Silver Efex Pro 2 questions

back alley

back alley

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does it work with photoshop elements?
what do you like about it?
what don't you like about it?
did you try it and stop using it? why?

i'm wondering if i should go ahead and buy it, if it is worth it for my style of shooting/processing...i like that keep it simple approach...

i plan to download the 15 day trial offer soon.
 
It's a great piece of software, but I had trouble getting it to work with Photoshop Elements so I now use Lightroom. And, to be honest, i normally process my B/W pictures in Lightroom and don't use the Silverefex plugin. It is useful for special applications. Bottom line is, it's probably worth the money in the long run... Good luck.
 
does it work with photoshop elements?
Not quite sure, as I use CS4, but expect it does.

what do you like about it?
It's pretty intuitive with good control. Easy to perform 'what if's' and to get a good idea of where you might want to take your image processing wise. Cycling through the presets is fast, virtually no lag. I like the control points for dodging & burning etc...

what don't you like about it?
The canned film settings are a bit too contrasty for my taste. I usually start off with a 'neutral' setting and go from there.

did you try it and stop using it? why?
No...the more I use it, the more I use it.
 
Joe,
I use it with PS E9. Also used it with E7. I like it a lot. I shoot b&w film and digital for color. To my eyes, the digital color files, when processed with SFX2 are the equal to b&w film. If it wasn't for the fact that I enjoy using film bodies, I probably would switch to 100% digital.
I should have added that it works with CS2 as well.
 
The only reason I bought E9 was that E7 would not open RAW files from my G1. Otherwise, SFX2 worked fine with E7. As mentioned above, it is a very intuitive program. Easy to try various approaches to get the effect you are after.
 
Joe - just for interest there is a workaround that lets you use SEP2 as a stand-alone program. (This is for Windows - don't know about Macs.) Install the Lightroom version of the program, which installs on your computer the SEP executable program. Locate the executable (Silver Efex Pro 2.exe) and create a desktop shortcut. Now open the folder with the image file that you want to edit, select the file, then drag-and-drop the file onto the SEP2 shortcut. The program should open with the file to be edited.

Remember that SEP2 makes permanent changes to your files, so always work on a copy, preferably a high-quality tiff format copy.
 
I only have LR.

I like Silver Efex Pro it because it is simple. You can see the effects as you go.

The presets are a bit drastic for my taste. I like some of them, but don't feel quite right using them. I start with neutral and tend not to do much. I don't even look at film types.

I will keep using it because I like having a border.

I started with the trial version.
 
ChrisN said:
Joe - just for interest there is a workaround that lets you use SEP2 as a stand-alone program. (This is for Windows - don't know about Macs.) Install the Lightroom version of the program, which installs on your computer the SEP executable program. Locate the executable (Silver Efex Pro 2.exe) and create a desktop shortcut. Now open the folder with the image file that you want to edit, select the file, then drag-and-drop the file onto the SEP2 shortcut. The program should open with the file to be edited.

Remember that SEP2 makes permanent changes to your files, so always work on a copy, preferably a high-quality tiff format copy.
Click to expand...

It does indeed work on Macs which is how I use it. Great software.
 
back alley said:
did you try it and stop using it? why?
No...the more I use it, the more I use it.

interesting...my fear of new software has led me to not buy lightroom after trying the trial period...
Click to expand...

I don't use lightroom either, don't like it.

I use photoshop, sometimes epson raw along with mediapro for file management.
 
I recently downloaded the trial of silver efex pro and the trial of alien skin exposure 4 to try side by side. I liked both, but they are quite different. There were elements of efex that I would have liked in exposure and vice versa. In the end I bought exposure. It might be worth trying exposure as well, but it is more expensive.
 
Joe, I just got SEP2 a few weeks ago and I like it although I don't use it on every shot. I use LR3 mostly though I do have PS as well. SEP2 is quite slow to open an image and some of the presets are quite harsh. Sometimes though if I can't get the result in LR3 then SEP2 can often show me an alternative way to achieve a decent image. The few shots I've posted so far on Flickr usually have the word 'edit' at the end if you wanna see my examples.

Paul
 
I like it very much. I use it with Photoshop.

I like what they call u-points (I think) for selective adjustments. I was never an expert at making masks for corrections in Photoshop, and find the selective adjustment facility in SEP very helpful.

I also like the fact that the pre-sets can be used just as a starting point, from which you can then adjust curves, colour filtration, etc.
 
greyelm said:
Have a look at Snapseed, also by Nik Software, includes a B&W module, works stand alone or as a plugin and best of all only costs $20
Click to expand...


I like snap seed as well. But only for iPhone or iPad.
The files coming out are quite compressed and not worthy of printing larger than 5x7.
For internet use it's great and a very cool easy to use app for iPhone camera companion.

Like SEP 2 very much. It works well as a Plug in for Aperture 3. Worth the $200 for someone like you Joe who shoots only digital.
The local control points are very useful and intuitive. It's like dodging/burning and using ing Contrast filters in the wet darkroom once you get the hang of it.
The film presets IMO are only starting points. I've never been satisfied with any of the presets used as they are. Always tweaking and usually that involves lowering contrast and adjusting "grain".
 
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