I’ve been using NIK Silver Efex Pro for my black and white conversions, and it’s still my go-to software for quality black and white. But the folks at Topaz have released a really terrific new plug-in, B&W Effects, that has some different things that make it worth owning in addition to Nik’s great application. I would recommend having both your toolbox of creative effects, personally.

In my sneak-peek copy of B&W Effects, I played around with introducing transparent color back into the flower that I posted last night – after converting it to B&W, all within the plug-in.  I used the brush tool, something new they’ve introduced, to lighten the center of the flower just slightly by painting on the image. In the short time that I experimented with this program last night, I could see it has great potential.

 

Topaz Labs is offering a special introductory price of $29.99 (Regularly $59.99). Just enter the coupon code: “bwandbeyond” when purchasing. Offer ends 09/18/11. You can also use the $30 savings towards purchasing the bundle or any bundle upgrade, too.