NIKON CAPTURE NX2 USER MANUAL Pdf Download | ManualsLib

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Capture NX-D Reference Manual. 2. Introduction. Viewing Pictures. Filters and hue, and can also be used to edit RAW images taken with Nikon digital cam-. Unique among image editing software, Capture NX 2 provides you with the ability to achieve the highest quality results for processing NEF (Nikon Electronic. View the Nikon Capture NX 2 manual for free or ask your question to other Nikon Capture NX 2 owners. give review. PDF manual · pages. English.
 
 

User manual Nikon Capture NX 2 Photo Editing Software (Upgrade) | replace.me

 
Thank you for your purchase of Capture NX 2. This Quick Start Guide takes first-time users through the steps of installing Capture NX 2 and introduces some. View and Download Nikon CAPTURE NX2 user manual online. Nikon Camera Accessories User Manual. CAPTURE NX2 software pdf manual download.

 

Nikon capture nx 2 user manual pdf free. NIKON Capture NX2 Guide

 
Severely over or underexposed images may Correcting an overexposed image.

 
 

Nikon capture nx 2 user manual pdf free. Nikon CAPTURE NX2 User Manual

 
 

Sub- folders will appear in the browser; double-click on a folder icon in the browser to open it. A shortcut to that folder will be created in the Favorites list. This will collapse the Folder list and expand the metadata tab on the left side of the screen. This allows other applications to read the embedded data.

For example, you could use one color to indicate files that have been processed, and another color to indicate files that have not been processed. For example, you can create a preset to apply your contact information to your images. In the Thumbnail List view, images are shown as small thumbnails in a list that includes file data, star ratings, labels, date shot, and more. The Thumbnail List view is useful when you want to quickly sort your images on any one of the file data columns in the list.

Use the Thumbnail Grid view when you want to view the largest possible thumbnails. Use the zoom slider or the zoom tool to increase thumbnail size. Leave the right-hand triangle on the fifth star.

For example, in a folder of mixed file types, you might only want to display JPEGs. By default, images in the File Browser are sorted by Name. Clicking the header one time will sort in ascending order, clicking a second time will allow you to sort the images in descending order. The triangle icon is pointed up. The triangle icon is pointed down. Use batch operations for saving multiple files, applying saved settings files to multiple images, and for copying and pasting settings between files.

Source– this is the location folder of the files you wish to process. Settings– check this box if you wish to apply a saved settings file to the files selected for batch saving. You can choose settings presets from the drop- down list at right. Conflict management: Use this drop- down menu to choose whether to override existing settings in the source files, or to simply append new settings. File renaming: Check this box if you wish to save a copy of the file with a different name.

Use this dialog to enter a naming convention. File Format: Choose the type of file format to save the batched files as. For NEFs, you can specify compression options. Destination: Choose the folder to where the batched files will be saved. Leave blank if you want to save the batched files into the source folder.

Capture NX2 will periodically check the contents of the Watched Folder, and when new files are detected, a batch process will be automatically performed on those files. Underneath the Watched folder options are controls that set the behavior of the application– you can choose to run batches immediately, or have NX 2 check the Watched Folder at a standard interval.

Idea: You could create a folder on your computer where you drop images that you want to batch save as JPEGs. The processing dialog will open.

You can always process the RAW files separately if you want later on. Note: you can also right- click on the image thumbnail and use the contextual menus to choose the copy and paste commands.

Notes on Batching: You can also access the batch commands by using the Batch Icon at the lower- left corner of the File Browser window, or by using the Batch Icon at the upper-right corner of the Edit List when you are viewing an opened image in the Edit View.

Why does batching in NX seem so much slower compared to other applications? Specifically, the goal of making RAW adjustments is to make the baseline changes to global color, contrast, and brightness upon which all other adjustments will be built.

The Develop Section cannot leverage image cache files to speed up processing. Therefore, it is important to consider which adjustments can only be made in the Develop Step and consider making other adjustments in the Adjust Section of the Edit List. However, because the Develop tools do involve the actual processing of RAW data, the results are usually higher quality than if you were to perform the same adjustment in the Adjust Section of the Edit List. Why not Noise Reduction?

White balance, by comparison, is a fundamental parameter of how the RAW data are processed. Before you jump in to the Develop Section, ask yourself what it is you are trying to convey in your image. It is also where you can access the White Balance Controls. Quick Fix: This area is new to Capture NX2 and is expanded by default, as shown in the image at right.

Some of these tools are automatically applied. Controls There are four primary areas within the Camera Settings section: 1 White Balance Controls: Use these controls to override the as-shot white balance setting from your camera.

Evaluating WB is probably one of the first things you should do when examining your image before processing it. You can set this parameter to further fine-tune your WB setting using the lower pull-down menu.

Move the slider to the left to make the image more blue cooler ; slide it to the right to make the image more orange warmer. You can use white balance creatively to change the mood of an image.

Take one image with the gray card in the scene, then shoot normally without the card. The Gray Point settings will appear. Move the mouse over your image– you should see an eyedropper icon appear. A note about gray cards: Lots of pocket gray cards are available, but a really handy one is the Whibal card, because it is very small and the gray color goes all the way through the card.

That way, if it were to become scratched, the card would not lose effectiveness. Left: Original image. Because you can control all the parameters in the Non-Picture Control dialog with Picture Controls, I recommend switching to the Picture Control dialog using the drop-down menu.

