May 2, 2016, 15:06
Jeff,
I do my conversion from raw using Lightroom 6.5.1. I have all the noise reduction and sharpening switched off in Lightroom and I have all sharpening switched off in camera.
My first edit in Nik is Dfine 2 Noise Reduction. I do all my Nik processing in TIFF, ProPhoto RGB, 16 bit and 300 resolution. I find that the default setting for Dfine is perfect for all bar noisy images. I then use Sharpener Pro 3: RAW Presharpener. I usually use the default setting, but sometimes I increase the Adaptive Sharpening to 55 or 60% and may also increase the Sharpen edges.
I use Viveza 2 if I have an area I want to either increase or decrease the Structure. I use Structure decrease to throw background that little bit out of focus.
I use Color Efex Pro 4 quite a bit for the Graduated ND filter. Great for slightly darkening the top of the sky (or sometimes the immediate foreground). I sometimes use the colour Grad filter for sky effects.
Silver Efex Pro 2 is great for creating Black and White conversions. Or for "old fashioned" looks and making images look like old faded images.
To finish off I use Sharpener Pro 3: Output Sharpener. I use this in two stages. I do any Creative Sharpening first, turning Output Sharpening off altogether. I then export that image as a 16 bit TIFF file. This is my default storage.
When I come to use the image, either for printing, for display, or for posting here, I first resize it for the use I intend it for, then, using Sharpener Pro 3: Output Sharpener, I sharpen it for the output medium (usually display). I then convert to JPEG, and use that image for the output.
John.
I do my conversion from raw using Lightroom 6.5.1. I have all the noise reduction and sharpening switched off in Lightroom and I have all sharpening switched off in camera.
My first edit in Nik is Dfine 2 Noise Reduction. I do all my Nik processing in TIFF, ProPhoto RGB, 16 bit and 300 resolution. I find that the default setting for Dfine is perfect for all bar noisy images. I then use Sharpener Pro 3: RAW Presharpener. I usually use the default setting, but sometimes I increase the Adaptive Sharpening to 55 or 60% and may also increase the Sharpen edges.
I use Viveza 2 if I have an area I want to either increase or decrease the Structure. I use Structure decrease to throw background that little bit out of focus.
I use Color Efex Pro 4 quite a bit for the Graduated ND filter. Great for slightly darkening the top of the sky (or sometimes the immediate foreground). I sometimes use the colour Grad filter for sky effects.
Silver Efex Pro 2 is great for creating Black and White conversions. Or for "old fashioned" looks and making images look like old faded images.
To finish off I use Sharpener Pro 3: Output Sharpener. I use this in two stages. I do any Creative Sharpening first, turning Output Sharpening off altogether. I then export that image as a 16 bit TIFF file. This is my default storage.
When I come to use the image, either for printing, for display, or for posting here, I first resize it for the use I intend it for, then, using Sharpener Pro 3: Output Sharpener, I sharpen it for the output medium (usually display). I then convert to JPEG, and use that image for the output.
John.
Ask yourself, "What's most important for the final image?".