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    Mastering Nik Viveza
    Mastering Nik Viveza
    Mastering Nik Viveza
    Ebook201 pages58 minutes

    Mastering Nik Viveza

    By Robin Whalley

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Since the first edition of this book, Google has made the Nik Collection and Viveza FREE to everyone. Using these tools correctly can literally transform your images into beautiful photography. Following this concise, informative book you will quickly achieve professional quality results with Viveza 2. You will learn about:

    •All the elements of the Viveza 2 interface and how they can dramatically reduce your editing time.
    •How each adjustment can be applied to control colour and light in your photography.
    •Counterintuitive adjustments that can be applied to achieve even better results.
    •The Control Point tool and how this can be used to selectively target adjustments. You will also learn how to use multiple control points to make even more precise adjustments.
    •Controlling and integrating Viveza 2 into your workflow.
    •The book also includes a valuable 75% discount for an accompanying Viveza video course.

    At the end of the book are four full length examples. These demonstrate how, starting with a basic image you can transform it into an impressive photograph. The examples are supported by high resolution files you can download from my website, allowing you to follow along on your own PC or Mac.

    The second edition of the book has been significantly expanded to include more examples and more in-depth information. Despite this, it retains the concise, hand on approach that made the first edition so popular. If you have ever struggled to make your images look the way you want them to, download Viveza and use this book.
    Don’t struggle with trial and error learning. Allow me to guide you quickly through the essential elements and demonstrate how you can achieve professional results with ease.

    This book covers Viveza 2 which is part of the Nik Collection up to and including the Nik Collection 3. It does not cover Viveza 3 launched in the Nik Collection 4.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRobin Whalley
    Release dateDec 20, 2017
    ISBN9781370301072
    Mastering Nik Viveza
    Author

    Robin Whalley

    Robin is a Landscape Photographer with a passion for software, image editing and a skill for sharing knowledge. He has been honing his photography skills since 2000 starting first with film before moving quickly embracing digital. Whilst he is not widely known as a photographer, his work has been published and sold around the world. He has appeared in exhibitions including The Landscape Photographer of the Year and been published in the popular UK photographic press. He now speaks at Camera Clubs and Photographic Societies throughout the North West of England where he likes to share his insights into how to create engaging photography.

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      Book preview

      Mastering Nik Viveza - Robin Whalley

      Preface to the 2nd Edition

      It’s a little more than four years since I published the first edition of this book and a lot has changed since then. At the time, Nik was an independent software company. Their software, the Nik Collection was widely regarded as the industry leader and was available in two versions. There was the full version which could be used with Photoshop, Elements and Lightroom or there was the Lightroom only version. Either of these would set you back a couple of hundred (£’s or $’s) but the full version was significantly more than the cost of the Lightroom only version. In addition to purchasing the entire Nik Collection it was possible to purchase some of the individual packages including Viveza and Silver Efex Pro.

      Soon after I published the first edition of this book, Google bought Nik. Why they did this wasn’t clear and I’m still no clearer now. Many suggested they wanted the mobile Snapseed application, perhaps to compete with the likes of Instagram. Googles first move following their purchase was to reduce the price of the software dramatically, to around £100/$130. They also issued a refund to everyone who had purchased Nik software in the past year and made the full Nik Collection available to all customers, irrespective of your original purchase.

      Following this, the initial development of the Nik software looked promising. Google was making improvements to the applications with small regular releases. This was quickly followed by a new application Analog Efex and after this, Analog Efex 2. There were even rumours of a major new release of the software being in the pipeline.

      Then in March 2016 came the surprise announcement by Google when it released the entire Nik Collection for free. This was good news for many as it brought excellent editing tools within their reach, but it also called into question the future development of the toolset. In March 2017 Google announced they would cease development of the Nik Collection and it appeared the software would be left to die. This has prompted a lot of photographers to move away from the tools, seeking alternatives that continue to be enhanced.

      But my own approach is quite different to this. The Nik Collection remains one of the best sets of tools available for photographers. Used correctly, tools like Viveza will transform your photography from OK to compelling. You still need to shoot a good image with compelling composition but Viveza will allow you to take it to a new level. It also brings the advantage of stability in that you are not constantly needing to learn updated tools.