A D40 image and D image processed with the same Picture Control settings will have the same look, just as two images from different film cameras shot with the same kind of film would. Are you shooting a portrait, where you want to capture subtle tones, or a landscape, where you want saturated colors and strong contrast?

Before you continue processing your NEF, you need to decide which preset for Picture Control gives you the best starting point for reproducing the feeling you had when you captured your image in the camera.

For images taken in bright sun in high-contrast conditions, Vivid may seem over the top. The Standard Picture Control preset has a moderate level of contrast, saturation, and sharpness.

Images processed using Picture Control will appear brighter than those processed using Non-Picture Control. The processing algorithm in the Picture Control software appears to boost midtones and increase saturation as compared to images processed without Picture Control. The one parameter I recommend changing is to set Sharpening to zero 0.

Setting sharpening to zero allows you to apply sharpening at the end of the Edit List workflow without sharpening the image a second time. Other than turning off sharpening, the rest of the Picture Controls are entirely optional for most images. The Quick Adjust Slider changes multiple parameters simultaneously. The Sharpening adjustment in Picture Control can be set from anywhere from zero no sharpening to nine high sharpening.

You can control the sharpening settings by moving the sharpening slider right or left. The actual amount of sharpening applied will depend on the image, and is unpredictable. Any sharpening setting above 5 can result in artifacts halos in your image; so use it with care.

If you are using the Capture Sharpening presets included with this eBook, be sure to set the Picture Control sharpening to a value of zero. It is often too easy to over-sharpen. Doing so will disable the Contrast Slider.

This flexibility can be useful if you are trying to extract the most dynamic range from your image. Changing this control affects primarily the midtones of your image. Alternatively, setting the brightness control to -1 will darken the midtones in your image. A value of zero is the default setting for Saturation Control. The Preset you choose determines the starting point, the slider control allows you to fine-tune the saturation around that starting point.

Because Picture Control Saturation 0 neutral saturation is based on in- camera settings, saturation cannot be adjusted as finely as you can with other NX tools, like the LCH editor. Setting the saturation value to -3 does not result in a grayscale image; the sliders are meant to be a fine-tuning and not a large-scale adjustment.

Moving the Hue slider to the left negative values shifts the hue towards magenta tones. If you move the slider to the right positive values , the hue shifts towards greenish tones. An interesting observation is that while reds and greens shift significantly with hue adjustments, the Hue 0 neutral blue tones are changed far less. Color filters alter the contrast in black and white images– they lighten parts of the image that are the same color of the filter while darkening their complementary color.

Orange Filter Applied 2 Your image will be modified. In this example, the orange and red filters darken the blue sky while keeping the foreground light. A primary example of a toned image is a Sepiatone effect. Not only will you be able to quickly access your saved settings, but you can upload them to cameras that support Picture Control.

Type a name in the naming field and then click OK to continue. Follow the procedures for creating a settings file described in the Workflow section of this book.

This is not something that I recommend; but the utility is there if you want to use it. Use the Sample Image on the left hand side of the window as your guide. Choose your new preset from the drop- down list, and it will be applied to your NEF. At the time of this writing, only the Nikon D3 and D cameras support this feature. Transferring your custom Picture Control settings to your camera can be a real time saver. For example, if you have developed a modified Picture Control setting in Capture NX2, you can then load it into your camera and save time with the post-processing of future images.

Likewise, if you have modified Picture Control settings and saved them in your camera, you can load them into Capture NX2 for easy selection on your computer.

Repeat these steps to export additional presets. Eject the memory card from your card reader and insert it into your camera.

You will see a list of the presets loaded onto the card. Choose a preset and click OK. The preset will load, showing the custom settings. Click OK when you are done. The reverse of this procedure can be used to save presets from your camera to a memory card. Why is this important? You can get much better results and faster performance by applying Noise Reduction later on in the editing workflow. If your camera offers Active D-Lighting Control and it was enabled at the time of shooting, the Active D-Lighting settings will override the contrast and brightness settings in Picture Control.

For me, the most useful tools are the Exposure Compensation slier and the Highlight and Shadow protection tools. The saturation slider allows for a much more subtle adjustment of color intensity than what you can do in Picture Control. In order to properly use the Quick Fix section, you should have at least a basic understanding of how to use the image histogram. Overexposed Underexposed Good Exposure Three examples of image histograms. Left: Right-shifted histogram indicates blown highlights and over-exposure.

Center: Left-shifted histogram indicates potential underexposure and clipped shadows. Despite the fact that exposure adjustments are a very powerful tool and unique to RAW files , you still must be careful.

Severely over or underexposed images may Correcting an overexposed image. Clockwise from top left: Original image, lose quality if you have histogram showing severe right-shift; Exposure Compensation slider moved to the to adjust the exposure left– a value of Note that there are still some lost highlights in the lower left of the image– strongly.

However, the overall image is quite usable. In this image, the overall exposure is good, but the face still needs lightening with local adjustments. Or Left-shift too dark worse, you might have an image where highlights are pushing the right-hand edge of the histogram, Clipped highlights but the image is a little bit underexposed. In this example left , not only are there blown highlights, but the overall image is slightly underexposed. The image histogram right confirms this. The image will turn black, and blown highlights will be in color the color represents the channel that is clipping– Red, Green or Blue.

