Nik Collection by Google is now FREE

CLICK HERE to learn how to get the Nik Collection by Google for Free

At one time, the Nik Software Suite (later renamed the Nik Collection by Google after its acquisition) was the industry leading tools for photo editing. Despite having $295 per product price points, they were a bargain for the functionality they offered compared to anything else on the market. What's more their industry leading "u-point" controls made applying effects to a specific area trivial by creating complex masks under the covers simply by putting a point on the color you wanted to make a change to. It was brilliant and it had no competition. Simply put, Nik software had the world of photo editing under its grasp and their products made photographers of any level able to create post-processing results that looked as good as the best Photoshop gurus.

Fast-forward to today, and now all of these glorious products are free to anyone:

• Analog Efex Pro
• Nik Software Color Efex 4 Video Tutorial (Review)
  • TUTORIAL: Nik Software Color Efex Reflector Effect Video–NOW WITH Audio
  • TUTORIAL: Using Nik Software Color Efex Pro 4 & Special Offer
• Nik Software Dfine 2.0
• Nik Software HDR Efex Pro 2.0
• Nik Software Sharpener Pro 3.0
• Nik Software Silver Efex Pro 2.0
• Nik Software Viveza 2.0
• Nik Software Viveza for Lightroom

At first this may sound wonderful, but I do have serious concerns about Google's commitment to these tools now that it is free. Simply put, free means that they don't have to make any investments in it, so if it is a critical part of your workflow and it stops working because of some breaking change by OS X or Adobe (which does happen regularly), then they could in theory choose to do nothing. I'm not sure if that is the motivation behind this, and it is pure speculation on my part, but it is certainly a serious concern that I have.

In the meantime, do rejoice and go get your free copy today if you are one of the handful of people who hasn't bought it yet. If you have bought it, then don't feel too bad as you had one of the best products on the market for a dirt cheap price.

Alternatives

If you are looking for new places to invest your funds now that you don't have to pay for the Nik Collection, or if you are a working pro that needs a company that has a financial incentive to issue updates and take support calls when you are trying trying to meet tight deadlines, then I'd suggest considering on1 Photo Suite, Macphun Aurora or one of these products by Topaz Labs:

• Topaz Adjust 5.0
• Topaz Labs B&W Effects 2 (B&W Products Comparison)
• Topaz Labs DeNoise 3.0
• Topaz Labs Glow 1.0
• Topaz Labs InFocus
• Topaz Labs Lens Effects
• Topaz Labs ReMask 5.0
• Topaz Labs Restyle 1.0
• Topaz Labs Simplify 4
• Topaz Labs Star Effects
• Topaz Labs Texture Effects

Don't forget about my Discount Coupon Codes page too where you can get discounts on these products and more

CLICK HERE to learn how to get the Nik Collection by Google for Free

What Plug-ins should I buy? [Updated Dec 10, 2015]

Ron Martinsen’s December 2015 Best of the Best Ranking of the top Photography Plug-ins

Imagine that you were as rich as Bill Gates and retired. Even if you were and you have all the time on your hands to learn new things, I still doubt that any one normal human could use all of the great plug-ins available for Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Lightroom. There are just so many choices and so much overlap that it can make your head explode trying to figure out which ones you really need! What’s more, there are a lot of very good ones available that do save you lots of time, but you may waste a lot of time tinkering around with all of the options they offer!

I’ve tried to be selective about what I review on this blog based on my own research. The products I focus on are mainly what I determine are the best products and what I’m hearing my Top Photographers and other industry experts are telling me that they use.

I have found an awesome collection of products that do really make my editing process quite enjoyable, but I must admit that as much as I love most of the products I have it is hard to find time to use them all. As a result I’ve decided to finally throw down the gauntlet and rank the products that I have on my machine in order of importance to my personal workflow. What this means is that if I could only use X (i.e., 5) then you could look at numbers 1 through X (i.e., 5) to see which ones I’d keep.

With this information available to you, you can then look at your budget and make your selections based on either your own research.  You can compare that with my advice to come up with the best plug-ins on the market to help make you more productive.

This list is only about plug-ins, even though some may run stand-alone in addition to being a plug-in. This means that some programs that I can’t live without (i.e., ImagePrint) will not appear on the list. I also will just flat out say that Lightroom is my #1 photo editing and asset management product but I’d have a hell of a hard time living without Photoshop. I’m not a fan of Aperture, but it is a nice product that will be perfect for some – just not me. As a Canon shooter I also find Canon Digital Photo Professional has a horrible user interface, but it is still a critical part of my workflow for certain RAW processing tasks. I know there are Nikon shooters who feel the same way about Capture NX2, which is actually a decent product that can serve as an end-to-end solution if you are on the Nikon platform.

Recommended Plug-ins as of Dec 10, 2015

Previously this was a stacked ranked list of what I’ve reviewed but with my Dec 2015 update, I’ve decided to trim it down to just what I’d recommend to a family member or close friend. Yes, there are a lot of other products on the market, but this boils it down to what I’d get if I had to start all over from scratch today.

• Topaz Labs Adjust – I used to think of this as the secret sauce for HDR images, but now I use it for so much more. In fact, Topaz has so many strong offerings that I’m often telling people that this product is just as valuable as Color Efex, so if you only buy one bundle then go for the Topaz bundle and trust this. Yes, some effects are hideous until you learn how to use them, but watch my one of my webinars and you’ll see that they don’t have to be.
  
