Nik Color EFX Pro 3

[pdxrjt]

Okay, I don't think most people would figure this out. After a long (45 minute) session with NIK support, in which the tech person took control of my computer, I learned a few things.

1) The NIK plug ins, include Color EFX 3 are not intended and often don't work in X4 (apparently the Color EFX3 that comes with X4 Ultimate is custom made and not the generic one you purchase from the website at NIK.) She mentioned that, for some reason, they appear to work for some people.

2) The "for Lightroom" on the end of the folders didn't mean much.... it just happened to be the default folder name for 3 plug-ins which haven't been updated recently. Apparently I was using the correct plug in, but other factors were getting in the way.

3) I thought Silver EFX and Viveza were installed, there were some key files missing (didn't install properly) so, as a test, when she asked me to save the work, the programs crashed. She did a ton of work and reinstalled, changed a number of settings and sent me some files to drag and drop into new folders (these will be included in the next update of the files, so I'm getting the advanced copy!!)

If you have them working in X4, good for you, you are one of the lucky ones. Enjoy.

Thanks for all of the help.

[Filly]

Working in X4 no problems..Cheers

[pdxrjt]

So you said earlier. It was pretty clearly an install issue, but what actually went wrong is another question. I may try reinstalling SilverEfx and Viveza when I have time. If not, there are other programs I can use them in. It was a pain for sure!

Thanks for the help....extremely frustrating time.

[RS-Colo]

Okay, I don't think most people would figure this out. After a long (45 minute) session with NIK support, in which the tech person took control of my computer, I learned a few things.

You are the lucky one.

I bought Corel Paintshop Pro and installed it. I tried to figure out how to integrate my trial Nik Silver Efex 2 into it. I called Nik technical support and talked with Dominick. He said that SE2 is not supported on Corel and probably won't work. In any case they can't help me. I know mine is a trial version, but I want to get Nik SE2 to work with Corel PSPx4. They don't wan't my business. I have tried all the tricks I can think of and none have worked. I bought the PSPx4 because a number of people on another forum said thay had Nik SW up and running on it with no problems. I do have a reply into the forum with no answer yet. WHY DOESN'T NIK JUST SUPPORT THEIR PRODUCT ON COREL!!! Only partnering with Adobe and Apple is a lousy srtategy. Adobe's new Lightroom 4 is currently not supporting third party plugins and they don't have any idea when they will fix it. Adobe's a great partner for Nik.

If I was Corel, I would publish release notes on how to integrate as many third party applications as I could. It would take away one of the biggest competitive advantages Adobe has over them.

I have not been this frustrated with companies and their products in many years.

[pdxrjt]

I got ya. In fact I bought a competitors program (pretty cheaply) because I could do a lot with it and many, many plug ins, including NIK and Topaz work in it. I actually like PSP better and would prefer to use it, but Corel is pretty bad about not integrating with other plug ins. I have sent them much feedback, filled in their surveys etc., always asking for plug in support (among other things....but this is a big one.) I suppose in the future, this could turn me away from PSP all together, but for now, I'm stuck with two programs. Fortunately, Topaz works in PSP and some of the NIK plugs.... but I get the feeling that is mostly by accident. Of course, the plug in developers could support PSP, but I don't think it is nearly the same market share as the competitor program I bought.

ps I might have gotten support because I actually have purchased the NIK plug in set....... but I'm not sure about that. They are VERY helpful in resolving issues with the competitor's program.

[RS-Colo]

I have been testing the Topaz apps and they are all working. I'm just annoyed that neither Corel nor Nik want to help people get the products working together. It seems like a win-win. In particular I would like to try the Silver Efex but at this point I am not willing to fool around with Adobe given the issues with their new Lightroom not working right.

[pdxrjt]

I'm not sure the new LR isn't working right, (it is here).....(at least for what I do......but).... I generally prefer PSP to the various Adobe editors. It does way more (IMHO) than PE (although that has some nice features I'd like to see PSP pick up) and PS is overpriced bloatware which is way more than most photographers will ever need (IMHO.) I honestly think that with a few tweaks and a few features PSP could be a super editor, right now it gets a B or B+ (I have filled in all the Corel surveys and I sure hope they are paying attention to me )

[jmc6270]

Does anyone remember a plug in for older PSP versions that effects with names like "unbloom", "bronze aggressive", "new Noir" and "bistrocity" ?