Have you tried the the Nik Collection for photos?

Brugge canal houses
Brugge canal houses: A photo from my Canon Powershot with some curves applied in Photoshop. This is what I used for testing out the Nik Collection; it’s a lo-res version of original image).

Google has a set of photo filters that are really pretty powerful. There are loads of presets, and with ranges of layers that can be selectively controlled.

They say the filters work with Photoshop, Lightroom, etc, but you’ll see that they are installed as stand alone apps; I presume they draw upon Photoshop‘s engine to work their magic.

You will suffer from option paralysis!

Below are a few samples, with names of filters within each set. Captions note which are presets, and which have been modified. One of the most impressive tools in all of these is the integration of control points, with which you can affect specific areas of the image, when a global change isn’t optimal.

Analog Efex

Classic camera 2 [preset]
Brugge canal houses
Classic camera 4 [preset]
Silver Efex

Classic camera 5 [modified settings]

Silver Efex

Brugge canal houses
Full Contrast and Structure [modified settings]
Brugge canal houses
High Structure (harsh) [modified settings]
Brugge canal houses
Antique Plate II [preset]
Brugge canal houses
Silhouette EV +0.5 [preset]

Color Efex

Brugge canal houses
Reflector Efex [preset]
Brugge canal houses
Detail Extractor [modified settings]
Monday Morning [preset]
Brugge canal houses
Graduated Fog [modified settings]

HDR Efex

Brugge canal houses
Deep 1 [modified]
Tinted Structure [preset]
Outdoor 1 [preset]

1 thought on “Have you tried the the Nik Collection for photos?”

  1. […] Yesterday was the first day since I arrived upstate that it broke sunny instead of clouds attended by rain. It was welcome timing, as we’d long planned a day on Canandaigua Lake where my middle brother and his family have a new lake house. It was breezy and sunny with a brilliant sky and the water was pleasant for swimming. (Some of these photos were filtered through the Nik collection.) […]

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