• Imagenomic Noiseware - Noiseware won my Noise Reduction Roundup and I find myself using it the most out of all the products I’ve tested (including some not featured on the blog).
   
• Athentech Perfectly Clear / Lucid – I tried this product out a couple years ago and hated it, but now I find myself constantly using it both on my computer and my phone. I’ve edited more photos this year with this product than any of the others – combined (especially on my phone) – and I didn’t even start using it regularly until March! While I hate the skin softening results, I do find that it does make images look great – often by default – so I’ve poured countless images through Perfectly Clear. If you haven’t seen or tried this one out yet – you MUST – it’s pretty good with no hassle. [Note: Lucid is the stand-alone version with some reduced features so check out my review for more info.]
  
• Imagenomic Portraiture – I process a lot of portraits every year so I’m always re-exploring skin softening products to try to make this process easier. While many products have come a long way, there is still nothing better than Portraiture.
  
• Topaz Labs B&W Effects – There’s lots of great products in this space, but if I’m going to advise a friend to spend their hard earned money on only one then I have to go with this one. Topaz Labs has emerged as the industry leader in innovation with an active community to support it. Yes, Silver Efex Pro is good, but I’ve yet to find myself unable to get the same or better results with B&W Effects, so I’ve finally given up on it in favor of B&W Effects.
  
• Topaz Software’s ReMask –  This is the fastest and easiest tool to create complex masks fast. onOne Software’s Perfect Photo Suite has the potential to be greater, but I’ve just had a much harder time mastering the masking features. I find ReMask to be much easier to use and very powerful. It can save you a hell of a lot of time separating your subject from a complex background or doing complex masks that can’t be adequately handled using Nik Software’s U-Point control technology or the vastly improved Refine Edge feature of recent versions of Photoshop. 
  
• MacPhun Aurora HDR [Mac only] or HDRSoft Photomatix (esp with Trey Ratcliff’s Photomatix Presets) – If HDR is important to you then one of these has to be in the top 5. For as good as built-in HDR processing is in Photoshop and Lightroom, I still prefer stand alone applications. Aurora HDR is simply the best product on the market for HDR – bar none – but currently it’s only available on the Mac, so PC users will have to use the long-time industry standard Photomatix. Photomatix can create great results, but it’s cryptic controls can be difficult to master – especially if you want realistic results (and white clouds). Yes, you can go to Photoshop and work around its shortcomings, but Aurora HDR makes that easy to do in its UI without the need for Photoshop (or anything else).
  
• Topaz Labs Texture Effects, Glow and Impression – These are the hottest new plug-ins on the market for a reason – they create amazingly original looking work from the most boring of images. I really, really, love these products, but I do wish that they were all just merged into one product.
  
• Topaz Labs Restyle (alt review) – This is another one of those one click editing solutions that I love, but I don’t use it as much as I’d like to because it has so many choices! Seriously, I love choices but I sometimes find myself spending 20 minutes just pouring through all of the awesome choices it offers!
  
  It is very usefully for coming with up a “look” or “theme” for a project and leveraging favorites help reduce the time spent in the app. I adore this product and STRONGLY recommend you to check it out as this product is a game changer for those who want to focus on their photography, and not photo editing – yet still have professional results that don’t look like it was processed on Instagram.
  
• on1 Perfect Resize – There was a time where this would have been in the top 3, but resizing in Adobe products and printer drivers have gotten pretty good so this is more useful when you need the best possible results or when other methods just don’t do a good job. Generally speaking if you are going to increase an image by 200% or more, then this is the best game in town. Sadly it’s a hidden feature that is an optional install for the latest version of the on1 Photo bundle. My review covers an older version, but nothing has really changed in this product for quite some time. Sadly you can only get this with the entire on1 Bundle.
  
• Topaz Labs Simplify (review) – Great for turning your images into cartoons or drawings. It’s a cool app that I didn’t used to use that much, but I’ve learned that with the right scenes (especially leafy landscapes) it can create some exciting images that people want to buy. I also like to use it on busy backgrounds sometimes to remove distractions. This isn’t a product that most photographers would use every day, but when I pair it with the right image I often get a big grin on my face. Topaz Clean also is capable of doing this and more, so check it out while you are at it to see which works better for you. Personally, I tend to favor Simplify.

There’s of course a lot more that isn’t included here, so check out the Software Reviews section to the right or on my recommendations page to see if I’ve reviewed your favorite product. If you’d like my opinion one one not featured on my site then contact me.

What Happened to the Nik Collection by Google?

For as long as this blog has existed, I’ve been singing the praises of what used to be called the Nik Software Collection. They were the defacto standard by which all others were judged, and myself and so many others couldn’t live without it. However, my personal opinion of Google’s purchase of Nik Software, is that it seemed to be more of a patent grab than anything else as the innovation that Team Nik brought vanished after the acquisition (as well as many of the Nik employees).

If my calculations are correct, we are approaching 4 years since the last update of Color Efex and 2 years since the last update of anything (Analog Efex). As a result, it’s appears that these products are in sustained engineering mode. Given Google’s history of cutting products and services that aren’t part of their core business, I can’t escape the fear that one day an operating system change will come and we’ll hear that the Nik Collection will not be updated to support it.

With this in mind, I’ve been trying hard to wean myself off my favorite products like Color Efex, Silver Efex Pro, and Viveza for fear that I’d be up a creek without a paddle if I had an important job and they stopped working – with no plans to fix them.

