I have been using the trial version of Nik Color Efex Pro 3 for the past few weeks and find this plug-in awesome. Before I jump off the bridge and purchase this I wanted to see if anyone else has had experience with them. Do you find you use them alot? Are there better options for post-processing short cuts?

I currently have Lightroom and PS3 in my work flow. Can these effects be duplicated without a lot of hassle in either program? I mainly have used the dynamic skin, glamour glow, and a few other portrait retouching effects.

I use the version 2 ALL the time. I will definately go with the new Viveza software soon. I am not sure about the version 3 or color efex. Will have to see if it is worth the upgrade.

But I use my version 2 all the time. For me it is worth it.

Here's a link to the new filters added in version 3.

How fast is it to use? Are these filters that can easily and quickly be applied, or do they take a fair amount of tweaking?

You can download a trial version to check out for 15 days. Click here for the link.

I found them to be fairly quick to use. Most of the filters can either be applied universally to an image or you can "paint" the effect on certain areas. To adjust the intensity/look there are sliders and option tabs in each filter. There is also a preview screen and loope tool to see how it is affecting the image.

I first saw them in action at the Ed Pierce seminar and was very impress at how quickly he was able to edit. I found I could retouch my images in about 3/4 the time without much effort. As I keep getting familar with the effects I think I could cut it down by half. I do family/children/senior/couple portraits and edit about 20 - 30 images per session.

When I get to my other computer I will post a couple before and after images to show what I was using them for.

I think I am going to bit the bullet and purchase it today. Now that my trial expired I find I miss using them. Guess that answered my question for me.

Ok, finally got to my other computer. Here are a couple before and after samples using the plug in.

Click to view attachmentOriginal

Click to view attachmentRetouched

Click to view attachmentOriginal
Click to view attachmentRetouched and then applied dynamic skin filter and glamour glow.

Hope this helps give a little idea of what the filters do.
Shelly

I LOVE NIK!!! We upgraded a while ago but I haven't had a change to play with the new ones. The glamor glow is AMAZING!!!

I had V2 used them all the time, well, actually only a few. I mainly used Kubotas actions.
Then upgraded to V3, now its about 50/50 between Nik and Kubota.

They both are really quick and easy to use.
BTW, V3 is much quicker and easier to use than V2