First, exposure was increased by 0. Then, Highlight Protection was dialed in until the clipped highlights disappeared right. The corrected image below is ready for further processing. Strong amounts of highlight protection can sometimes cause color saturation to decrease. This effect can be fixed with the Saturation slider in Quick Fix. What this means is that you try to avoid blown highlights at all cost, even at the expense of some lost shadow detail. This is very useful when you are applying minus negative exposure compensation to an image to recover highlights and then want In this image, the overall exposure looks OK, but the shadows are just a little dark to get the shadow details for my taste.

Move the Shadow Peak showing dark tones Protection slider to the right to recover shadow details. I rarely go above Histogram looks OK overall. Adjust the Saturation slider to the right to compensate for the loss of saturation when using the Shadow Protection slider. Notice how the peaks in the middle of the histogram got taller. The best way to adjust brightness and contrast is by adjusting Levels and Curves. You can make basic levels and curves adjustments in the Quick Fix palette.

The positive side of this technique is that the adjustments are made on the RAW data. Principles of Levels Adjustment The Levels control can be used to adjust overall image contrast and brightness.

The Levels controls are three triangles sliders beneath the image histogram in the Quick Fix window. Normally, the black point slider is all the way to the left on the histogram. The tonal value the black point slider rests on gets converted to a tonal value of zero pure black.

As tonal values fall to the left of the black point slider they are converted to pure black. White Point Slider: The white point slider is on the right hand side of the histogram. Tonal values that fall to the right of the white point slider are rendered as pure white tonal value of As you move the white point slider to the left, you convert tonal values to white. You can do this easily with the levels tool by bringing the black point and white point sliders closer together.

The middle slider affects the midtones of the image. Slide it to the right to darken midtones, slide it to the left to brighten midtones. Notice how the Curves Control bends when you slide the midpoint slider. Brighter midtones Darker midtones Curves If you want to use the Curves tool, simply click a point on the Curve Control line and drag the point up or down.

Dragging a point on the curve upward lightens its corresponding tonal values, dragging the curve downward darkens the corresponding tone values. If you add multiple points to the curve, the steepness of the line dictates contrast between any two points. Steep lines mean high contrast, flat lines mean low contrast. Use the curves tool with care. Click points on the curve and then drag them to move. The steeper you make the line, the stronger the contrast will be in that part of the tonal range.

Another reason to use the Saturation slider in Quick Fix is because it gives more control than the Picture Controls. By default, the Saturation slider is set at zero unchanged. When you couple the Quick Fix tools with the Camera Settings, more often than not you can make all the global adjustments you need to your image. Although it contains some useful tools, they rarely come into the equation when processing NEFs. Of those two tools, the Auto Color Aberration tool is enabled by default and I leave it on at all times.

The other tools in this set are for special circumstances and I rarely need to use them. Note: This operation is processor-intensive and will take some time to complete. Refer to your camera manual for instruction on how to create the reference image.

Make sure the folder you choose has a NDF file in it. If not, navigate to the folder containing a dust- off reference image and click Open. Note: This feature is processor intensive.

Personally, I just try to keep my sensor clean and use the Auto Retouch Brush in the Edit List to eliminate dust spots. Color aberration, also referred to as chromatic aberration, manifests itself as purple or red fringing around high- contrast areas in your images.

This is especially common in the corners of images produced using wide-angle lenses. One of the nicest features of Capture NX2 is that it automatically removes color-fringing from your NEFs, regardless of the make and model of your lens.

The Auto Color Aberration tool is enabled by default; I never turn it off. Other RAW converters offer CA removal, but it is usually a manual process involving two different sliders. I find the NX method to be much simpler. Left: Image processed without Auto CA removal. Right: Image processed with Auto CA removal enabled. I find this tool to be hit or miss.

But here it is, in case you want to try it out. Light fall-off occurs when the image circle from your lens is not uniformly bright across the frame.

Usually this happens when using Corner shading fast lenses wide-open. The Vignette Control slider can reduce the effect of light fall-off; some cameras, like the Nikon D3, have an in-camera vignette control option, which enables this control automatically in Capture Before vignette NX2. Moving the slider to the right positive values brightens the corners of the image.

Moving the slider to the left darkens the corners of the image. While de- fishing is no substitute for a rectilinear wide-angle lens, it can work in a pinch. Because global adjustments are the foundation for the local adjustments applied later in the editing workflow, it is critical that they be done early on in post processing. Fundamentally, the Develop Section is not a place where you need to spend a lot of time; but it is a section that you should be thinking about first before you move on to making other adjustments in Capture NX2.

Often times, the Picture Control presets get you where you want to be without further adjustments. The best part about the Develop Section in Capture NX2 is that it effectively takes over the majority of global adjustments to light and color that would otherwise have been made in separate Edit Steps in Capture NX 1. Because the Develop Section is fairly easy to access, it offers a quick solution for getting your images prepared for further processing assuming they even need it.

In the Adjust Section, you can apply many different kinds of effects to your image. Moreover, applying an Edit Step locally does not require complex masking routines, which makes using them easy. Edit Steps are not adjustment tools in the traditional sense. Instead, they operate as containers that hold adjustments that you place in them. Edit Steps are saved to your NEF as instruction sets, and can be deleted from the Edit List at any time, making them a non-destructive form of editing.

The simple answer is that the only pre-defined editing palettes in Capture NX2 are the tools in the Develop Section. For those of you who are familiar with Adobe Photoshop, Edit Steps are conceptually similar to adjustment layers– the steps themselves are just placeholders until you define what adjustment you want to put into them.