I’ll be clear and state that these are still phenomenally good products, but if I’m going to advise my readers to spend their hard earned money then I want to point them to software solutions built by people with a ton of passion to make their products better (i.e., companies like Topaz Labs with their Complete Collection and MacPhun with their beautifully designed Creative Kit).  Sure, if you have bought the other recommended products and have an extra $149 to spare, then by all means pick these up as they are still quite good. However, I don’t recommend that people with limited funds make this their first purchase for the aforementioned reasons.

A Word About Bundles

One thing that is very clear is if you think you’ll ever want to own more than 2 or 3 products from a given company then you should just bit the bullet and get their largest bundled version. While it might be painful in the short-term buying such an expensive product, you’ll spend exponentially more if you find yourself buying all the products over time. The bundles are a great deal and the only way to go if you can make that happen. With that said, I do a quick run down of my favorite bundles here in priority stack ranked order:

1. Topaz Labs Plug-In Bundle – It has taken some time, but Topaz Labs has gone from the bottom to the top thanks to so many creative and game changing products. I find myself using Adjust and B&W Effects quite a bit now. Texture Effects, Glow, Impression, ReStyle and Simplify highlight the amazing innovation coming out of this new industry leader in photo editing.
   
   These products can give your photos that wow with minimal effort allowing you to focus on photography instead of photo editing, and save shots that would otherwise be duds. I’m also a huge fan of ReMask when I have to do masking because it is much more accurate than Refine Edge in Photoshop. As a result, these 8 products easily justify the cost of the bundle (which is available at a discount on my blog).
   
   While many people swear by them, I don’t really use Clean, Detail, Lens Effects,or Star Effects that much, but the other products still make the bundle worth it. I don’t care for  DeNoise , so I always use Noiseware when I need to do digital noise reduction (from using higher ISO’s).
   
   This is my new “if you could only have one” bundle choice because it offers so much to help create new art from your photography, that I think it really deserves the top spot.
   
2. Imagenomic Pro Plug-in Suite – Noiseware is the winner of my noise reduction series and as of now, nothing has changed that. I also have become obsessed with Portraiture as my preferred skin softening product for both photos and videos, so you may as well get the bundle. You’ll effectively get Real Grain for free, so it’s worth getting the bundle.
   
3. MacPhun Creative Kit – This company has some of my friends from the once brilliant Nik Software, and its beautifully built user interface is the one by which all other products should aspire to mimic. While it lacks the brilliant U-Point controls that are the secret sauce of the Nik Collection, it has everything else and so much more. This is really a great solution for Mac users, but sadly isn’t on Windows yet so I can’t give it a better rating.
   
4. Google Nik Collection – As I previously mentioned, this had been my favorite for many years. However, the product seems to be in maintenance mode with all of my Nik contacts leaving Google without any apparent replacements. Google has no meaningful financial interest in the product anymore, so I have concerns about its future. As a result, I’m reluctant to recommend it anymore, despite the brilliant software that remains.
   
   Yes, this is still a great product and I adore it, but I’m lost as to what Google is really doing for its future. As a result, IF you’ve got the other suites and a an extra $149 lying around then it’s a worthwhile investment – just make sure you have a plan B if it stops working unexpectedly in the future.
   
5. on1 Photo 10 – I used to be a big fan of onOne Software, but this suite has been dumbed down so much with its confusing user interface that it’s left nothing really compelling to me anymore. I’m also tired of it coming out with new names and releases before they get the bugs out of the current one, so I really can’t get excited about this one anymore. Yes, Matt Klosowski makes it look pretty cool, but unless you’ve got his gift for photo editing, I think you’ll find yourself frustrated with the results you get with your own photos.
    
6. Alien Skin Bundle – Alien Skin makes decent products, but with so much goodness offered these days I just don’t find myself saying “I need that” over the other products in my workflow.

You really can save a bundle by getting bundles, so before you make that stand alone purchase ask yourself – will I want to buy any of these other products in the future? If you say yes to at least 3 products offered in the bundle then pony up now to save big later – get the bundle!

Topaz Labs Photoshop Bundle – The Best Place to Spend Your Money

Adjust is a mainstay in many great photographers digital workflow because it’s a product that is so unique that really nothing competes with it. Topaz created this same kind of magic with Glow, Impression and ReStyle all of which are super hot sellers that I love. With ReMask still being the best manual masking solution and the strength of Simplify and B&W Effects, you really have a true artist toolkit with this bundle. Lens Effects, Clean, Detail. Star Effects  and InFocus add value but I just have so many plug-ins that I don’t have a need for them. I’m still not a fan of Denoise even though some readers swear by it.

Imagenomic

Imagenomic makes three popular products which can only be purchased separately. The first two mentioned below are staples in my regular work, so I couldn’t live without them.

Based on my extensive testing during my Noise Reduction Roundup, nobody out performed Noiseware.  It’s a great product that I go to for my most important jobs because I know it will do the best job to preserve the detail. It’s only disadvantage is the lack of Nik’s U-Point controls, but most of the time I will just create a layer mask and roughly sketch out where I want selective noise reduction, so I’ll just use Noiseware in both those and global noise reduction scenarios.

I’ve stopped using my long-time beloved Nik Software’s Dynamic Skin Softener (filter found in Color Efex) in favor of Portraiture which does the best skin enhancements I’ve ever seen. I turned my mentor on to this product after his copy of Color Efex wouldn’t work on his upgraded version of the Mac OS, and he loves Portraiture more than anything now! 

