Nik Software Captured: The Complete Guide to Using Nik Software's Photographic Tools

Sample Photos from the Authors: Yosemite, California


This recent image taken in is a good example of how an understanding of techniques within the digital workflow can change the outcome of your image in the most positive ways. Here is a color image which based on the tonality was pre-determined to make a nice black and white. In this case we used Nik Software Silver Efex Pro 2 to change the photograph into a black and white fine art image that might sell in a gallery. First we moved the Dynamic Brightness to a lower value and increased the Soft Contrast to an increase of 30 percent. And finally we increase the Structure slider to increase localized details and give the look of more textures.

Sample Photos from the Authors: Portrait


Often a portrait needs a simple enhancement. Here we added a little help from Nik Software Coor Efex Pro 4. First, we direct the viewer’s attention by adding Darken Lighten Center to lower the brightness of the edges. Next, we added the filter called Remove Color Cast to reduce the warmth in the image. Finally, Image Border was added suing selection #4 in the default position.

Sample Photos from the Authors: Los Angeles, California Building


This beautiful structure in Los Angeles was the perfect example of how a little increase in control can elevate image quality. Here we again use Nik Software Color Efex Pro 4 and a filter called Brilliance and Warmth. First we moved the saturation slider to the right to increase the value and then also increased the warmth slider by moving to the right. We finished it off by sliding the newest feature, Perceptual Saturation, to the right to add a unique color value to the image. The difference from before to after shows an increase in image quality and took a total editing time about approximately twenty seconds.