Notice the yellow border around the Edit Step– this indicates that it is actively selected. Any adjustment placed in an Edit Step can have opacity and blending effects applied to it. The yellow box around the Edit Step should disappear. Right: Closing the Edit Step and deselecting it shows that it is no longer highlighted in the list. Note: The Develop Section also utilizes the Reset icon. A useful feature to keep in mind when you are applying effects in Edit Steps is the Opacity and Blending settings.

The blending modes change the way the effect appears in the image: Normal: Effect is applied to all channels at full- strength. This is the default blending mode. Lighten: Applies the effect to areas of the image where the result is brighter than the original image Screen: increases the pixel values of the resulting Us the Blending Mode menu to choose one of six blending modes.

Tonal values above neutral are lightened, tonal values below are darkened. Tonal values of exactly are left alone. Multiply: subtracts the tonal value of the effect to create a darkened final image Darken: the effect is only applied in areas where the With RGB mode, you can selectively apply the effects to any result darkens the image.

Other opacity options You can choose to apply the Opacity effect in all channels default , or in individual color channels RGB , or you can apply the effect in the luminosity brightness and chrominance color channels. All told, the opacity and blending modes offer a significant amount of flexibility for applying effects in Edit Steps. However, there are a few instances where you might want to take advantage of some of the other tools for adjusting global brightness, contrast, and color balance.

Again, it all depends on the feeling you are trying to convey with your image. Central to getting image contrast set correctly is the concept of defining the black and white points in your image. The image will turn gray. The double threshold tool allows you to see anywhere in your image that has a tonal value of 0 black or white. Everything in between those values is rendered gray.

Black threshold slider White threshold slider White areas are the lightest points in your image. Black areas are the darkest points in your image. An easy way of setting the black point on your image is to use a Black Control Point. The Black Control Point allows you to set the darkest pixel value in your image, but it also gives you control over luminosity brightness.

The Black Control Point will also remove color casts from shadow areas. This is especially useful for portraits. Why should I purchase an eBook?

Do you offer a print hardcopy version? Is your Guide to Capture NX 1. I’ve purchased a copy of the Guide , where are the sample NEFs? I’ve ordered the Guide from your online store. Where is my download code?

I received my order receipt email from Kagi, but there is no download code! Q: Why should I purchase an eBook? A: The eBook format is very flexible. It allows you to not only view the book on your computer, but also to print a copy for personal use. Because the Guide is in eBook format, I can deliver it to you electronically in less than an hour, without any fees for shipping. In addition, the eBook format is interactive; you can click Table of Contents or Index entries and be taken to the the exact page in the book where that reference is found.

I’ve also embedded URLs to resource websites in the eBook; you can’t do that in a printed book. A: No. Capture NX 2. A: Lots. New topics include:. Q: What software is required to view your eBooks? It won’t work with earlier versions or on Mac Preview. If you are having trouble, try opening the file from within Adobe Reader instead of double-clicking. The values set for the selected neutral control point are displayed enabling you to enter a new value directly to adjust the effect of the control point.

Click on the Reset button to reset the selected color control point to the default values. Page White Control Point Method To add a white control point to your image, follow these steps: Click on the white control point icon in the toolbar. Identify the object you would like to be the lightest object in the image and click on that object to place a white control point. Page Advanced RGB Method The RGB method of the white control point enables you to set the individual red, green, and blue values of the lightest color in the image.

This option is helpful if your printer requires a non-neutral white. Within this mode, you are presented with individual red, green, and blue sliders on the white control point and red, green, and blue entries within the white control point sub-step of the Edit List palette.

Page Each color control point that is placed on an object in your image identifies the characteristics of the color as well as the level of detail of that object, enabling you to make adjustments to the color of that object.

With the use of the size slider, you are able to increase the reach or scale of the current color control point so that it affects similar colors of the objects which are farther away from the color control point. Page Color Control Point Mode Adjust the remaining sliders connected to the color control point to adjust the color and light of the selected object. Additional color control points can be added to the image by repeating the steps listed above.

To delete a color control point, click on the color control point in the image or in the Edit List palette and press the delete key on the keyboard. Page Show Selection Show Selection The Show Selection checkbox enables you to see where the current color control point is affecting the image.

Areas inked in white are being affected by the color control point, while areas inked in black are not being affected by the color control point. You can quickly access the Show Selection option by right- clicking Windows or control-clicking Macintosh on the color control point and selecting Show Selection.

Page Red-Eye Control Point Advanced The Advanced method provides superior results when lightening shadows or working with images with a high level of noise or grain. The values set for the selected color control point are displayed enabling you to enter a new value directly to adjust the effect of the control point.

Page Auto Retouch Brush Auto Retouch Brush The auto retouch brush enables you to automatically repair unwanted details found within the image. Use this tool to remove dust spots, blemishes, or distracting objects, with a unique blending algorithm that matches the surrounding structure, color, and tonality. To use the auto retouch brush, follow these steps: Click on the auto retouch brush icon in the toolbar. Page Size The auto retouch brush provides you with the following controls: Size Changing the Size option increases or decreases the size of the brush.

You can use a selection control point to selectively apply any enhancement found in either the Adjust or Filter menus. To use a selection control point, follow these steps: Add an enhancement to the image from the Adjust or Filter menus. Page Lasso And Marquee Tools Lasso and Marquee Tools The lasso and marquee tools enable you to create a selection on your images that will limit where an enhancement affects your image.