Real Grain isn’t my cup of tea, but most people probably don't realize that it simulates a lot of films which could be handy to some. It also has nice grains which can prove useful in printing or dramatic stylistic effects like reproducing the artificial grain found in the movie Saving Private Ryan.

The Rest

There are thousands of Photoshop & Lightroom plug-ins, and many of them are fantastic. However, I don’t have the bandwidth to test everything, nor can I use everything, so what you see in this article represents my reality. Don’t assume that if  product isn’t mentioned here that I don’t like it, but rather assume I probably haven’t used it very much – if at all.

I will say that I’m no fan of Portrait Professional and Focus Magic as I feel both offer mediocre solutions for which there are much better options.

If you’ve got a great product that you think I must know about then feel free to leave a comment with your suggestion(s). Do not link as spam comments will not be approved.

Special Offers

Visit my Discount Coupon Code page for specials on plug-ins and a wide variety of products – many of which aren’t available any where else on the web!

Other articles you may enjoy

If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy these too:

• KelbyOne Review & Discount 
• Discount Coupon Codes 
• Printing Series 
• NEC PA322UHD 4k for Pro Photo & Video Editing Review
• Wacom Intuos Pro Review
• Wacom Cintiq 13 HD Review
• Ron’s Recommendations 

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you a penny more, but it does help to support future articles like this.

HDR Efex Pro 2 vs (Photomatix 4.2.3, Photoshop CS6, Canon 5D Mark III In-Camera HDR and HDR Efex Pro 1)

Use coupon code RonMartBlog to save 15% off Photomatix products. See more offer details at the bottom of this article.

Test System Information

All tests were done on 64-bit Windows 7 with the 64-bit version of Photoshop CS6 (13.0). Here are more details and the Windows Experience Index Score (0 – 7.9 scale):

All of my plugins run on a standalone SSD drive and my caches are on dedicated SSD drives. My slowest drive is my primary hard disk which is a 7200 RPM SSD and Mechanical Hybrid SATA drive.

Original Images

Visit my HDR Efex Pro 2 review and see the Original Images section to see which images were used for this test. They were three CR2 RAW files taken with a Canon 5D Mark III at -3, 0, and +3 exposure values (EV). The total size of these three exposures was 83.9 megabytes.

Canon 5D Mark III In-Camera HDR Processing

Canon 5D Mark III In-Camera HDR processing of all three exposures

In my May 16, 2012 article I declared that Canon 5D Mark III HDR is good, but Photomatix Pro 4.2 is still the king of HDR. At that point in time the HDR Efex Pro 2 beta was still pretty rough around the edges, so Photomatix really was still the king.

Speedwise, the Canon 5D Mark III wins because only takes a few seconds for it to create an in-camera JPEG of your bracketed shots. For the HDR Mode feature of this camera, I use the following settings:

• Adjust dyn range: +/- 3 EV
• Effect: Natural (I’d rather do my post processing on the computer)
• Continuous HDR: Every shot
• Auto Image Align: Enable (never, ever disable this – even with at tripod)
• Save source imgs: All Images

The final JPEG is impacted by the cameras picture style (I use standard) as well as other settings, but this shot was most hurt by my using the auto white balance (AWB) instead of warmer white balance like cloudy.

I really like the in-camera results and use them often, but the limitation is that it doesn’t to ghosting well (and you can’t control manually) and it tends to crop the image even when it seems that it isn’t necessary (i.e., a tripod was used).

I think the value of tone mapping and tone compression still favors the computer over the in-camera HDR, but it does a damn good job that might be “good enough” for some of your non-business critical work. I should also note that Canon point and shoots do terrible for this unless you are shooting a static subject using a tripod, but the DSLR’s really seem to do HDR very well.

For what it’s worth, I’ve processed the images used in the 5D Mark III HDR article in both Photomatix and HDR Efex Pro 2. Each time I process a photo start to end, I do different things with it, but it’s interesting to see how well both products did here in a head-to-head comparison:

Mouse over for the Photomatix 4.2 version
Mouse out for the HDR Efex Pro 2 version

Both final results feature some post-processing using other Nik Software and Imagenomic products.

Performance Comparison

This section discusses the time it took to render the bracketed raw test images using default processing.

Photomatix Pro 4.2.3 (Review) – 56.8 seconds max

Photomatix 4.2.3 Edited Version (mouse over to see default version)

Click here to see the large size edited version, and click here to see the full-size default processed version.

Image Merge Time (47.9 seconds MAX)

Here is the amount time it took from the moment the OK button was clicked in the Preprocessing Options dialog:

47.9 sec with everything checked like this:

42.9 sec with no noise reduction as follows:

26.0 sec only ghosting high as follows:

and 12.2 sec with no options checked.

Tone Mapping Processing (5.7 seconds)

After your images are merged, you end up in the tone mapping user-interface where you do the real work. Once you are ready to have an image to edit in Photoshop, you click on the Process button. To get this image ready for editing elsewhere took only 5.7 seconds.

Ready in Photoshop CS6 (3.2 seconds)

Since the merge processing has to occur in the stand alone app, a true fair comparison should include the time it takes to save the intermediate file in Photomatix 4.2.3 and load that file in Photoshop (to have parity with the other tested apps). While Photomatix does offer a tone mapping Photoshop plug-in, the real work is done in the stand-alone app. Fortunately Photomatix makes this process easy using the “Open saved images with” option in its Save As dialog, so this process only took 3.2 seconds.

