AmateurPhotographer

software test
where you can construct and save
your own effects using 14 tools
including Basic Adjustments,
Levels and Curves, Bokeh, Lens
Distortion, and Dirt and Scratches.
Each tool has its own adjustments
and options. It doesn’t take long to
figure out that Analog Efex Pro 2
is more than just a collection of
retro effects – it’s a deep and
powerful creative tool that can
achieve practically any ‘look’
you can imagine.
Color Efex Pro 4
On the surface, Color Efex Pro 4
looks like little more than a large
collection of filter effects, some
more useful than others. However,
each one can be customised and
controlled, as well as ‘stacked’ and
saved as ‘recipes’. This is where
Color Efex Pro 4 reveals its true
depth and power. The longer you
spend with this plug-in, the more
you’re left feeling you’ve only just
scratched the surface.
The 55 different filters vary
in usefulness. You may never
use the burnt landscape look
of Indian Summer, the false
colours of the Ink filter or the
soft-focus Duplex effect. Some,
though, are near-indispensable,
HDR Efex Pro 2’s preset effects can look a little overcooked,
but its manual tools allow much more natural-looking results
such as Graduated Filters,
Contrast Colour Range (which is
terrific for enhancing colour in
landscapes), Detail Extractor and
Tonal Contrast.
Each filter has its own adjustment
parameters, and they all use Nik’s
control-point technology for
localised adjustments. You click to
add a control point and it adds its
own mask, based on the colour
values where you clicked, operating
over an adjustable radius. Initially
this feels vague, but it proves to be
a quick and intuitive way to make
localised enhancements.
HDR Efex Pro 2
Like other HDR tools, HDR Efex
Pro 2 can be used on either single
images or HDR exposure sets,
which it can merge with automatic
alignment, ghost reduction and
chromatic aberration removal. Its
strength is that it makes instant
HDR effects relatively easy.
It still wraps it up in a bit too
much jargon, though, some of it
specific to this particular software.
For example, it’s not obvious what
the Depth, Detail and Drama
settings are likely to do, so you
have to use a good deal of trial
and error to find out.
However, it’s not hard to find an
HDR look you like with HDR Efex
Pro 2, and it deserves proper
credit for this, given that many
rival HDR tools are complex and
difficult to use.
Viveza 2
Viveza 2 offers the equivalent
of black & white dodge and burn
for colour photos. It uses Nik
Software’s control-point
technology to both mask and
adjust areas of the image in a
single operation. There are no
preset effects at all; it’s simply
a vehicle for a more detailed
version of the suite’s control
point technology.
Arguably, there’s nothing here
that you couldn’t do with layers and
masks in Photoshop, but Viveza 2
does encourage you to visualise
and build your enhancements
in perhaps a more natural way.
Individually, control points can
look like a somewhat crude and
imprecise way of selecting and
adjusting areas of a picture;
however when they’re used in
‘groups’ and, particularly, when you
use two ‘competing’ control
points close together, they actually
produce very precise and
natural-looking tonal transitions
around object edges.
HDR Efex Pro 2 quickly generates HDR images from bracketed exposure sets, but needs some skill and effort
52 14 May 2016 I www.amateurphotographer.co.uk I subscribe 0330 333 1113