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Gadget Bag: Get Plugged In!
We sometimes hear photographers say that, because of their Photoshop expertise, they can create the same results that any plug-in filter can produce. Perhaps, but that’s not the point. Do you make your salad croutons from scratch? Plug-ins deliver predictable, consistent effects. They police digital noise, facilitate image scaling, eliminate (or optionally emulate) film grain and can even modify our images to match results that we’d expect from some analog counterparts—like the extremely popular Fujichrome Velvia.
Nik Software (formerly nik Multimedia) offers three sets of plug-ins that would be hard to live without. The first, Color Efex Pro, is a comprehensive assortment of 75 color enhancement filters that includes traditional (Fog, Vignette, Graduated) and more exotic (Stairs, Midnight, Pop Art) filter effects. The filters are easy to use and easy to control and can be selectively applied to portions of images. There are three different B/W Conversion filters and each renders a different result. Estimated Street Price: $249.
The third offering from Nik Software is Dfine, a powerful noise-reduction application that can be used to reduce luminance noise, chrominance noise and even JPEG artifacts. It also can be used to adjust image contrast and to enhance colors. Camera profiles, which are sold separately, allow you to optimize performance for your specific equipment. Estimated Street Price: $79.
If you’ve ever wished you could use your fish-eye lens without hemispheric distortion, Fisheye-Hemi is for you. The effect is amazing; in fact, it almost looks like an illusion. It corrects image perspective, straightens vertical lines and restores the natural appearance of human subjects. There are three separate plug-ins included in Fisheye-Hemi version 1.1, which can be downloaded from the Image Trends Website, and they cover the most common types of fish-eye images, from full frame to bordered circle. Estimated Street Price: $29.
Ever hear of Optipix 3.1 from Reindeer Graphics? If not, you certainly will. This suite of image-improvement plug-ins covers the gamut, from contrast management (including a Zone System approach) through sharpening and artifact-removing tools all the way up to the innovative Blend Exposure (two images are blended to improve contrast accuracy). The Refocus plug-in allows you to dissolve sofness without introducing sharpening artifacts, and the JPEG Cleaner is a champ at removing JPEG jaggies. Estimated Street Price: $119.
Alien Skin
www.alienskin.com
Digital Film Tools
www.digitalfilmtools.com
Digital GEM (Kodak)
www.asf.com
Imagenomic
www.imagenomic.com
Image Trends
www.imagetrendsinc.com
Nik Software
www.niksoftware.com
Reindeer Graphics
www.reindeergraphics.com