The maximum total time it took from start to finish in HDRSoft Photomatix 4.2.3 was 56.8 seconds.

HDR Efex Pro 2 (RC1) (Review) – 79 seconds max

DISCLAIMER: I was using pre-released software so final times may be faster

HDR Efex Pro 2 Processing
(with some Content Aware Fill on the ceiling)
Mouse over to see the 0EV exposure and mouse out to see the processed version

Visit my HDR Efex Pro 2 full review for more info about this product, but the bottom line is that the image selection dialog took 24.6 seconds to load the images into the merge dialog. This was really the process of doing a batch processing of the raw files and getting them created as TIFF images that are then used for the merge dialog. RAW files or going straight from Lightroom 4.x speeds this up, but this is definitely one of the bottle necks.

Once you have the merge dialog up you make your adjustments and then hit the create HDR. This is much like the pre-processing options for Photomatix and HDR Efex Pro 1. To do this it took 24.1 seconds after hitting Create HDR button (with all options checked). If I only did ghosting control then it only 16.1 seconds after hitting Create HDR button.

The real pain point is that once you are done you have to send the file to Photoshop for further editing (or back to Lightroom). This is took a staggering 30.3 seconds after hitting OK.

At first this all sounds really slow, but the all important “time before you can start tone mapping” was 48.7 seconds. This puts it on par with Photomatix, but it feels faster because of the interruption of the merge dialog.

You still have to pay the tax at the end, but the good news is that even with that it’s faster than its predecessor.

HDR Efex Pro 1.203 – 96.1 seconds max

The number one thing I hated about this product was its horrible performance, and doing this testing reminded me why. It took 65.8 seconds after hitting Create HDR button (all options checked) (or 9.0 seconds after hitting Create HDR button with just ghosting checked). Of course, the ghosting support in this product was as bad as the in-camera result, so some probably found it better to run it with no options. 

Once you are done tone mapping then it took 30.3 seconds after hitting OK before you were ready to work in Photoshop.

This app is just a slow turd that is a headache to use, so I’m glad to bid it farewell in favor of its faster and much better replacement.

Adobe Photoshop CS6 Merge to HDR Pro Feature – 31.3 seconds max

Photoshop CS6 Photorealistic Edited Version (mouse over to see default version)

Click here to see the large size edited version, and click here to see the full-size default processed version.

It took about 19.6 seconds to get from the dialog above to the Merge to HDR Pro tone mapping UI (which has to be the worst ever user-interface in my opinion).

Ghost reference image feature exists here too (notice the green box around 0 EV)

After clicking OK here it took another 11.7 seconds before I could work on the image in Photoshop. This makes Photoshop the fastest thing outside of the camera processor to make an HDR image. Its feature set and usability suck, but if you are tight on cash then it can get the job done in a hurry. Personally I never use it though.

Conclusion

After spending time with all of these products, I still respect what Photomatix brings to the table but HDR Efex Pro 2 isn’t terrible anymore. This is a big statement too because I didn’t care for HDR Efex Pro 1 due to its complex UI and sluggish performance. Those issues have been addressed such that it’s now my go to product. Photomatix still does a great job and its ghost selection mode feature shown below is something I really wish Nik would have added to HDR Efex Pro using U-Point controls:

I’m finding myself doing more HDR’s now thanks to the Canon 5D Mark III’s built-in HDR feature which keeps the bracketed exposures (in JPEG + RAW if you want) in addition to the file it creates. The in-camera file gives me an idea of issues I might run into at home using software, so I can identify issues in the field that I’d normally miss (i.e., gross alignment issues like the one below):

In-camera HDR is no gimmick – it can help you spot alignment issues in the field

Photoshop CS6’s speed makes it an option for those who are on a tight budget or who enjoy its nasty sliders, but realistically it’s just not for me. It may be fast, but I just take longer to get the results I want with it which negates its performance benefit and I’m rarely happy with the final result.

Special Offer (15% Discount)

Visit my discount coupon code page for the latest code and offer details.

HDRSoft, the makers of Photomatix HDR tone mapping software have extended an offer to readers of this blog for a 15% discount when you use the coupon code RonMartBlog when you checkout on their web site (see picture above). Don’t forget to click the recalculate button after you enter the code to get the discount.

Disclaimer

If you make a purchase using links in this blog then you support this blog and I may earn a commission. Thanks for your support!

Best of the Blog: Topaz Adjust 5 Review

Save 15% when you enter the RONMART discount coupon code.

Much fun can be had with Adjust 5 to get the Trey Ratcliff look

In my previous review of Adjust 4, I covered some of the cool things you can do with tis product. In this review I’ll mainly focus on what’s new from there. I encourage you to read the old review as well as it will show what some of the presents included can do to your images.

For those of you who are big fans of Trey Ratcliff’s HDR work, this product is part of his secret sauce. Now he’s moved away from the “Harry Potter” look of old, but it still shows up from time to time and Topaz Adjust is the key ingredient to the look that either you love or hate. For fun, I applied a little bit of that touch to the shot above that I took in New York with the Canon 8-15mm fisheye zoom lens (review). Here’s how the shot looked when it came out of the camera:

To give it the look you see in the final picture, I started with a little noise reduction which can be done with Topaz Denoise (or other noise reduction products) as this was shot at ISO 1600. After that I applied the Dramatic preset:

I was able to use the transparency feature in the finishing touches section to tone down the effect before finishing my Adjust. I also added the Spicify filter as a separate layer in case I changed my mind later on. I didn’t like what it did to my sky so I used the adjustment brush to brush out part of the effect as shown below:

I could have easily kept these changes together using the Apply button and used the Snap feature to go back and forth between applied filters, but in my workflow I prefer to just do one effect at a time.