      Very little has changed in image editing over recent years. New tools are released regularly by some software companies, possibly because they need to generate new revenue. Many new releases appear to offer only small incremental improvement whilst the Nik Collection of tools remain one of the leaders. Learn to use these tools and they will serve you well as a photographer.

      The book you are now reading will help you quickly master the tools so that you can make fast, natural and intuitive adjustments to your photography. The first edition of this book covered Viveza and its operation from Lightroom, but the second edition offers much more. This edition is a complete re-write of the original book. You will still find some of the original material and screenshots but this has been extended. I have learned much more about using Viveza since the original book and I am sharing this knowledge with you.

      Since writing the 2nd edition of this book, DxO has purchased the Nik Collection assets from Google. The Control Point technology which makes the Nik Collection so easy to use, has already been ported to DxO products. The great news though is that DxO intend to release a new version of the Nik Collection in 2018.

      To accompany this book, I have developed a full length video course with supporting practice files. The course is self-contained, as is the book, but they complement each other strongly. As someone who has purchased this book you can access the video course at a substantial discount. You will find details of the discount towards the end of the book.

      I would encourage you to take full advantage of the additional learning materials provided to support this book. This includes the accompanying image files which are used in the worked examples. You can download these from my Lenscraft website using the following link.

      https://lenscraft.co.uk/viveza-book-downloads-signup/

      I would also encourage you to visit my website where you will find other tutorials and videos for the Nik Collection. Many of these can also be found on my YouTube channel.

      https://www.youtube.com/c/robinwhalley/

      You can keep up with my latest thoughts and work on my blog The Lightweight Photographer.

      https://thelightweightphotographer.com/

      Thank you for purchasing this book and I hope you enjoy the latest edition.

      Introduction

      In the past, I was heavily into Photoshop and would confidently describe myself as a power user. I was confident that I could apply any adjustments required to realise my vision for a photograph. I certainly couldn’t see the point of plug-in filters such as Viveza and viewed them as an unnecessary expense. I had in fact tried many plug-in’s over the years, often finding the results were inferior to what could be achieved with a little effort in Photoshop. I thought it proved my point and I closed my mind on the subject.

      Then a couple of things happened. First, I started to notice great work appearing that had been edited using Viveza and Silver Efex Pro; surely these tools couldn’t make such a difference. I then purchased a ColorMunki screen and print calibration unit which came with a free full copy of Viveza 2. Whilst I had previously tried some of the Nik products, I wasn’t quite ready for the surprise I received. Most noticeably this new version of Viveza allowed me to work intuitively and interactively with an image. I was used to planning my adjustments in advance, but now I could work interactively. I could see the changes I wanted to apply to the image and Viveza would allow me to make these in seconds, in a very realistic way. I was saving myself hours of effort whilst also achieving better results. This was a turning point in my work and I immediately switched to being an advocate of the Nik Collection.

      The Viveza and Nik Collection tools allow you to work intuitively to adjust your photographs. They are fast and produce excellent quality results. Best of all they provide a short cut to avoid years of learning more complex tools such as Photoshop. Many people have a fear of image editing because of such steep learning curves in the most common packages.

      The Nik tools are different and you can find yourself working effectively with them in a matter of minutes. But if this is the case, why do you need this book? My answer is that just because you can use something doesn’t mean you have mastered it. It’s still possible to produce poor results with the Nik Collection, they just make it easier to work. This book represents years of experience; all the tips, tricks and techniques that allow me to work fast. I believe this will save you a lot of time, effort and experimentation.

      Structure of the Book

      This book has been organised into a series of chapters, each with a specific objective. These have been arranged into a very specific order, designed to help you produce top quality results as quickly as possible. Please read the chapters in the order they appear in the book and avoid the temptation to read ahead. You should also make every effort to download the accompanying image files to follow the examples on your own computer.

      The first chapter of the book examines what Viveza is and how it fits with the other tools in the Nik Collection. The objective is to help understand when you might use Viveza over another tool such as Color Efex Pro.

      The second chapter discusses how to download and install the Nik Collection to your PC or Mac. Importantly we also look at how to configure Viveza to work best with host applications such as Photoshop and Lightroom.

      Following this we will jump into our first editing example. In the first edition of the book this chapter wasn’t included but feedback suggested it would be helpful. By working through a simple editing example, you will become more familiar with the tools and interface gaining greater value from the chapters that follow.

      After this we will take an in-depth

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