Years ago when I learned the magic behind the layer mask in Photoshop I went out and bought a Wacom Intuos tablet to make my life easier when creating intricate layer masks. Today, my good friend Jon Hodgson emailed me about a new piece of software that probably makes my Wacom mostly obsolete: Nik Software’s Viveza. Viveza is a Photoshop plugin that allows you to select a single tone in a photo and then adjust just that tone across as large of an area as you desire. Viveza takes fine tuning the tone of your images to a new level!
The best way to understand what Viveza can do for you, is to watch the “lessons” that Nik Software has prepared on their website. After watching the “Introduction”, I think you’ll be longing for this tool just as I am. At $250, it’s not a cheap tool, but when you consider the control that it provides and the fact that some of the similar adjustments without it would take you hours on a Wacom tablet with layer masks, I think it’s money well spent.
(Oh, and they have a 15 day free trial available so you can try before you buy…I tested it out tonight and it suddenly jumped to the top of my list of new purchases…)
Looks like Nik has brought what they developed for Nikon Capture to be a plugin. The price seems a bit steep to me though for a plugin. I am afraid to do the trial because I might like it too much! š
Nothing beats the Wacom for quick dust spotting though! I still find myself switching back and forth between pen and mouse.
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