Nik Software Silver Efex Pro 2 Review

I told you last night that I would show you today how I got the photo for the pillow.  Well here we go.

I started with this picture.

I ended up with this picture.

So how did I do it?  With NikSoftware Silver Efex Pro2 plug-in for Photoshop CS4.  I first processed my RAW file.  For more on how I do that you can click here.  I opened the jpg up in Photoshop.

Then I clicked on the Silver Efex plug-in.  It's next to my history window.

This is what the Silver Efex work window looks like.  It is very user friendly and I have to admit that I didn't use the program to it's full existent for this project.

On the left hand side is numerous presets.  I scrolled down and picked the over exposed one for this.

This is the right hand panel.  It's where you can fine tune how your picture looks.  I only adjusted the toning for this picture.

There are 23 tones to choose from.  I picked number 23 that's hiding behind my tool bar.  Then I clicked OK and was taken back to Photoshop.

Then I cropped it to an 8x10.  I did this because I only wanted a small photo to work up into a pillow.

For more information about all this plug-in can do please visit niksoftware.com.

My thoughts on the software:
I love it!  It is a little over whelming at first.  Between all the presets and all the ways you can tweak each preset you can start to get lost in it.  The more I use it though the less overwhelming it is.  I'm a big fan of black and white photography and this brings a more realistic black and white feel to your digital photos.

*Please note all opinions in this post are mine and mine along.  I was in no way compensated for it.  I have no affiliation with NikSoftware.