Purely Adobe or also Nik, DxO, etc.?

Glevum Owl

Senior Member
I've been engaged in an interesting dialogue (via WhatsApp) with a friend who's well experienced and qualified in photography. His approach is purely PS, and to a lesser degree, LR, his argument being that all that's needed for most things is curves, hue, saturation, masks, paths and, occasionally, LAB.

I'm both lazy and something of software junkie. If there's a tool that will save me time and effort, I'll use it. Currently I'm trialling both the latest DxO and the Nik Collection whilst trying to get the same results in PS without spending hours doing so.

So I was wondering

- how many people out there (here?) are pure PS users?

- are there things that DxO, Nik, etc. can definitely do that PS definitely can't do at all or can do but only with difficulty?
 

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
I've been engaged in an interesting dialogue (via WhatsApp) with a friend who's well experienced and qualified in photography. His approach is purely PS, and to a lesser degree, LR, his argument being that all that's needed for most things is curves, hue, saturation, masks, paths and, occasionally, LAB.

I'm both lazy and something of software junkie. If there's a tool that will save me time and effort, I'll use it. Currently I'm trialling both the latest DxO and the Nik Collection whilst trying to get the same results in PS without spending hours doing so.

So I was wondering

- how many people out there (here?) are pure PS users?

- are there things that DxO, Nik, etc. can definitely do that PS definitely can't do at all or can do but only with difficulty?
Short answer: I'm all Photoshop with NIK Tools thrown in.

Long answer: I don't care for Lightroom because I don't like its data-base methodology (catalogs and so forth) which, for many, is one of Lr's biggest selling points. Adobe Bridge allows me to tag, filter, sort, cull, view etc. and it integrates with Photoshop. So that's how I handle such tasks without Lr. I also like working with Photoshop's Layers and Masks which are either simply not available in Lr or, if they are, require a plug-in and even then it's just not the same in my experience.

The standard selection tools in PS leave a lot to be desired in my opinion which is why NIK Tools is absolutely HUGE for me, and only second to Photoshop. Control Points allow me to make selections similar to a Luminosity Mask, but even better in some ways because I can move Control Points all around the image, group them, etc. and they're "smart" enough to "talk" to one another... It's a hard thing to explain but simply put, the power of NIK's Control Points is a "game changer".

Lastly, NIK's tool for noise removal application, Dfine, is also just about a joy to use. As is Silve Efex Pro for B&W conversions.

Gawd I could go on all day about how awesome NIK Tools is...
.....
 

Moab Man

Senior Member
You don't need the other tools, because photoshop will do these things. The difference is that with these other tools you have a tool that can do a job super fast versus grinding away. Example, a power saw and a hand saw. Both will do the job, but I find the power tool much faster and easier, but I could certainly stand on my soap box and scream out, BUT I'M DOING IT BY HAND!
 
I used to be a Photoshop only guy. Then I was introduced to Nik. Love it. Then someone finally browbeat me into giving Lightroom a change so I did. Love it. Now DxO came along and I tried it. Love it.

Yes, you should be able do it all in Photoshop but with the other tools it make is much faster and more importantly it is repeatable
 

Glevum Owl

Senior Member
Thanks for the responses which I've found reassuring. Working in splendid isolation can skew one's perspective and I'd argued myself in circles trying to decide which way to go with post processing. Your comments helped me gain an objective perspective.

Thanks in a large part to these comments (and after two days of playing), I reckon I'll
- keep using LR for general organisation, geotagging and grouping images but process fewer images in it,
- not bother upgrading from DxO 8 to 10,
- look out for a Black Friday deal on the Nik Collection.

I spent far too much time in Silver Efex Pro reworking older CRW, CR2, RW2 and JPEGs. I'd get Nik just for that module.

It took me about an hour working on various images to 'get' Nik control points but once I did. Wow. The subtlest of changes make such a difference.

Thanks again.
 
Lightroom is still great for doing probably 75% of the post processing that you need to do so don't discount its importance. Nik, DxO etc, are for those shots that need a little extra help.
 

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
As a photographer I could live with Lightroom only.

As a creative person I have learned to rely on Photoshop more as a place to assemble the piece parts of my post processing than for the tools that it specifically offers - though I use them extensively as well. The ability to apply various layer masks and blend modes has become integral to what I do with a photograph and how I apply the output from other programs like the Nik Collection, onOne Perfect Effects, and Topaz Impression, Glow, Simplify, and others. To do that sort of assembly in Lightroom would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, even with the ability of the onOne and (some) Topaz filters to apply masks and/or blend modes.
 

wornish

Senior Member
I use Lightroom for the cataloging tagging etc and the initial basic adjustments plus cropping / straightening and lens corrections, but I find the sharpening and detail adjustments a bit awkward.
So I switch to PS to do these more complex adjustments and sharpening. I also use the Macphun Creative Kit apps as a filter in PS to help in these areas I find it more powerful than the NIK collection.
 
