Dragging the slider left and right allows you to increase and decrease the size of each control. The adjustment area is represented by the circle you see in the photo above. The top slider is the size slider which controls the area that you wish to adjust. You can add as many control points as you wish to the image you are editing and control the size of each one individually. Control points allow you to selectively manipulate global adjustments in specific areas of your image. Partly a sharpening tool, partly a depth tool structure adds that extra bit of “oomph” to a photograph that takes it to the next level in terms of image detail. Structure is one of my favorite parts of this software. You really have to play with this slider in order to fully appreciate what you can do for you. The soft contrast slider also will intelligently assess the overall contrast of your image and allow you to make subtle yet striking changes to the photograph you are working on.

The unique algorithms within the software assesses the different areas of your image and takes that information into consideration to give you a much smoother blending of overall brightness. With the dynamic brightness slider Silver Efex Pro 2 does some of the thinking for you.

Two excellent features within this panel our dynamic brightness and soft contrast. In this panel, you control the typical brightness and contrast within the image. While I’m using Silver Efex Pro 2 as a Photoshop plug-in, you can also use it as a stand alone product or in Lightroom and Aperture. Some of my favourite features of the software are the possibility to emulate types of film, adding filters, total control of “film” grain, controlling image structure, one-click toning, and Nik’s U Point® Technology. This software can be as intricate or as simple as you would like it to be, making it a solid choice for both amateur and professional photographers. Anyone who is serious about black and white photography needs to try this excellent plug-in. While programs like Lightroom, Aperture, and Photoshop are quite capable of creating excellent black-and-white images, Silver Efex Pro 2 offers incredible diversity along with simplicity for the user. We are living in a golden age of photography where the possibilities for creating incredible images is near limitless. I think that having that background allows me to have a deeper appreciation of what is possible to do with digital images today on a computer. I spent many years in real darkrooms back at the beginning of my career in photography.

While there are countless ways to create black and white digital photographs today, Nik software’s Silver Efex Pro 2 stands out as my preferred method of creating Rich and beautiful black and white images in the digital darkroom.

Create Stunning Black and White Digital Photos UPDATE: The Nik Collection is now free but unsupported.

Nik collection presets free download