Creating black and white images with Nik Silver Efex

[@MiguelACoronaDM]

Thanks - great overview

[@erniejoopjoopful]

Thanks. Definitely one of the best tutorial I have ever seen.

[@normansavigar]

Great review. Thanks. Just downloaded Nik 7 Collection and this was a most useful introduction for my trial.

[@dominey]

Glad it was helpful! Definitely spend some time in Silver FX if you edit black and white. Great app.

[@normansavigar]

@@dominey That’s my primary area of interest with Nik 7

[@sigmundklaus]

thanks, really helpful video. I was on the fence with purchasing the Nik Collection - but from this I do see that apart from the film simulations everything else can be done in Capture One, too... now I need to find similar videos about the other plugins in the Nik Collection :)

[@jimrookphotos]

I've watched several tutorial reviews on Silver Efex and what you have here is definitely one of the best. Thanks for all your tips, Todd.

[@ashvarma2486]

Excellent video Todd! Many thanks for sharing

[@jonkers2007]

Excellent overview, thanks. If you hate the drop down on the control point you can disable it by clicking on the symbol just below the reset button in the selective adjustment section on the right panel.

[@EmmanuelNataf]

Been using Nik products for a long time but I hate that DxO are now milking us with a new version that adds nothing every year…

[@EsamKabliPhotography]

As a B&W photographer and user of Sliver Efex since it come out, I really like this video, Thanks

[@cartercooperpa]

So helpful to see your adjustments applied to the grayscale card. Makes sense now!! Thanks for this!!

[@davestokes3446]

Great video, thanks. I use SilverFX with PSCC's luminosity blend mode to enhance colour images.

[@dpulte]

is anybody else not very impressed with control points in this day and age, esp considering the sophisticated selection and masking tools in ACR, Lightroom, and Photoshop?

[@alangauld6079]

I much refer the Upoint technology to the AI masks in LR and Neo etc. The latter tend to be too clinical and unrealistic looking compared to the blended selections you get with U points. They do have a place and I use both, but for tonal adjustments in particular I prefer U points.

[@mariolombardi4766]

Todd, where can I get or develop a grey scale ramp for myself? Thanks as always for the excellent tutorial! Mario

[@toine1915]

Hi Todd. When I watch a video of yours it costs me money. I didn't know NIK had become so strong. I used the free Google version in the beginning. But this one from DxO has become really much more interesting. I hope you will make more videos about this program. I shoot 85% in black and white so I am very happy with this NIK collection. Thank you for this video, although it was made a while ago. Kind regards from the Netherlands, Antoine.

[@mathieumorel448]

Hey! Question is what's the relation between silver FX and the film packs dxo offers? Do they complement themselves or is it redundant? Thanks

[@krisztiankovacs3577]

Thank you the video , what do you think BW Artisan Pro x panel?🤔

[@ianwm54]

The control line is as powerful as the control point. Just place the eyedropper on the spot you wish to change. Also if you use the menu on the side the annoying menu disappears from the control point/line

[@davekosiur5162]

I watched the video just now (12/17/23) and have to second @ianwm54's comment about refining control lines. You get pretty much the same functionality as control points by using the eyedropper to select the area you want to adjust after creating a control line. Plus using the luminance and chrominance sliders for a control line provide added control on what parts of an image are affected. Turning on the checkbox on to see the masked area is helpful when making these refinements. And I also use only the sliders in the sidebar to make any adjustments. One thing I still don't understand is how an added control point is connected to the area affected by a control line. It seems as though there's some kind of grouping involved but I haven't gotten my head around that. There have been examples of that in videos for PhotoLab 6 but I'm still not sure of how this all works.

[@GrenvilleMelonseedSkiff496]

Can this tool be used as a plugin for Apple Photos on my iMac?

[@MLC48]

WOW! Thanks for this detailed tutorial. I was looking for a B&W image editing interface! SUBSCRIBED!

[@DRONIXAR]

Super, Wonderful, maravilloso, fantástico awesome :) 🔄⭕🔄

[@gijoeat58]

G'day Todd, an odd question but why do you have a light on your monitor?

[@spacejesus570]

Just bought the Nik Collection, thank you for the great info!

[@PMCN53]

An iteresting B&W editing tool. A great tutorial Todd, thanks for sharing your thoughts & experience.

[@robfielding100]

How to deal with an IR raw file with LR then Silver Effects? I have just started my adventures with IR

[@inakilauzirika5076]

Been using the Nik collection for a while and it is for sure one of the unavoidable plug ins to be run in Ps. It would be great if you could make a complete editing of one or a couple of your photos in order to try to learn about your workflow and Silver Effex tweaks you come up with getting your final processed image. Thanks so much in advance 😊

[@carlachirigos1576]

As a new user I was going to just select one of the choices on the left side of the panel but with your explanation I can see the usefulness of more control and creativity. Selecting a film type without knowing anything about them is like taking a shot in the dark so I may skip that and go for neutral unless my image is something that looks like it was taken decades ago. Thank you very much.