I use Lightroom for the cataloging tagging etc and the initial basic adjustments plus cropping / straightening and lens corrections, but I find the sharpening and detail adjustments a bit awkward.
So I switch to PS to do these more complex adjustments and sharpening. I also use the Macphun Creative Kit apps as a filter in PS to help in these areas I find it more powerful than the NIK collection.

I have been assisting a Pro Photographer recently on his Tech needs and he has been helping me with my photography. He shared with me what he and many of his friends do when importing into Lightroom. A basic Develop Preset.

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4 * Create and apply Develop presets

Here are the settings he suggested and since I have been using them it has really made a difference and sped up processing

Under Sharpening
Amount: 75
Radius: 0.9
Detail: 40
Masking: 40

There are other setting that you can do in your develop preset so if there are things that you always do when you are developing your photos in Lightroom you can set these in your preset at the same time.
 

Glevum Owl

Senior Member
I have been assisting a Pro Photographer recently on his Tech needs and he has been helping me with my photography. He shared with me what he and many of his friends do when importing into Lightroom. A basic Develop Preset.

Any idea if the suggested presets work on all images? I find that different RAW formats seem to require different workflows. The RW2s amassed during my micro 4/3 days need a different 'recipe' from the old Canon DSLR CRWs & CR2s and new D3300 NEF files. Likewise the CR2s from our current go anywhere, 'family' camera, a Canon S90, need different processing again and usually lots of it via DxO.

And is it just me or does each release of LR have a different rendering / processing engine? Techniques that used to work in LR3 fail in LR CC notably 'Auto'. This used to get me a fair way towards to what I wanted whereas now it invariably overexposes all formats.
 
Any idea if the suggested presets work on all images? I find that different RAW formats seem to require different workflows. The RW2s amassed during my micro 4/3 days need a different 'recipe' from the old Canon DSLR CRWs & CR2s and new D3300 NEF files. Likewise the CR2s from our current go anywhere, 'family' camera, a Canon S90, need different processing again and usually lots of it via DxO.

And is it just me or does each release of LR have a different rendering / processing engine? Techniques that used to work in LR3 fail in LR CC notably 'Auto'. This used to get me a fair way towards to what I wanted whereas now it invariably overexposes all formats.

This is just a base for RAW images. All Raw images have to be sharpened and this is just a good starting point. My friend shoots high end Canons and I shoot D7000 and D7100 and most of the time it gets me to where I would like it to be. Remember, this is just sharpening and not all the other setting you need in post.

I have also gone back to some of my older shots done with the D3100 and the D5100 and I find these setting look better than where I had them back then.,
 

Glevum Owl

Senior Member
This is just a base for RAW images. All Raw images have to be sharpened and this is just a good starting point. My friend shoots high end Canons and I shoot D7000 and D7100 and most of the time it gets me to where I would like it to be. Remember, this is just sharpening and not all the other setting you need in post.

I have also gone back to some of my older shots done with the D3100 and the D5100 and I find these setting look better than where I had them back then.,

I was a bit tired, didn't read the post correctly so didn't realise it related to sharpening only. Apologies. :redface-new:

Since I started out in digital photography, I've always added sharpening last as that was the accepted wisdom back then. Time to experiment methinks.
 
I was a bit tired, didn't read the post correctly so didn't realise it related to sharpening only. Apologies. :redface-new:

Since I started out in digital photography, I've always added sharpening last as that was the accepted wisdom back then. Time to experiment methinks.

Once I started doing this I have found I need to do a lot less post processing and I get better photos I think I was seeing a lack of sharpness as lack of contrast and other things so I would try and fix them elsewhere. I think now I see what really needs to be done if I sharpen it before I even look at it. Like I said though this is a starting point but I think a pretty good one.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Glevum Owl

Senior Member
I have been assisting a Pro Photographer recently on his Tech needs and he has been helping me with my photography. He shared with me what he and many of his friends do when importing into Lightroom. A basic Develop Preset.

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4 * Create and apply Develop presets

Here are the settings he suggested and since I have been using them it has really made a difference and sped up processing

Under Sharpening
Amount: 75
Radius: 0.9
Detail: 40
Masking: 40

There are other setting that you can do in your develop preset so if there are things that you always do when you are developing your photos in Lightroom you can set these in your preset at the same time.

Over recent days I've spent a few hours trying this with a variety of subjects and file formats including some mobile phone JPEGs. It works with everything!

At times the differences are subtle but they're almost always noticeable and, as you say, it does speed up processing. I've now altered my workflow almost entirely. For the Canon S90 CR2s, all that's required in most instances after import is colour balance and a quick curve adjustment.

Thank you! If you're passing, drop in and I'll buy you a pint.
 

Glevum Owl

Senior Member
CC provides everything necessary to process almost any image. It can require considerable time and effort to achieve the desired results hence the market for third party software that speeds up the process or is better at a given area of post processing e.g. HDR, noise reduction, lens distortion removal, etc. As an economy measure, I went without CC for several months earlier this year and was unable to find any software, individually or collectively, to rival LR & PS combined. I caved in and
re-subscribed a couple of weeks ago. Just get it and dive in.
 
Top