Photoshop plug-ins are like mini-applications designed to work from within Photoshop rather than as standalone tools, though some do this, too. Typically, they’re installed alongside built-in effects in the Filter menu, though they may appear elsewhere, such as the File>Automate menu.

You choose the filter from the menu, and the image opens in the filter window. When you’ve made your adjustments, the image is returned to Photoshop, sometimes as a new layer or a Smart Object.

Plug-ins aren’t usually designed to replace key functions in Photoshop, but to carry out specialised tasks much more effectively. Photoshop is a good jack-of-all-trades, but plug-ins give you extra tools and capabilities in specific areas.

They may do things that you simply can’t do in Photoshop, though this is becoming rare. They may simply do a particular job much better, and that’s certainly the case with Silver Efex Pro 2, the plug-in that features in our tutorial here. They can save you time, simplifying processes that might take many steps in Photoshop and, most importantly, can provide valuable inspiration.

Photoshop is fine when you already know what you want to do, but plug-ins can give you an instant insight into how your image can look with different effects applied.That’s where Photoshop plug-ins like Tiffen Dfx 3.0 are so valuable, or Nik Color Efex Pro 4.

Black and white conversions, though, are an especially good example. It’s easy enough to master Photoshop’s Channel Mixer or Black & White tools to simulate the effect of black and white ‘contrast’ filters to darken blue skies and lighten foliage, for example.

And you can use Curves to increase the contrast, and apply the Dodge and Burn tools to control the brightness of specific areas of the picture. Yet that authentic black and white look is surprisingly elusive.

You can try adding grain, of course, but that’s not so easy to get right, either. You can’t just apply the Noise filter because the grain needs to be softened and worked into the fine detail of the image, not just laid on top.

And there’s so much more about classical black and white media that is difficult to recreate digitally, such as the subtle balance of midtone contrast with shadow and highlight detail, the intensity of the blacks, the subtle brilliance of the whites and the gutsy depth of a well-crafted and honed black and white image.

Silver Efex Pro 2 does this in a way that Photoshop does not. It’s possible that you could reverse-engineer what it does and recreate it manually, but it would take a long time and a great deal of expertise – and why go to all that trouble when a simple Photoshop plug-in can do it for you?

The other thing to remember is that Photoshop isn’t designed just for photo manipulation. It’s also for illustrators, designers and artists, and the terminology and approach reflects this broad scope.

Photoshop plug-ins like Silver Efex Pro 2, however, are designed specifically for photographers, mirroring the jargon, the techniques and effects that they will understand.

Tiffen Dfx offers digital equivalents of a whole raft of cinematic filters, and you can see how your image will look before you choose.

Make a classy black and white image with Silver Efex Pro 2 Photoshp plug-in

01 Choose a style
Silver Efex Pro 2 offers a long list of preset black and white styles. This ‘Full Dynamic’ preset looks like a good starting point for this shot, bringing that bright sky back under control.

02 Local adjustments
The sky’s been darkened, a localised ‘control point’ has been used to keep the flag and the mast bright, and the overall contrast and ‘Structure’ have been boosted – the original is on the left.

03 Finishing touches
Silver Efex Pro 2 also offers toning and framing option. And if you like the effect you’ve achieved, you can save your adjustments as a new custom preset that you can re-use in the future.

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Digital images are sharper, smoother and more accurate than film ever was, but it turns out that’s not always what we want. Film was unpredictable but it also lent pictures particular qualities that became part of the visual language of photography.

The faded colours of a 1970s lab print have become a powerful evocation of times gone by, and a gritty, grainy monochrome print seems to sum up desolation and decay far more effectively than a hyper-accurate digital capture.

That’s what Alien Skin Exposure 4 aims to recreate. It takes a standard digital image then processes it to replicate the look of any number of old-fashioned films and darkroom techniques, even adding randomly-seeded dust and scratches in its quest for a truly authentic film ‘look’.

You can choose from a wide range of presets, categorised into black and white or colour, and then subdivided into folders for different groups of effects, such as infra-red or Polaroid films. Once you’ve chosen a preset, you can adjust individual parameters using tools arranged in a tabbed panel on the right of the screen.

Version 4 brings faster processing, a more efficient interface and a wide range of ‘texture’ effects – borders, simulated light leaks and dust and scratches – to create more realistic old film effects, though there
doesn’t seem any way to combine them, which is odd.

Alien Skin has gone to great efforts to recreate traditional film effects, though, of course, the technical accuracy will depend on your camera settings and whether you’ve done any editing work on the image already.

Although the sheer number of presets is impressive, many are simply subtle variations and it’s easy to get lost in a sea of alternatives.

And while it does produce very attractive, authentic-looking images, it’s starting to look a little limited compared to rival software.

Nik Color Efex Pro 4, covers very similar territory but can ‘stack’ effects and supports localised image-editing, while Snapseed delivers less technically correct but more dramatic old film looks at a fraction of the price.

Alien Skin Exposure 4 can work with Photoshop’s Smart Objects, though, which offers another way of combining effects, and it also works with Lightroom – and without needing Photoshop as a host – processing both single images as 
well as whole batches.

Platforms
PC & Mac 


System requirements
Windows Vista or later, Mac OS X 10.6 or later, Intel Core 2 processor or compatible, Photoshop CS4 or later, Elements 9 or later, Lightroom 2 or later.

We like… The authentic film effects and the simple user-friendly interface

We’d like… Local adjustments, the ability to combine Age effects and fewer presets

Overall Verdict
Exposure 4 is very good at film effects, and the new interface is a step forward, but there’s still room for improvement.

Score: 4/5

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