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Google and free NIK is for me a disaster

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bosjohn21

bosjohn21

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I have been a happy user of NIK for a couple years now and able to get telephone and chat help when needed. I could even email NIK and get timely answers. Since google bought it there is no help other then the completely inadiquate frequently asked question page, or the volunteers who work the froum. Google them selves is not spending a penny on support. I would rather pay a reasonable price for the product and get timely informed help. free means nothing if one cannot get the soft wear fixed and working.
 
Wow, thats a shame.
 
Use it, or don't use it. It's all the same to them. They are done with it. Fortunately, there are other photo utility software publishers who DO want your business, and who are trying to find a way to lure you into THEIR camp.

Try a few out, you might be surprised at just how good these guys are!
 
it stops working for you?

why do you still need support after 2 yrs?
 
and someone here might be able to help.
OTT much ?
 
Nik is a very intuitive suite. I can't fathom how anybody could possibly need help with it...
 
Same problem here. I'm trying to solve a monitor profile / SEP interraction issue that makes SEP unusable and I've never received an answer from Nik.

Unfortunately I don't think other B&W softwares' tools and algorithms are quite as well conceived and designed as SEP's...
 
it developed issues when I got my new computer and went with adobe cloud. I had to install on the new puter but when I did that I was able to get help from NIK

now it has developed an annoying problem of making my screen go blank momentarily when I work on a file in Silver efex and also after I close NIK an continue processing the image in photoshop it happens why I move the dodge or burn toll or something fast across the image. also I am now getting some strange artifacts at the bottom of the image also in silver efex which look a lot like leaving half the sprocket holes in the image in the old film days but its not sprocket holes because its not quite as even. I am also getting some blank narrow rectangles adjacent to the right boarder or they are an out of register part of the image,

before google I could call or on line chat and get the problem fixed if fixable. Now I have to wait several days or more until a volunteer specialist on the google forms answers my post. it could take a lot of days to ever get to a fix if there is one short of re install
 
Aw John, you should've stuck to ya guns, and stayed at the last edition of ACR and CS6 before the greedy clouds came along like I and many others did.

If you're having probs with NIK, I have read that Alien Skin is killer for B&W conversions and highly recommended as an alternative to SE PRO 2

Gook luck matey, :)
 
Sounds like a video driver problem.

Try updating your video drivers. And don't use the generic Microsoft drivers - go to the manufacturer's web site and download the driver that is specific to your video card and/or chipset .
 
MayaTlab0 said:
Same problem here. I'm trying to solve a monitor profile / SEP interraction issue that makes SEP unusable and I've never received an answer from Nik.

Unfortunately I don't think other B&W softwares' tools and algorithms are quite as well conceived and designed as SEP's...
Click to expand...
Unless you have very basic software, your current software comes with superb b&W conversion tools.

Below is a link to an article I wrote on how to get great B&W conversions. Now, naturally, I used ACDSee as the software example, but the truth is, there's nothing all THAT unique about ACDSee's B&W conversion tools. Chances are, the software you have is capable of great B&W conversions of great subtlety and power.

Loading…

glenbarrington.blogspot.com
 
I agree, once you learn to master the basics of whites, Hl, shadows, blacks, clarity in ACR and then the Tone curve and histogram as well as B&W filters in PS, you can do most of what the SEP filters do in most cases and with a less heavy hand.

Still prefer CEP4 for my colour processing though
 
Glen Barrington said:
MayaTlab0 said:
Same problem here. I'm trying to solve a monitor profile / SEP interraction issue that makes SEP unusable and I've never received an answer from Nik.

Unfortunately I don't think other B&W softwares' tools and algorithms are quite as well conceived and designed as SEP's...
Click to expand...
Unless you have very basic software, your current software comes with superb b&W conversion tools.

Chances are, the software you have is capable of great B&W conversions of great subtlety and power.
Click to expand...
There is very little in SEP that can't be done in LR or C1. But there is very little in LR and C1 that can be done like it's done in SEP, or as quickly as it's done in SEP.

The great thing about SEP, particularly compared to other B&W softwares, is that most of its tools and algorithms are significantly different in logic and output from LR and C1. In other words, it truly is an alternative, another way of working with files. Tonality Pro, on the other hands, is just LR on B&W steroids. For example, TP's local adjustments aren't contextual, just like in LR or C1. SEP's ones are (U-points have a very different logic from masks).

Also, I've always found SEP's algorithms first-class. Even when sliders are pushed to extreme levels, most of them are far more resistant to posterisation than TP's ones for example.

Anyway, time to move on I suppose.
 
bosjohn21 said:
I have been a happy user of NIK for a couple years now and able to get telephone and chat help when needed. I could even email NIK and get timely answers. Since google bought it there is no help other then the completely inadiquate frequently asked question page, or the volunteers who work the froum. Google them selves is not spending a penny on support. I would rather pay a reasonable price for the product and get timely informed help. free means nothing if one cannot get the soft wear fixed and working.
Click to expand...
 
Glen Barrington said:
Below is a link to an article I wrote on how to get great B&W conversions. Now, naturally, I used ACDSee as the software example, but the truth is, there's nothing all THAT unique about ACDSee's B&W conversion tools. Chances are, the software you have is capable of great B&W conversions of great subtlety and power.

http://glenbarrington.blogspot.com/2016/05/how-to-get-killer-b-conversions-with.html
Click to expand...
Excellent article -- you combine the discussion of the controls and the aesthetics quite practically. All of the controls except the Light EQ adjustment can be done in Raw Therapee, too, and it also works on TIFs.
 
It's free - you can't expect them to have an army of technical experts waiting.
 
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