What’s New

A big improvement in this release is the ability to do local adjustments in addition to global adjustments. You can now create a brush to remove the effect or do some basic dodge, burn or smooth actions. This feature works really well, so it’s a great improvement.

Another important improvement are the “Finishing Touches” where some will find enough goodness that when you leave Adjust, your work is done. The inclusion of the check boxes to enable/disable a given finishing touch is super handy as well!

Other improvements include:

• Histogram
• Individual tab reset buttons,so you can experiment and reset only that one tab rather than the whole image.
• Split screen has been added
• More presets with a better grouping (legacy groups are maintained as well)

Learn more

Topaz has put together this nice sneak peek video to help you see some more of the new features:

Play in HD

Where to Order (Discount Info - Save when you get the bundle)

Topaz has a bunch of cool products for reasonable prices, but you save the most when you buy the bundle. No matter what you choose, you can use my discount coupon code RONMART to save 15% off on one or more products.

Please CLICK HERE to order your copy or simply learn more.

Conclusion

Topaz Adjust 5 is much like Nik Software’s Color Efex 4 in that it features a series of unique filters that are much more challenging to mimic manually in Photoshop. I don’t really consider these products to be competitors to each other as both have their strengths, and both are very unique in the filters offered. While the Topaz line of products lack Nik Software’s powerful U-Point controls, HDR Efex Pro users will find Adjust 5 to be a critical part of their finishing touches. The new features added, like the adjustment brushes and finishing touches, will make it easier to get the final result you are looking for without having to do much work in Photoshop. Lightroom users will especially enjoy this fact.

This is a fun product whose user interface keeps getting better, and the performance has drastically improved. It’s a great tool to make your photos pop, and it will simplify post-processing so you can get more work done. My advice for that this is great for stylized looks so if you are into that sort of thing, you’ll really enjoy it. It’s definitely worth the upgrade for previous users – especially if you are only using Lightroom.

Other articles you may enjoy

If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy these:

• Topaz Labs B&W Effects (B&W Products Comparison)
• Topaz Labs InFocus
• Topaz Labs Lens Effects (includes another Webinar video)
• Topaz Labs ReMask
• Topaz Labs Restyle
• Topaz Labs Star Effects
• Topaz Labs Webinar Video now available (includes Treehouse, New York, Seattle and other tutorials)

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you a penny more, but it does help to support future articles like this.

Nik Collection Upgrade & onOne Special Offer

My partnership and special offers with Nik Software have ended. Here’s where you can learn more about the Nik Products that I have reviewed and learn how you can get a great deal on onOne Software just by being a Nik Collection owner.

Click here to learn more and see the articles below to see my thoughts on each of these products:

• Nik Software Color Efex 4 Video Tutorial (Review)
  • TUTORIAL: Nik Software Color Efex Reflector Effect Video–NOW WITH Audio
  • TUTORIAL: Using Nik Software Color Efex Pro 4 & Special Offer
• Nik Software Dfine 2.0
• Nik Software HDR Efex Pro 2.0
• Nik Software Sharpener Pro 3.0
• Nik Software Silver Efex Pro 2.0
• Nik Software Viveza 2.0
• Nik Software Viveza for Lightroom

 

Save 50% Off ALL onOne Software products if you own the Nik Collection by Google

Save 50% on the Perfect Photo Suite 7 (with a FREE upgrade to 7.5) if you own the Nik Collection by Google

Frequently Asked Questions

The following is my understanding based on my conversation with my Nik Software marketing contact and what I’ve read on the Google website. I’m not responsible for any errors or change in policy that is beyond my control. Buyer beware.

What happened to your discount?

It’s gone. My partnership with the Nik Team (now acquired by Google) has ended. I’d like to thank Kevin, Josh & Laurie for their support and wish them the best in the future.

I already owned the collection, but I didn't get the free upgrade email. What do I do now?

Start by checking your junk mail folder. If you can't find it there, check your deleted items. If that doesn't work, then try to think if you had a different email account that you used to register or purchase your Nik software. If none of that works, then send an email to supportus@niksoftware.com to request a new email.

I clicked on the link but it wasn't a exe. What do I do with this file?

Odds are you are using Internet Explorer. Instead of clicking, choose right click Save As... and save it as a exe on your desktop. If that doesn't work, download the file and RENAME it to have a .exe extension, then run it. Alternatively you can use Chrome as shown in my videos and this won't happen as it lacks this security feature to prevent you from downloading malicious exe's off the web.

I just bought the complete collection - how do I get a refund?

It is my understanding that those who purchased within the last 30 days will get a email (check your junk mail folder) within the next couple days that will get an automatic refund of the purchase price different (i.e., you get it for $149 - max). The exact cutoff date is 30 days prior to today's announcement. They can't go back forever, so if you go back 31 days then you are out of luck.

What happen to my product ID's?

They've been eliminated - your email address that you used to register your product is your new product id. Your email from Google (check your junk mail) has details on how to install the new Nik Collection by Google upgrade.

What's new in the upgrade?

Branding, Windows 8 support, Single Installer and a new licensing model that doesn't require PID's. I'm not aware of any fundamental changes to any of the Nik products.

If I only own one Nik Software product what happens?