Page Edge Softness Click and draw a selection around the objects that you want to affect in the active image window. To subtract from the selection, select the — icon and draw within the selection. Page Selection Brush Tool Selection Brush Tool The selection brush enables you to selectively paint in or paint out the enhancements found in the current step. You can use the selection brush to selectively apply any enhancement found within the Adjust or Filter menus, as well as the color, black, neutral, and white control points.

Page Opacity Opacity Changing the Opacity option increases or decreases the opacity of the brush strokes that are applied. You can use the selection gradient tools to selectively apply any enhancement found within the Adjust or Filter menus, as well as the color, black, neutral, and white control points.

Page Gradient Range Click and draw a line within the active image window. When zoomed-in, the areas visible within the active image window are shown as a rectangle superimposed on top of the entire image. The Edit List palette was greatly improved, with the position of many tools and features moved to provide better access.

The Edit List palette can be used as a history that allows you to go back and modify any of the adjustments that you have previously made to your images. Click on the triangle to toggle between showing and hiding the Triangles contents of the associated section or enhancement.

Apply checkboxes are used to turn enhancements on or off. Adjustments to an w Apply Checkbox enhancement automatically enable the corresponding Apply checkbox; Page Version Version The Version menu can now be found at the top of the Edit List palette, providing you with direct control of this powerful feature.

Versions represent an advanced way of working with and maintaining a number of different versions of the same image within one image file. Two different types of versions are available, and access to these versions is provided within this menu.

Chapter 15 — Edit List Batch Menu You can further modify the setting with the Fine Adjustment slider. Page Select this option if your image was shot using a Nikon Speedlight as the light source. You can further modify this setting with the Fine Adjustment slider. Note that any optional Picture Controls used on the camera must also be installed on the computer. Move this slider to the left to decrease the Sharpening, Contrast, and Saturation sliders.

Move this slider to the right to increase these sliders. Page The Brightness slider enables you to control the brightness within the image. Move the slider to the left to darken the image or move the slider to the right to brighten the image.

The results of the Saturation and Hue section are also dependent on the Picture Control option selected. Page Active D-Lighting Active D-Lighting, available only for cameras that provide this functionality within the camera itself, was designed for photographing subjects where it is difficult to capture detail in both highlights and shadows.

If Active D- Lighting is enabled ion the camera when a photograph is taken, the image will be underexposed to preserver highlight information. Within the Tone Curve tool, you are presented with a curve that enables you to control the relationship of input luminosity values to output luminosity values. This will redistribute all of the values to stretch the luminosity range to match the entire possible range of values.

To determine whether a given combination of lens and camera will record distance information, see the table below. This feature enables you to modify an image taken with a compatible fisheye lens to make that image appear to have been taken with a wide-angle rectilinear lens. Each adjustment step can contain the following elements: Selection Information The selection information area is displayed whenever a step has been selectively applied and provides information and control for selections made to the current adjustment step.

Page Opacity Mixer Opacity Mixer The opacity mixer provides you with the ability to blend the current enhancement with the rest of the image. The opacity mixer becomes available as soon as you add any features from the Adjust or Filter menus, or a color, black, neutral, or white control point to the image.

You can move this slider to the left to prevent the current effect from being applied to the green channel, or you can reduce the other two sliders to ensure the current effect is being applied to the green channel only. Clicking on a step or enhancement will cause it to become highlighted within the Edit List palette. You can then press the delete key on your keyboard or select Delete from the Edit menu to clear that step or enhancement from the image. Page Linking Enhancements Linking Enhancements Linking enhancements within the Edit List palette enables you to apply the selective controls that are used within one step to more than one enhancement.

By default, each enhancement is applied to a separate step. By linking two or more enhancements together in the same step, each of those enhancements can benefit from the same selective controls that were applied to that step.

Click on this button if you want to manually generate a new step within the Edit List palette to start a new series of enhancements. The following channel options are available: The RGB option displays the red, green, and blue histograms, superimposed over one another. Where the individual histograms overlap, secondary colors are displayed. If no black pixels appear in the image, slowly drag the shadows slider to the right.

Once you notice black pixels appearing, release the mouse button. When you click on this button, the mouse cursor will change to a crosshair and enable you to place a watch point directly on the image. The fisheye lens, neutral control point, color control point, distortion control, colorize, and certain Color Efex Pro plug-ins from Nik Software can utilize the color picker for their enhancements.

When you click within the color wheel, the hue will immediately change to the color that you clicked on. Page Chapter 17 — The Color Picker Open With… This option is only available if Camera Control Pro is installed on your computer. It is recommended that you leave this box checked unless your printer requests that you do not embed the color profile in the image.

Save As… Bit Depth Choose to save your image either as an 8 or bit per channel image. Protection can be turned on within the camera or within another Nikon image editing application. To turn off protection and enable the image to be edited by Capture NX 2, select the Protect File item to uncheck it. Additionally, a number of options are presented to enable you to create print packages, add metadata, and color manage your prints. You can print the active image by selecting Print from the File menu, or you can select a range of pictures to print by highlighting multiple images within the browser and selecting Print.

Please note: If you assign color management within the print dialog, it is very important that you turn off color management within your printer driver. This ensures that the black point from the image is mapped to the black point of your printer, enabling the full color range of the printer to be used. If your prints contain either gray shadows or too little detail, try turning this option off. This part of the RAW file is never overwritten. The metadata includes information about the image, such as shutter speed, aperture, time, date, and more.

