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5. SILVER EFEX PRO 2
   GOOGLE NIK COLLECTION
   http://www.google.com/nikcollection / Approx £89/$
   This plug-in is designed especially for creating striking black and
   white photography. It emulates old film types, as well as adding
   tones and borders to finish the look. The algorithms that are used
   are very powerful so that you get a realistic result, but the whole
   process is editable so that you can tweak it to get the image that
   you want. There is a built-in History Browser so that you can
   undo adjustments easily and re-apply, as well as a whole host of
   tools to selectively alter your photo. The price quoted here is
   actually for the Nik Collection bundle (you can’t buy the products
   individually any more), so for that price you also get Analog Efex
   Pro, HDR Efex Pro, Dfine, Color Efex Pro, Viveza and Sharpener
   Pro, which makes this quite a bargain.
   06. FILTER FORGE
   FILTER FORGE INC
   http://www.fi lterforge.com / From approx £89/$
   Filter Forge is a plug-in that works in two key ways. First, it gives
   you access to over 10,000 filters that have been created by its
   community, which means that you can create some interesting
   effects with little effort. The real power comes from the fact that
   you can use the plug-in to create your own filters using the visual
   node-based editor. It can be a bit complicated to get your head
   around at first, so it is worth exploring the Support section on the
   website, which has tutorials to follow to get started. Filter Forge
   comes in three versions – Basic, Standard and Professional – so it
   depends what functionality you need. For example, if you wanted
   to create your own filters, you couldn’t do that with the Basic
   version, so it is worth considering one of the more advanced
   suites. The Professional version is available on a subscription
   model, which helps to manage the cost.

■ Preset Library

Choose a preset from the panel

on the left to start your edit. You

can save your own presets to

appear here too (under Custom)

and import others

Global Adjustments ■

Here you can make adjustments

to your whole image by playing

with the sliders. You can always

undo if you are not happy with

the results

Selective Adjustments ■

By setting control points on your

image, you can target where you

make adjustments, which is

good for fine-tuning your effect

Further controls ■

You can also set Color Filter,

Film Type and Finishing

Adjustments using the panels

down the right for a more

precise result

20 BEST PLUGINS