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Mardon
Guest
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 Posted:
Sat Nov 05, 2005 5:40 am Post subject:
CS2 Plug-ins For Christmas Gift? |
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I use PS CS2 as a hobby but I do not have any commercial plug-ins. My wife
would like to buy me a couple of these as Christmas gifts but she needs me
to tell her what I would like. I'm thinking about the "Noise Ninja Pro
Bundle" and "Genuine Fractals, full version 4.1". I would also like
something to help make delicate masks easier (for hair and smoke for
example) and I'm wondering about "Mask Pro 3" from OnOne Software.
What do others recommend as 'essential' CS2 plug-ins? I do some up-sampling
and high ISO work, so that's why I'm considering Noise Ninja and Genuine
Fractals. Are these reasonable first choices or are there other plug-ins
that are better to consider? The 'gift' budget is about $500.
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Markeau
Guest
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Annika1980
Guest
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| Posted:
Sat Nov 05, 2005 5:40 am Post subject:
Re: CS2 Plug-ins For Christmas Gift? |
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| Quote: | What do others recommend as 'essential' CS2 plug-ins? I do some up-sampling
and high ISO work, so that's why I'm considering Noise Ninja and Genuine
Fractals.
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The alternative to Noise Ninja would be NeatImage. Both work fine.
Genuine Fractals isn't needed. You'll do just as well upsampling in
Photoshop.
That's one of the big improvements in the more recent versions of
Photoshop, thanks largely to Chris Cox, who sometimes posts in these
forums.
The best addition you can make to CS2 is Photokit Sharpener.
You can even try it free for 7 days first.
http://www.pixelgenius.com/sharpener/index.html |
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bmoag
Guest
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| Posted:
Sat Nov 05, 2005 5:40 am Post subject:
Re: CS2 Plug-ins For Christmas Gift? |
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The Nik Color Efex package has several interesting and actually useful
filters along with the usual collection of oddities.
I have found regular use for the warming/brilliance and sunshine filters and
experiment frequently with several others. They have very usable filters for
toning and imparting old or nostalgic looks to images. The Nik control
applet however is clumsy and I just ignore it preferring to test the effect
of different filters on deletable layers.
To be honest there are some free-ware plug-ins that duplicate some of what
is in the Nik Color Efex package but they are not always as easy to use.
The sunshine filter alone almost justifies, for me, the cost of the Nik
package. It can create amazing transformations of dull or overcast lighting
and also yields some pleasing effects even with well lit scenes. I really
like this filter.
Personally, I have not found noise reduction plug-ins to be any better than
what is available in CS2 if used properly. I also am not convinced that for
most users the cost of sharpening plug-ins is superior to what you can
easily achieve with a little learning using the smart sharpen tool in CS2. |
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Bart van der Wolf
Guest
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| Posted:
Mon Nov 07, 2005 5:40 am Post subject:
Re: CS2 Plug-ins For Christmas Gift? |
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"bmoag" <aetoo@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:dHTaf.9675$7h7.4427@newssvr21.news.prodigy.com...
SNIP
| Quote: | Personally, I have not found noise reduction plug-ins to be any
better than what is available in CS2 if used properly.
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Reconsider. I use NeatImage (pioneers in noise reduction), but it
beats Photoshop CS2 (which I also use). Noise Ninja is said to do okay
as well, but I can't confirm from personal experience.
| Quote: | I also am not convinced that for most users the cost of sharpening
plug-ins is superior to what you can easily achieve with a little
learning using the smart sharpen tool in CS2.
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I tend to agree on this one, although there are (MUCH slower, but
slightly) better methods available.
Bart |
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Bart van der Wolf
Guest
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| Posted:
Mon Nov 07, 2005 5:41 am Post subject:
Re: CS2 Plug-ins For Christmas Gift? |
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"Annika1980" <annika1980@aol.com> wrote in message
news:1131151309.897465.5240@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
SNIP
| Quote: | Genuine Fractals isn't needed.
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Agreed.
| Quote: | You'll do just as well upsampling in Photoshop.
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Or rather, since most resampling is used to magnify the image data for
printing, I'd suggest Qimage (http://www.ddisoftware.com/qimage/). It
won't deplete the indicated "budget", but it's one of those
"must-have" utilities for the more actively used tool-box if one
prints images.
Bart |
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Stacey
Guest
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| Posted:
Mon Nov 07, 2005 5:41 am Post subject:
Re: CS2 Plug-ins For Christmas Gift? |
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bmoag wrote:
| Quote: | I also am not convinced
that for most users the cost of sharpening plug-ins is superior to what
you can easily achieve with a little learning using the smart sharpen tool
in CS2.
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I disagree. The CS2 filter doesn't do selective sharpening. The sharpening
tool I use makes a mask from the image to apply sharpening with (avoids
sky/water etc that would just amplify noise) and you can easily edit the
mask with a brush or eraser to add or remove shapening from specific areas
manually.
--
Stacey |
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