Usually additional areas in this section can be filled in by certain computer applications. For example, there are placeholders for keywords, copyright information, and captioning. Third-party RAW converters typically read only the white-balance information and discard the other instructions. The embedded JPEG image is produced by the camera and reflects the in-camera settings that were active when the image was taken.

For example, I have a few custom banks set up in my cameras that allow me to quickly tailor images for landscapes, portraits, or wildlife shots. The Shooting Menu is designated by a camera icon in your camera menus. It is where you will find all the major parameters that affect image processing and quality, such as ISO, white balance, and sharpening. If you are using one of the newer Nikon DSLRs introduced after October , many of the image parameters are in the camera section called Picture Control.

Here is a list of the camera settings that you should consider when setting up for a shoot. However, you may have some additional options, depending on the camera you use. This can be useful when you are trying to preview lots of files on a less powerful computer or a laptop. If you choose a small, highly compressed JPEG, some of the image details may not be readily apparent when you review the image on your camera LCD. RAW Compression- should you use it?

So Nikon has some options where you can choose to compress your NEFs and save on file space. Nikon offers two forms compression in its NEF file format, depending on the camera you use. If you set white balance incorrectly, you could have unnaturally blue or orange images due to extremes in color temperature.

You can use that gray card image later on in Capture NX2 to really nail white balance and copy the settings to the other images in the series more on that later.

Long Exposure NR This setting allows your camera to take a second exposure with the shutter closed, and then subtract any sensor noise caused by something called dark current.

It is very useful for getting perfectly black skies during long night exposures. This is one setting that cannot be altered in post-processing there is no way for the camera to take a second exposure after the fact. As a result, noise in shadow areas often becomes noticeable. First of all, you can get more control over noise removal in Capture NX2, or by using dedicated noise removal software.

Second, NR requires much more computer horsepower when you render your image. Depending on your camera model, you might not be able to disable NR in the camera menus. Camera Settings or Picture Controls? In late , Nikon introduced a new form of adjusting the in-camera settings, called Picture Control. Each of these starting points can be modified and saved in your camera. The Picture Control presets differ in their contrast, saturation, and sharpness settings. You can also customize the sharpness, contrast, saturation and hue for any Picture Control preset.

You can compare the looks of each preset when you process your image in Capture NX2. Sharpening Sharpening is the one parameter that I adjust on each image individually, depending on its final output destination print, web and size. Depending on your camera, sharpening is either in the Camera Settings menu or in the Picture Controls. Sharpening routines can have profound effects on image quality, and must be done with care. Fortunately, quality sharpening is one of the strengths of Capture NX2.

For JPEG shooting, this is a critical setting. Too much contrast will mean that shadow and highlight details may clip and be rendered unrecoverable. I personally use the Adobe RGB space. It offers a much wider color space than sRGB and is well suited for ink jet printers.

For more about color spaces, check out a book on color management. Depending on your camera model, the color mode setting may also affect your choice of Color Space. Note the stronger reds and greens in Mode III.

Mode I can be utilized to make a fairly vivid image of people while still getting natural looking skin tones. Mode III color not only increases the color saturation, but it boosts reds and greens. So where should you set the color? Ultimately, it depends on your subject. Good for portraits. Good as an all-around setting. Useful for landscape shots. Not recommended for portraits! Standard sharpening and contrast. Can be modified for other effects, like sepiatone.

For more on Picture Control settings, refer to Chapter 8. Hue Adjustment This setting allows photographers to change the way colors are perceived by their camera.

If, for example, your photos showed a greenish cast, you could theoretically compensate for it by making a hue adjustment. This is one feature that I never use in my camera, as it affects all the colors in the image. The next step is up to you. Go out and start filling up some memory cards with NEF files. This box allows you to choose the location of where that TIFF file is saved. Folder for temporary data For optimum performance, set this to a directory on a secondary hard disk drive.

Color Management Preferences Proper color management is essential to digital workflow. In this dialog, you can adjust how Capture NX2 handles color profiles. While I recommend the Pro Photo RGB space for editing, it is important to understand the basics of color management and how it can impact your workflow.

Many printers install custom profiles based on different paper types and print settings. Therefore I have chosen the appropriate Epson profile from the drop-down box.

I recommend setting the black clip point to 0. Cache Preferences This section allows you to set the directories and size limits for the various Capture NX2 cache files.

For best performance, put the cache directory on a secondary hard disk instead of your primary drive. Limiting the cache size will keep the number of cached images lower and retain space on your hard disk. You can choose one of the presets, or set your own label values. Manage Settings Use this dialog box to manage your saved settings files.

You can add and delete settings files from the list, and you can also make settings visible in contextual menu shortcuts by enabling the checkbox next to a setting. Use custom workspaces to tailor the Capture NX2 interface to suit your needs.

Setting your cache file directories to the secondary hard drive improves data throughput and speeds up the application. Not only will this arrangement improve Capture NX2 performance, but it will probably improve the overall performance of your PC. I always disable color noise reduction in my cameras because applying the in-camera NR settings to your images slows down Capture NX2 performance.

I do use noise reduction, but I do it at a later stage in my editing workflow. Of course, my workflow is based around editing small numbers of images one at a time in Capture NX2, and my routine for noise reduction is generally tailored for each image. A few new features were added to allow the user to customize the interface to suit their needs.

