One of the advantages of when a large company, such as Google, buys from a smaller company, is that the payment services that it can offer, in this case Nik Collection, become totally free for the users. This is how it happens with the Neo Collection plugins, which they were for 150 dollars to now be available for download completely free of charge.
The reason to use these plugins is because there are many professional photographers who, to give it a touch and final appearance of great presence, they have been used to improve the conversion to black and white, the output focus or the color management. Adobe Photoshop is a great tool, but if we know how to use certain plugins with it, we will be able to get even more out of this great program that has changed the design landscape for many years now. You will also see some examples made with my own camera and plugins.
What is Nik Collection?
Nik Collection is a plugin series for enthusiasts of photography. It is a collection that consists of 7 plugins for Adobe Photoshop in its desktop version and that offer a wide variety of capabilities for photo editing, from what can be from applications for filters or improvement in color correction to retouching and adding creative effects, sharpening images, or the ability to make color and tonality adjustments to images.
From the March 24 This year's latest Nik Collection is available for free for download: Analog Efex Pro, Color Efx Pro, Silver Efex Pro, Vivez, HDR Efex Pro, Sharpener Pro, and Dfine.
The 7 plugins of Nik Collection
We are going to make a good review to each of the plugins that you will find from here for free download.
Analog Efex Pro
This plugin has the main objective of achieving that look more like classic cameras who accompanied us in yesteryear with our parents or grandparents. You have ten combinations of tools at your disposal to easily apply your effects or use the camera kit to mix and match your favorite analog functions.
Offers the option to apply the same processing techniques that were used at the time of revealing. You can select and drill down to a preset to customize the effect. You have between 14 development tools to get that desired effect.
You have the option to use the control points to adjust basic aspects, dirt, scratches, light leaks and photographic plate. In the example given it was the first filter of the many that you have at your disposal.
Color Efex Pro
The approach put to this plugin is to correct and retouch colors and thus achieve original effects. You will be able to improve those photographs that you have in your library and choose between 55 filters of Color Efex Pro. That special combination that you have customized can be saved to apply it to other images.
Like the previous plugin, you have the control points to improve the effectiveness of all those filters. This is, even, that you can apply different filters to different sections in the photograph.
Silver Efex Pro
The art of black and white photography It is still very much in vogue, and although we have spectacular cameras, there are many who prefer a two-color photograph to get other aspects of them.
With this plugin you can have dynamic glow tools, smooth contrast, black or white amplification and the advanced film grain engine function. Emulates about 20 types of film among the most used, you can add final touches such as toner and borders, and even adjust the image to achieve optimal results in black and white. With this tool you will have all the control over the final result.
In the example sample I found one of the many filters you have to create the best possible effect with great contrast.
Viveza
Here the main objective is selectively adjust color and the tonality of the images so that they take on greater force. You can quickly modify the brightness, contrast, saturation, shadows, red / green / blue gamut, hue and warmth of the image. Add a special touch to textures and accentuate details without creating unwanted objects or halos.
With the levels and curves you can have greater control over the contrast and tonality of all those photographs from which you can get their best tone.
In the given example I have created three checkpoints to record a clearer sky and a veder that goes in unison.
HDR Efex Pro
This plugin is aimed directly at HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography. You can reduce shadows, recover highlights and adjust the tonality so that the colors take another tone, but that the perfect balance is not lost in that special photo.
With one click you will have at your disposal predetermined values that will present your photos in a sublime way in HDR.
Sharpener Pro
When looking for the detail and sharpness in a photograph, this plugin is the best that can be found. The Structure, Local Contrast and Sharpen tools offer you a variety of creative sharpening options.
In the sample I take structure, local contrast, and 100% focus, to bring out all the sharpness and detail of that figure that shows well the great effect that can be produced by creating a preset to our liking.
You will have the ability to direct the user's gaze with the control points or combine enhancements to achieve a final result that is as natural as possible. This plugin offers the ability to create images with the perfect sharpness for screens, ink prints, continuous-tone or halftone, and hybrid printing devices.
Dfine
La noise removal and the clarity of the images, the center for the creation of this plugin. You can adjust the contrast and reduce color noise separately, which means you can easily control the type and amount of noise reduction applied to photos.
May create unique profiles automatically for each image so that noise reduction is applied only to noise elements.
The example of the 2 images there is no subtle change with auto retouch.