DxO (a French company known mostly
for its camera and lens testing) pur-
chased it in 2017. DxO has invested a
lot of time in improving the software
and has recently reintroduced it as ver-
sion 2. Having been involved with Nik
software in the early years, I was inter-
ested in trying the new product.
The Nik 2 Collection includes the fol-
lowing programs:- Analog Efex Pro. Applies film-era
camera, lens and film simulation. - Color Efex Pro. Package of filters for
many effects. - Dfine. Noise reduction.
- HDR Efex Pro. Program to process
both single HDR renditions and/or
combine several images to control
contrast and change the look of the
originals. - Sharpener Pro. An image sharpening
program. - Silver Efex Pro. Changing color to
B&W with numerous different looks. - Viveza. Color control with advanced
functions for changing contrast and
saturation. - ProLab 2. An excellent RAW con-
verter and basic image optimization.
Rather than reviewing each of the
eight programs, I’ll highlight features
incorporated in all of them and focus
on those most useful to outdoor
photographers.
The operating strategy of Nik U Point
Technology is especially powerful. The
photographer selects a point of interest
in an image and adds a “control point.”
From the control point, the circular area
to be modified can be enlarged or made
smaller. The color and tone that are
under the control point determine what
is selected within the circle. You can see
what in the radius of the selected area
will be affected by looking at the mask
that’s produced. At the control point are
a number of functions that control color,
exposure, contrast, highlights, mid-
tones, shadows, blacks, saturation and
a few additional enhancements. Each
option has its own slider. You can do
most of these adjustments in Photoshop
but not as well-targeted and not as eas-
ily. This U Point capability is available
in not only the programs listed above
but also in the RAW converter found in
PhotoLab 2.
Because detail is everything to me,
I work with a 32-inch 4K monitor and
two 27-inch 5K monitors. A problem
with some other image processing pro-
grams is that when working at highertech tips
Topaz Sharpen AI in Use. This
screen capture depicts the process
of sharpening an extreme telephoto
capture of a wild bald eagle.
Sharpening has been completed on
the right side of the split screen. The
inset is an enlargement of the control
panel located in the upper right
corner of the screen. Single 4K video
frame grab from Canon EOS R, Canon
EF 600mm f/4L III lens and two EF 2x
Extenders (4392mm equivalent).
32 Outdoor Photographer outdoorphotographer.com