The most obvious new feature of the Capture NX2 interface is workspaces. You can choose from one of four pre-configured workspaces depending on what you are using the application for. In the Browser workspace, the file directory tab on the left side of the screen is expanded. The Metadata workspace defaults to a list view of your image thumbnails. This workspace is useful if you are adding keywords and other metadata to your images in NX 2. The multi-purpose workspace displays the editing palettes on the right-hand side of the screen, and has the browser window open on the left-hand side of the screen.

The multi-purpose workspace is ideal for users who want to browse and edit images simultaneously. All the palettes on the left-hand side of the screen are collapsed. The available choices will vary depending which workspace is displayed on your primary monitor.

I use full-screen mode the most often as the gray background is useful for viewing colors accurately on the screen. Facing Page: Full screen mode top and Presentation mode bottom are additional ways to view your images. My goal for each of the subsequent chapters is to go through the processing of a NEF file in the order in which I apply adjustments and operations.

Keep in mind that Capture NX2 like many other image editing applications has numerous tools and many of them can be used to achieve similar effects. My intention is to work my way through the tools that I use most frequently, in the order of operation that is appropriate for optimal image output.

The long and winding road In the journey that is editing a NEF file, no one should be without a road map. It is always important to know, even if just at a rudimentary level, where you are trying to go. In fact, most images rarely require the use of every point on my editing road map, and can be adjusted with just a few quick steps.

Another reason why it is good to have a road map of editing workflow is because the approach you take to post-processing should involve some visualization. Before he went into the darkroom, Ansel Adams always had an idea of what he wanted to convey in his print. His goal was to convey in his print what he saw and felt when he captured his exposure in the field.

Therefore, I feel it is important, as digital photographers, not to get caught up in trying to apply every tool and effect to a digital image just because our software has those tools. These adjustments often revolve around the fundamental operation of converting the raw sensor data to an RGB image. Think of the RAW Adjustments as the foundation upon which all your other adjustments will be built upon.

A classic example is dodging and burning, where you are adjusting the contrast of certain parts of your image beyond what was obtained in the original exposure.

Other applications either do not permit local application of effects or require complex masking schemes to apply them. From there, the master image can be further refined for printing or other output. However, most photographs are judged by their final output, which usually involves a print.

Final output could involve resizing the image for use on a website, or sending it in an email to friends and family. First, it gives you a good outline of the kinds of adjustments you can be thinking about when you first approach an image to work on.

Second, it puts the adjustments into the proper order that will maximize your image quality and minimize your frustration. Keep in mind that Capture NX2 editing workflow is linear, starting with the Develop Section and continuing with the order of the steps in the Adjust Section. Does that mean you need to stick to this script rigidly? Of course not. The rest of the book contains lots of details about numerous Capture NX2 editing tools, but in reality, the overall image editing process is quite straightforward.

The following pages will take you through the basic image editing procedure to help you understand the simplicity of image processing in Capture NX2. After a few seconds, the image should appear. I chose this image because it illustrates some of the advantages of shooting in RAW.

First of all, my default settings applied far too much contrast to this image, especially because the subjects are back-lit. Too much contrast! The first item in the list is White Balance. Because the in-camera setting I used was too warm yellow , we can override it here. This gives a look with strong contrast– bad for people pictures!

This will collapse the Develop Section. The image turns gray. This will boost the midtone brightness of the image. Drag the black threshold level slider until you see dark areas appear. A Color Control Point is added to the image. The actual settings you choose will depend on your camera model.

You can now add embedded XMP data, like star ratings, to your images. Even better is the fact that the star ratings and color labels you add in the NX 2 browser can be read by other applications that use the star-rating system, like Adobe Bridge and Photo Mechanic. Sub- folders will appear in the browser; double-click on a folder icon in the browser to open it. A shortcut to that folder will be created in the Favorites list.

This will collapse the Folder list and expand the metadata tab on the left side of the screen. This allows other applications to read the embedded data. For example, you could use one color to indicate files that have been processed, and another color to indicate files that have not been processed. For example, you can create a preset to apply your contact information to your images. In the Thumbnail List view, images are shown as small thumbnails in a list that includes file data, star ratings, labels, date shot, and more.

The Thumbnail List view is useful when you want to quickly sort your images on any one of the file data columns in the list. Use the Thumbnail Grid view when you want to view the largest possible thumbnails. Use the zoom slider or the zoom tool to increase thumbnail size. Leave the right-hand triangle on the fifth star. For example, in a folder of mixed file types, you might only want to display JPEGs. By default, images in the File Browser are sorted by Name. Clicking the header one time will sort in ascending order, clicking a second time will allow you to sort the images in descending order.

The triangle icon is pointed up. The triangle icon is pointed down. Use batch operations for saving multiple files, applying saved settings files to multiple images, and for copying and pasting settings between files.

Source– this is the location folder of the files you wish to process. Settings– check this box if you wish to apply a saved settings file to the files selected for batch saving.

You can choose settings presets from the drop- down list at right. Conflict management: Use this drop- down menu to choose whether to override existing settings in the source files, or to simply append new settings. File renaming: Check this box if you wish to save a copy of the file with a different name. Use this dialog to enter a naming convention. File Format: Choose the type of file format to save the batched files as. For NEFs, you can specify compression options.

Destination: Choose the folder to where the batched files will be saved. Leave blank if you want to save the batched files into the source folder. Capture NX2 will periodically check the contents of the Watched Folder, and when new files are detected, a batch process will be automatically performed on those files.

