I just downloaded the latest offering from Topaz Labs, their new product called B&W Effects. I sat through a webinar for this product last Sunday and was really impressed at how easily it converted color photographs to black and white images. There are tons of presets, grouped into collections that make it easy to navigate from one look to another. And there are plenty of sliders to allow you to fine-tune the results of the presets even further to your own liking.
I’ve been on the lookout for a good software product to use in black-and-white processing. I tried to use Nik Silver Efex, but it’s not compatible with Paint Shop Photo Pro, and I’m still not ready to plunk down the dollars for Photoshop. I’ve used the Topaz Labs bundle for almost two years now, and love the results that I get, especially from Topaz Adjust and DeNoise. So I was really excited when I learned that they were coming out with their own black-and-white conversion product.
Here are a few images that I processed this evening by just picking a preset and then playing with the sliders. If you always thought that black-and-white was boring, you should check out this product. I never knew there were so many different tones of color in a “black-and-white” image. The software makes it easy to add grain, vignettes, borders, and you can even dodge, burn, and selectively sharpen. I can tell that I am really gonna LOVE this product! Right now, you can get it for $29.99, a $30 savings. (No, I’m not an affiliate of Topaz and I don’t get any money if you buy the product.)
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Glad to see you back, shooting and posting, Zann. Sounds like the new Topaz product does everything the Nik product does, but for a lot less money. I am already heavily invested (monetarily and philosophically) with Lightroom and Photoshop and so I am using the entire Nik suite, but I recently acquired the Topaz suite and have been having some fun playing with that. I really like the clarity and tonality of two images up top here, and especially the composition with the working man walking from the light rail car.
Thanks, Wayne. Unfortunately I haven’t had a chance to shoot lately since we’re getting ready to move in about 12 days. These were all shots from my archives that I decided to use for testing the new software. I’ve posted a few more on my Flickr page this morning if you would like to check them out at http://www.flickr.com/photos/suzannehight/.