You are very lucky because you get a FREE upgrade to the entire collection. Count your lucky stars! ;-)

What about upgrades?

All Nik customers who get the email will be upgraded to the latest version at no charge. I've also been told that in the future upgrades will be free, so it sounds like it's pay one price to play.

Is Google using this as a trick to force us to all pay for an upgrade to a new or replacement product here in 6 months?

Not from what I understand. It sounds like they plan to carry the product forward and just wanted to simplify the distribution, licensing and upgrade process.

Wait Ron, I asked for your advice and you told me X and now this happens. You suck!

Hey, I'm very sorry as I just found out at 8:36 AM this morning like the rest of the world. I had no clue this was happening and it's financial impact on me is going to be significant, so I feel your pain.

Does this mean Nik is now in maintenance mode and we won't see any real upgrades?

It's my understanding that the product group still exists and is working on new products, so I don't think that is the case. I have no facts though so this is pure speculation based on rumors.

Now that you don’t make a commission off Nik products, which program would you get? This or a competing product?

Click here to read my advice on which plug-ins to buy. Nik still makes the best products in the business, so my advice doesn't change based on this. This will impact the business model of this blog, so I will lose money over the long haul. If you find this blog useful, donations will become more important over the long haul to sustain this blog now that one of my top partners has changed the game.

I didn't get the email, what do I do?

Start by checking your junk mail folder. If you can't find it there, check your deleted items. If that doesn't work, then try to think if you had a different email account that you used to register or purchase your Nik software. If none of that works, then send an email to supportus@niksoftware.com to request a new email.

Upgrade Video

Here’s a little video I did on my Windows system that shows how you can upgrade quickly and easily for both Photoshop and Lightroom:

Mac Users Video

Here’s a little video I did on my Mac OS X 10.8.2 system that shows how you can upgrade quickly and easily for both Photoshop and Lightroom:

 

Other articles you may enjoy

• Nik Software Owners: Get onOne Perfect Photo Suite 7 for 50% off
• Discount Coupon Code Page
• B&W Comparison - Nik vs onOne vs Topaz
• HDR Software Comparison
• Things You Need AFTER You Buy Your New Camera - Must Have Photography Accessories
• Kelby Training Review & Discount
• National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP Discount)
• The Perfect Picture School of Photography (PPSOP) by Bryan Peterson
• Photoshop Elements User - (Discount) Tutorials and more
• Zenfolio - The Ultimate place to host your photos on the web

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. All information is provided to the best of my ability based on reliable sources, but my sources and I do not make future policy so changes are possible without notice.

TUTORIAL: Nik Software Color Efex Reflector Effect Video–NOW WITH Audio

Back in July of 2009 I did an article called “The Digital Reflector – the solution to dark faces on bright backgrounds” that proved to have one of my most popular YouTube videos over the years. This really surprised me because the video didn’t have any audio due to a glitch on my system.

I finally have some software that allows me to voice annotate videos, so I’ve added a new audio track and re-uploaded this popular video. While I won’t surpass Gangnam Style in the number of views, I do hope that you enjoy it!

Please keep in mind that although this video was done with both an older version of Lightroom and Color Efex, it still applies to the current versions of Lightroom, Photoshop, Aperture and Color Efex.

To see the text that goes with this article, please click here.

Where to order

The products that dominate my favorite plug-ins are the Nik Collection by Google which consists of the following 6 products all for only $149 USD (worldwide). Click the banner below or CLICK HERE to get it for only $126.65 with my RONMART coupon code:

Click the banner or here to learn more about the special offer for owners of any Nik Software product:

 

Other articles you may enjoy

If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy these:

• Nik Collection by Google Discount
• TUTORIAL: Using Nik Software Color Efex Pro 4 & Special Offer
• What plug-ins should I buy? (for Photoshop & Lightroom)
• Photo Editing Tips
• Things You Need AFTER You Buy Your New Camera - Must Have Photography Accessories
• What’s Hot in Photography and Photo Editing Books
• What Photoshop books should I read?

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you a penny more, but it does help to support future articles like this.

TUTORIAL: Using Nik Software Color Efex Pro 4 & Special Offer

Click here to read my full review!

Color Efex Pro 4 – The right panel is where things get very interesting
Click for a closer look

Videos

Here are three videos that I did when I was first reviewing Color Efex 4 just before it was released to the public. It shows you what you can do with Color Efex 4:

Play in HD

Play in HD

Play in HD

Hopefully you enjoyed seeing what is possible with the Nik Collection by Google.

Before and After Images

Here’s a few images featured in the videos where you can see the before image and mouse out to see the after image.

ALL images are Copyright Ron Martinsen – ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Please do not copy, link, save, print or redistribute in any way without my expressed written permission and a signed agreement.

Black & White Model Before

Black & White Model After

Seattle Sunset Before

Seattle Sunset After

Outdoor Model Before

Outdoor Model After

See the videos for more details about the filters used. Keep in mind these are subjective results which you can adjust to suit your taste. Given more time I would probably do some things differently. The important takeaway are the powerful tools you have at your disposal in the Nik Collection by Google.

Coupon Code – 15% OFF

Click here to get the ENTIRE
Nik Complete Collection by Google now only $126.65

Disclosure

I may get a commission if you make a purchase using links in this offer and/or my coupon code.