Underneath the Watched folder options are controls that set the behavior of the application– you can choose to run batches immediately, or have NX 2 check the Watched Folder at a standard interval. Idea: You could create a folder on your computer where you drop images that you want to batch save as JPEGs. The processing dialog will open. You can always process the RAW files separately if you want later on. Note: you can also right- click on the image thumbnail and use the contextual menus to choose the copy and paste commands.

Notes on Batching: You can also access the batch commands by using the Batch Icon at the lower- left corner of the File Browser window, or by using the Batch Icon at the upper-right corner of the Edit List when you are viewing an opened image in the Edit View. Why does batching in NX seem so much slower compared to other applications? Specifically, the goal of making RAW adjustments is to make the baseline changes to global color, contrast, and brightness upon which all other adjustments will be built.

The Develop Section cannot leverage image cache files to speed up processing. Therefore, it is important to consider which adjustments can only be made in the Develop Step and consider making other adjustments in the Adjust Section of the Edit List.

However, because the Develop tools do involve the actual processing of RAW data, the results are usually higher quality than if you were to perform the same adjustment in the Adjust Section of the Edit List. Why not Noise Reduction? White balance, by comparison, is a fundamental parameter of how the RAW data are processed. Before you jump in to the Develop Section, ask yourself what it is you are trying to convey in your image. It is also where you can access the White Balance Controls.

Quick Fix: This area is new to Capture NX2 and is expanded by default, as shown in the image at right. Some of these tools are automatically applied. Controls There are four primary areas within the Camera Settings section: 1 White Balance Controls: Use these controls to override the as-shot white balance setting from your camera.

Evaluating WB is probably one of the first things you should do when examining your image before processing it. You can set this parameter to further fine-tune your WB setting using the lower pull-down menu. Move the slider to the left to make the image more blue cooler ; slide it to the right to make the image more orange warmer.

You can use white balance creatively to change the mood of an image. Take one image with the gray card in the scene, then shoot normally without the card. The Gray Point settings will appear. Move the mouse over your image– you should see an eyedropper icon appear. A note about gray cards: Lots of pocket gray cards are available, but a really handy one is the Whibal card, because it is very small and the gray color goes all the way through the card.

That way, if it were to become scratched, the card would not lose effectiveness. Left: Original image. Because you can control all the parameters in the Non-Picture Control dialog with Picture Controls, I recommend switching to the Picture Control dialog using the drop-down menu.

A D40 image and D image processed with the same Picture Control settings will have the same look, just as two images from different film cameras shot with the same kind of film would. Are you shooting a portrait, where you want to capture subtle tones, or a landscape, where you want saturated colors and strong contrast? Before you continue processing your NEF, you need to decide which preset for Picture Control gives you the best starting point for reproducing the feeling you had when you captured your image in the camera.

For images taken in bright sun in high-contrast conditions, Vivid may seem over the top. The Standard Picture Control preset has a moderate level of contrast, saturation, and sharpness.

Images processed using Picture Control will appear brighter than those processed using Non-Picture Control. The processing algorithm in the Picture Control software appears to boost midtones and increase saturation as compared to images processed without Picture Control.

The one parameter I recommend changing is to set Sharpening to zero 0. Setting sharpening to zero allows you to apply sharpening at the end of the Edit List workflow without sharpening the image a second time. Other than turning off sharpening, the rest of the Picture Controls are entirely optional for most images.

The Quick Adjust Slider changes multiple parameters simultaneously. The Sharpening adjustment in Picture Control can be set from anywhere from zero no sharpening to nine high sharpening. You can control the sharpening settings by moving the sharpening slider right or left.

The actual amount of sharpening applied will depend on the image, and is unpredictable. Any sharpening setting above 5 can result in artifacts halos in your image; so use it with care. If you are using the Capture Sharpening presets included with this eBook, be sure to set the Picture Control sharpening to a value of zero. It is often too easy to over-sharpen.

Doing so will disable the Contrast Slider. This flexibility can be useful if you are trying to extract the most dynamic range from your image. Changing this control affects primarily the midtones of your image. Alternatively, setting the brightness control to -1 will darken the midtones in your image. A value of zero is the default setting for Saturation Control.

The Preset you choose determines the starting point, the slider control allows you to fine-tune the saturation around that starting point. Because Picture Control Saturation 0 neutral saturation is based on in- camera settings, saturation cannot be adjusted as finely as you can with other NX tools, like the LCH editor.

Setting the saturation value to -3 does not result in a grayscale image; the sliders are meant to be a fine-tuning and not a large-scale adjustment. Moving the Hue slider to the left negative values shifts the hue towards magenta tones. If you move the slider to the right positive values , the hue shifts towards greenish tones. An interesting observation is that while reds and greens shift significantly with hue adjustments, the Hue 0 neutral blue tones are changed far less.

Color filters alter the contrast in black and white images– they lighten parts of the image that are the same color of the filter while darkening their complementary color. Orange Filter Applied 2 Your image will be modified. In this example, the orange and red filters darken the blue sky while keeping the foreground light. A primary example of a toned image is a Sepiatone effect. Not only will you be able to quickly access your saved settings, but you can upload them to cameras that support Picture Control.

Type a name in the naming field and then click OK to continue. Follow the procedures for creating a settings file described in the Workflow section of this book. This is not something that I recommend; but the utility is there if you want to use it. Use the Sample Image on the left hand side of the window as your guide.