Happy Fall everyone. To celebrate all these great fall colors we’re giving 15% off ALL PRODUCTS. Or buy 2 or more and get 20% off (double the normal discount) The sale ends October 25th so tell your friends.
Just use promo code – FALL
Save 20% on 2 or more with code – FALL2
Remember I’m here to help if you need it. Also here’s a shot taken on the beach I thought I’d throw in for fun. It’s been one of my popular ones on Flickr. Have a super week and stay tune to ProPhotoShow. New podcasts coming soon… Gavin
We’ve worked out a deal with Nik and you an save 15% on any of their products with promo code PPS.
I finally got a chance to play with Nik’s new Silver Efex Pro. It’s a Photoshop/Aperture plugin for making Black & White images from color one’s. Here’s the straight scoop! The interface follows Nik’s fairly clean and simple window style that graces the rest of their plugin’s. When it open’s you’ll be greeted by your image; a sidebar on the right that gives you control over the effects being added; a sidebar on the left with some easy preset effects, and a few other tools around the screen that control the preview, etc.
Overall I liked the plugin. It suffers the the problem I find with most PS plugins, that causes me to stick with actions and presets for most images. When you open an image in the plugin you have to wait a few seconds and then use the tools in another window. Essentially PS goes away for that time, and when you commit those changes you are returned to your regular work environment. There’s nothing really wrong with this, it’s just not great for a workflow with large quantities of images, but more designed for those great images you want to spend extra time with.
I did find what’s inside to be simple and effective. There’s various preset options for making B&W images fast. You have color tones, film type, color filters etc to give you full control over making a nice piece of art. There’s also the ability to add some great looking grain effects is so desired, and the plugin; like many Nik products includes the U Point option that allows you to easily control effects on specific portions of the image (See Viveza)
BOTTOM LINE: I won’t be using Silver Effects for my everyday B&W images, because presets in Lightroom and actions in PS do most the the B&W effects I need, with more speed. I can also get most of the effects that the Silver provides by using the built in tools that PS provides (though with a bit more work)
All this said I think Silver is a good tool for getting great B&W effects on those images you want to spend some extra time with. It’s also great for trying out various effects with a lot of control and precision. I knocked off a half star because, Silver, at $199.00 costs twice what it probably should. Still if you have 199 to spare, and want a great tool for really fine tuning B&W images then pick it up (you can of course try Nik’s short 15 day demo).
Hey gang. Here’s a small set of actions I made to help watermark photo’s. If your in SE fan club on Facebook you got these a few weeks ago. but I wanted to post them up here for the blog readers. Nothing huge here. These just take a logo, or type and make it have that transparent bevel look of a watermark.
You can also modify them to speed things up. For example you could record a command at the beginning of the action to place your logo at the start, and then save and close at the end so that you could automate the watermarking. You can add commands to an action like this by simply selecting the action and pressing record. Then re-save the action when your done modding it.
Also if you use LR check out Mogrify. It’s a great plugin. Make you overlay in PS, then use the LR Mogrify plugin to overlay it on export. It’s how I do my batches.
UPDATE: 09.09 to V1.1. Added a new glassy effect action (see sample below).
Update 02/2011. I’ve updated this sampler pack with fresh effects that reflects the refinements in version 1.6. Download and enjoy.
UPDATE 02/2008: I had the wrong files in the download so people were getting one of my LR preset samples instead of the PS actions. It’s been fixed now.
Hey everyone. As many of you know I recently launched the new Creative Essentials actions. I’ve been using CE like crazy because it’s filled with actions I can use on everyday images I want to look great. It’s everything from skin softening effects, and fast glows to a mix of B&W’s, and workflow enhancers all in one simple action set.
I thought I’d post up a few freebies for you all. Here’s three actions that come from the Creative Essentials set, including Boost IT, Simple Sharp, Simply Soft I and Milk Chocolate. The whole set has over twenty actions, so if you like em check out the complete set.
Here’s the direct download, no strings, FREE as in totally. Enjoy… Gavin
I’m super excited to announce the release on Creative Essentials. This is an action set you’ll use all the time. I’m using them like crazy on Seim Studios shoots and loving them. Even if you have no other actions, this set will keep you more creative, and more efficient.
C.E does not replace the popular Hollywood Effects Action set. It’s more like the missing link between my Lightroom presets and Hollywood Actions. It’s a set of workflow enhancing effects and tools that include sharpening. There’s a Video on the page that will show you all the power of Creative Essentials.
