#Topaz lens effects upgrade#
#Topaz lens effects code#
#Topaz lens effects free#

Now that I’m in the Topaz B&W Effects 2.1 application, my workflow becomes the same. In Photoshop, I’ll first duplicate the layer, then follow the menu path Filter > Topaz Labs > B&W Effects 2 to launch the plugin.

#Topaz lens effects free#

As mentioned above, Fusion Express is a free utility from TopazLabs that allows you to integrate any of the Topaz Labs plugins with Lightroom, Aperture or iPhoto. In Lightroom, I’ll follow the menu path Photo > Edit In > Fusion Express 2 and choose Edit a copy with Lightroom Adjustments to launch the Topaz package and then I’ll select B&W Effects 2 and click on the Run button. This displays the region of the image you are currently focused on.īelow panel 4 on the right is panel 5, the Settings and P arameters panel with the quick buttons and sliders to adjust the v arious effects. In the top right is panel 4, the Preview Navigator. Panel 2, the Preview Window, is the l argest panel and displays the preview of the original and the adjusted image.Ībove panel two is a strip of Viewing Tools to control zoom and other viewing options. The effects in the lower section of this panel change as you select the preset group in the upper section of the panel. On the left you have panel 1, the Presets/Effects panel. You can think of the UI as five distinct panels.

Viewing Enhancements to easily change the main preview background color and hide the side panels.īelow is a look at the new user interface.

Loupe to quickly see a portion of the image at 100%.

Quick Tools to enhance contract, brightness and adaptive exposure.

Color Filter and Sensitivity Enhancements in both strength and quality.

Grain Enhancements for more realistic grain.

Border Enhancements – 24 d arkroom inspired border presets.

Zone System Mode with 11 distinct zones to allow for better exposure adjustments.

Preset Quicklook View – a grid that shows the presets in a collection at the same time.

Cleaner, more useable user interface to improve workflow.

Summ ary of the improvements in Topaz B&W Effects 2.1 I prefer to travel new roads than drive one road till it’s become rutted and monotonous. I also tend to arrive at my destination and then destroy the layered master such that each of my images is unique – if I went back to the original RAW source, I wouldn’t be able to reproduce the same result. While each version of Lightroom gets better, I personally prefer the flexibility and control provided by layers within Photoshop to the multiple adjustment brushes in Lightroom.

Note that to host in Lightroom, Aperture or iPhoto you also need either the free Topaz Fusion Express add-on of photoFXlab.Īlthough I have all the Topaz Labs products, I most often use them as a filter applied to layers in Adobe Photoshop and only occasionally as a direct plugin to Adobe Lightroom. Yes, it gets confusing but you can buy Topaz photoFXlab and then use that to host your Topaz B&W Effects 2.1 and other Topaz products. Instead, you can use Topaz Labs’ photoFXlab ($79.99 at time of writing) as a host – and also as a plugin. To be fair, you don’t need Lightroom, or Photoshop, or Elements, or Aperture, or iPhoto to host Topaz B&W Effects 2.1. And that, in a nutshell, is the answer to the question, ‘Why use a plugin?’. Let’s face it, however we define value, we’d all like the solution to be easier than h arder, deliver the result sooner rather than later, be cheaper rather than more expensive and be gu aranteed rather than uncertain. Why use a plugin?Įasier, faster, cheaper, gu aranteed – we’re all conditioned to seek solutions that meet these criteria.

#Topaz lens effects code#

You can get a 15% discount on your purchase by using coupon code rdavisphoto at checkout from the Topaz Labs Store.

#Topaz lens effects upgrade#

Regul arly priced at $59.99, it was released as a free upgrade to customers who licensed B&W Effects. I regul arly use several plugins for black and white conversion but in this review I’m going to confine myself to Topaz B&W Effects 2.1 – released by Topaz Labs on April 11, 2013. While it’s relatively straight forw ard to convert an image to black and white in either Adobe Lightroom or Adobe Photoshop (or Aperture, but I use Lightroom and Photoshop), there’s a level of creative simplicity that is lent to the conversion process through using a plugin.