[@shupingyin8082]

can nik silver efex edit infrared? do you have to convert raw to tiff first?

[@kapurar]

An excellent overview of Silver Efex. Thank you!

[@chriscard6544]

awesome video, thank you. Your process is very helpful

[@alangauld6079]

I love the whole Nik collection and use SilverEfex for all my B&W. The zone system is great for tuning tonality. The two grain tools are confusing but the second one produces the most realistic grain being based on DxOs FilmPack technology and their studies of grain shape/structure in each film. The film emulations in SFX use the same generic grain shapes for all films and just vary the amount/size/density. The control lines do respond to colour and tone like control points but you have to use the eye dropper not the orange blob to choose the sample point. Also control points/lines are not independent, they talk to each other so that placing a second control point will adjust the selections of the first, you need to understand the way the algorithms work to get the best out of them. Also of course the new releases let you adjust the sensitivity to colour/tone so you can go from (old)Lightroom style gradients and radials to very precise luminosity or colour selections. And the diffusion controls the strength and localisation of the effect. Regarding cropping, definitely do it AFTER the Nik edit, you want to give the Control Points as many pixels to read from as possible to get the best selections, even the pixels outside the image area you will end up using. That will ensure the most natural fall off of the mask. Finally, if you don’t like the sliders on the image you can turn them off, it’s an option. Personally I hate using the right panel and always use the on-image sliders(much less mouse movement) and am so glad Nik brought them back - although they could be a little chunkier, I agree (and I hate that DxO have now removed them in PL7!) but I know its a matter of taste and with Nik you get to choose. But overall a good intro to Silver Efex, Nice job.

[@dominey]

Great feedback - thank you. And yes, DEFINITELY crop afterwards. That should really be one of the last/final steps (B/W or color) to format the image for different scenarios and media.

[@alexlford]

So detailed - thanks Todd

[@urbantactical148]

I’m a new photographer who really enjoys black and white, I currently use Luminar Neo whould I benefit from using silver efex or just use what I have?

[@alangauld6079]

I use Neo and its B&W tools are very limited compared to Nik. Basically just the colour channel mixer (and grain?). It’s a very blunt tool compared to Nik. If you are serious about B&W you should download the 30 day(?) trial and play with it.

[@3y837]

Great presentation.

[@stevemurphy5653]

A straightforward guide to Silver Efex! Would love to see how Nik Silver Efex is used in Affinity Photo as well. I understand the it is now comparable with this program , Thank you Todd for comprehensive coverage of these black and white tools.

[@alangauld6079]

In Affinity you must do a Merge Visible layers then select he merged layer and go to Filters->Plugins-Nik Silver Efex. The Nik tools now auto detect Affinity and install themselves so they appear in the menu. You could always use them but had to configure Affinity by hand, (and reconfigure after each Nik upgrade) Much easier now. When you close the Nik tool the changes show up in the merged layer of Affinity ready for cropping, cloning etc.

[@stevemurphy5653]

Thanks for taking the time explaining how Nik Silver Efex works with affinity photo - much appreciated! 😎

[@henkhenk4357]

Very good video !

[@deluxelex9056]

Have you tried editing a color photo using this by creating a new layer in Photoshop, doing the edits in Silver Efex, then setting the blending mode of that layer to luminosity. Wondering if that has any use or unique effects.

[@davestokes3446]

I've just added a similar comment. I use the technique a lot and it works very well.

[@dretwav]

I have Nik 5. Are there any substantive changes to Silver Efex in version 6. I rarely use any of the other modules.

[@alangauld6079]

I think control lines are new in v6(it’s so long since I used v5 I can’t be sure!) The diffusion selection adjustment is new. The ability to switch the on-screen sliders on/off is new. I think the new grain tool and Clearview were introduced in v5? So you already have them. The biggest changes in v6 are to ColorEfex and HDR Efex and the other tools which now all have the new more modern interface debuted on SFX and Viveza in v5.

[@Bchottube]

Thanks!

[@dominey]

Lovely! Thank you!

[@davidwilliamson1995]

Thanks for this video Todd. I've used it for many years Pre-google and DXO. I am one of those that just pushed the sliders around or tweaked a preset to achieve a result. Thanks for the lesson. I forgot to add I'd have like to have seen your pre-adjustments in CaptureOne

[@MikeNovakPhoto]

I remember using this back when it was free. If I recall the progression correctly Google took ownership of it at one point and then sold the rights to Dxo. And Dxo has bin developing it since then and started charging for it.

[@MLC48]

Ya, I got it when it was free too, but it is really a great tool and so I updated my free version to V6.? A good deal at $149. It has already paid for itself with one photo edit. Love it!

[@alangauld6079]

It started off as 7(?) separate tools all charged at different prices or bought as a bundle for about the same price as it is now. Google bought it, sold it for a while during which they used the U point technology to help build Snapseed (and added AnalogEfex) then made it free because they stopped supporting it. DxO took it over, moved U Points into Photolab and started improving it again, so they, quite reasonably, charge for it.