!!

I watched a vid on youtube that said that Silver Efex does things to an image that Lightroom can not [layer masks was mentioned I think] which is why the images look almost spot on straight away. They just have a quality about them and it's not often that I have been able to replicate the effect by just using Lightroom alone.

It's going to have to be bought!!!! :D :D
Click to expand...

Nice move!! Let's see some of you pics then mate. :)
 
Did you mean...

AndyWest said:
it's not often that I have been unable to replicate the effect by just using Lightroom alone.
Click to expand...

What happened to the blockiness for clear skies? Was it due to use of a polariser? Don't forget digital grayscale is a measly 256 levels, which may need disguising with the use of fake grain.
 
I have the PS CS4 version. I really like one of the antique effects.....

The black and white conversion it does is rather good. You can get much better than the normal B&W conversion without paying out for Silver Efex though by using channels conversion for B&W. This gives you far more control but is admittedly not as good as the plug in BUT the plug in is rather expensive for what it is. It actually cost me as much as PS4 !!

(by the way the picture below was a snap with the P&S years ago :))

chloecol.jpg


chloebw.jpg
 
I have just downloaded the Lightroom version as a trial and thought, well I have paid for all this already maybe that is all you need, typed the PS CS4 version's serial number in and it unlocked it! So it would appear that if you buy the CS4 version you can use it for free with LR.
 
cowasaki said:
I have just downloaded the Lightroom version as a trial and thought, well I have paid for all this already maybe that is all you need, typed the PS CS4 version's serial number in and it unlocked it! So it would appear that if you buy the CS4 version you can use it for free with LR.
Click to expand...
I downloaded the lightroom trial version which is working nicely in Lightroom. I also have PS Elements 6 for Mac so should I try the elements serial in the LR version? As you already have the software logged on their server this in itself will probably unlock it so if i buy the lightroom version i could download the elements version and use the same serial to unlock that.

The serial probably works on only part of it that is needed or some sort of generic code within the serial so if you changes one or two numbers it will still work possibly?
 
swag72 said:
I use PSE8 predominantly now - Is the plugin compatible with it?
Click to expand...

Yes it should be. I'm sure i watched a tutorial using Elements 8.

Best to check their website 1st though!
 
AndyWest said:
I downloaded the lightroom trial version which is working nicely in Lightroom. I also have PS Elements 6 for Mac so should I try the elements serial in the LR version? As you already have the software logged on their server this in itself will probably unlock it so if i buy the lightroom version i could download the elements version and use the same serial to unlock that.

The serial probably works on only part of it that is needed or some sort of generic code within the serial so if you changes one or two numbers it will still work possibly?
Click to expand...

The reality is that they don't expect you to purchase it twice as if you have the PS version anyway then you can access it via LR. So how many people would bother spending another wad of cash just to get rid of a few menu options etc. Give it a try, it worked here.
 
Will do. I'll obviously need to purchase the lightroom version as it is already attached to Lightroom.
 
AndyWest said:
Will do. I'll obviously need to purchase the lightroom version as it is already attached to Lightroom.
Click to expand...

I would purchase the other version and then type the code into LR as from experience this just worked.
 
I'll search for info on this 1st as i don't want to buy it for PSE then to find the serial won't work in LR.

It would be safer to buy the LR serial and then download the PSE version and use the LR serial in PSE. I'll check it out.
 
Wooooowww

Has anyone seen Colour FX pro ????

Just downloaded the trial and I'm getting this one too. It also has a B&W conversion in it but hundreds of other effects!!!!
 
cowasaki said:
Wooooowww

Has anyone seen Colour FX pro ????

Just downloaded the trial and I'm getting this one too. It also has a B&W conversion in it but hundreds of other effects!!!!
Click to expand...

I think I might try the trial for that - good shout :thumbs:
 
Just tried the first effect of literally hundreds.....

"Dynamic skin softner"

Blimey, it is better in 1/2 second than I can manage in half an hour with PS.

Follow up with:

"Glamour glow" (but at 25%)

Shockingly good! NOW I am skint!!
 
Here are the before and after for the above:

(note these are just defaults other than dropping the 2nd effect to 1/4 from 1/2)


Before
example100.jpg



After "Dynamic skin softner"
example102.jpg



After "Dynamic skin softner" & "Glamour glow"
example101.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top