Nik Software Owners: Get onOne Perfect Photo Suite 7 for 50% off

This offer has moved - CLICK HERE to see the latest offer

For a limited time only, owners of Nik plug-ins including the Complete Collection, ColorEfex Pro, Silver Efex Pro, Viveza, or Dfine, can get 50% off onOne Software's Perfect Photo Suite 7 Premium Edition!
Perfect Photo Suite 7 Premium Edition includes seven integrated products that give you more capabilities and more power and than any plug-in collection available. It seamlessly integrates with Photoshop, Lightroom, and Aperture, and unlike other plug-ins, you can also use it as a standalone application with full photo editing capabilities including layers.
When you become an onOne Software owner, you'll have peace of mind knowing that your software 
investment will continue to reap rewards from our ongoing development of new and ground-breaking technologies today and into the distant future.

Ordering Info

Your cart should look like this if you clicked the correct link 

Just click here and order the upgrade of Perfect Photo Suite 7 – no other discounts can be applied (including my coupon code). You can get my thoughts on this great suite at http://www.ronmartblog.com/2012/11/coupon-codereview-onone-perfect-photo.html. This is a great deal that I definitely recommend!

Don’t have a Nik Software Product? Get it here at a discount!

Click here to learn more about how you can get a special deal on the Nik Collection by Google and get both suites for the less than the full price for Perfect Photo Suite!

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission.

Nothing But Nik: Gyeongbokgung Palace

I posted the edited version of the shot below on 500px and sent it to a few friends. Shortly thereafter I got several requests asking me how I processed this shot. Since I didn’t use smart objects and because this was a quick edit I can only offer a quick summary of what I did.

Throne Hall of Gyeongbokgung Palace
Click here to view on 500px

The obvious problem with this shot right off the bat was that I was too far away (because I wasn’t allowed to get closer) and nasty lens distortion. While Lightroom 5 (currently in beta) should make fixing distortions like this as easy as clicking a button, I found it pretty easy to do manually as well. Here’s all I did to effectively tilt-shift my image in post-processing:

After some basic tweaks in Lightroom (like pre-sharpening), it was all nothing but Nik Collection after that. Here’s what I did:

For this shot I did a very mild noise reduction using measured points in Dfine (a rarely used feature, but I mention it in my review). Normally I’d use Noiseware, but for this one I chose Dfine simply because I wanted an all Nik workflow for this image.

I wasn’t planning on doing much with this shot so I went out of my typical order and started with Tonal Contrast using the defaults. Afterwards I used the Foliage #3 preset with lots of control points so I could isolates the greens to give them more pop.

I like a warm tone for many of my images, so my go to filter is Skylight filter. I used U-Point controls to exclude the green from being impacted by the yellow.

At this point you might be asking “what is CEP” (that’s Color Efex) and why didn’t I just create a recipe with all three filters applied at once. The short answer is that I could, but personally I like to see the layers in Photoshop each in their own layer. I could have used Smart Filters too, but I think they are too slow.

When I was done with Color Efex I decided that I needed to take care of some of the hot spots and shadow areas in my image. For that the choice was easy – Viveza – which basically creates complex hidden layer masks in seconds to apply whatever you need exactly where you need it. For this shot I needed to tone down the highlights on the polls and steps, so after a few clicks with Viveza to do some minor exposure adjustments I was done.

After I was done I did a quick sharpen with Sharpener Pro.

After I scaled the image down to upload it to the web, I did a stupid thing and did some quick healing on the polls because they were bothering me. I’m now paying the price as I’d like to print a larger version of this image and I don’t have any of that cloning work in my PSD file. Learn from me – that’s stupid, never do that – ALWAYS work on your full size PSD and keep the layers!

I’m sorry there’s no video, but I just ran out of time tonight and wasn’t able to do one. I do hope to do some video tutorials in the future, but in the meantime maybe some of the things I’m showing you here will give you reason to experiment.

Here’s another Before & After that followed a similar worfklow of “Nothing but Nik*”:

Gyeongbokgung Building

This photo was a little easier because I didn’t have any distortion to correct. I did have a lot more noise, but I used U-Point controls to only apply it in the sky and leave the “noise texture” everywhere else. Had I created a recipe for the earlier shot, it would have been a one click visit in Color Efex Pro  - doh!

Conclusion

Outside of some really basic Lightroom work and one final touchup on my web version of the file, this is all basically a “nothing but nik” software edit. It’s a testimony as to how very good the Nik Collection and Lightroom can be together – even if you don’t own Photoshop! These photos are part of my personal site, http://asia.ronmartblog.com where I process personal snapshots really quickly. 

I once wanted to do a blog where I talked about all of the Nik products because they are so important to my digital workflow. I haven’t had time to do that yet, but hopefully this inspires you on giving that shot that you didn’t like another try. Personally I was going to delete the Throne Hall shot because I thought it would be too hard to make it look any good, but boy was I wrong! I’m glad I gave the Nik Collection by Google a shot as it really made a huge difference. Even if you hate my edits, you can see for yourself that the sky is the limit with the Nik Collection.

Where to order

Click here to learn more about the Nik Collection to see how you can get a trial version or purchase it with a generous discount.

Other articles you may enjoy

If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy these:

• Nik Collection by Google (Discount)
• Nik Software Color Efex 4 Video Tutorial (Review)
• Nik Software Viveza 2.0
• Ask Ron: What do you think of Lightroom 5?
• Photo Editing Tips
• Asia Adventures Blog
• What plug-ins should I buy? (for Photoshop & Lightroom)

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you a penny more, but it does help to support future articles like this.