Perfect Photo Suite 8 First Look
There’s no shortage of plugins for Photoshop, Lightroom and Elements and many of them can really help get the most from your photos. For years I’ve been really happy with Nik Software and Color Efex Pro 4 has become a standard part of my workflow, I even did some webinars for them. The problem is, since Nik was sold to Google in late 2012 there’s been little news of upgrades, improvements or even minor tweeks and that’s a shame. At the moment it feels like Nik Software is just going to be left to fade away gracefully.
So I’ve been on the hunt for an alternative. Something that does the things I can’t do in Photoshop and makes it quick and easy too. Enter Perfect Photo Suite 8 from onOne software. You can download the free public beta here.
Alternatively if just want to dive in you can Pre-Order Perfect Photo Suite 8 here
I’ve been using the public beta version of Perfect Photo Suite 8 for the past few weeks and my inital reaction has been really positive. It does the things I do with Nik such as enhance detail in a way not possible with Photoshop and it has an excellent black and white conversion section. In fact because it’s a complete suite you could use it as a standalone photo editor or do as I do and use it as an extra add on to my Photoshop work. That does mean I don’t use modules that replicate what I would do in Photoshop but the Perfect Effects and Perfect B&W are getting plenty of use.
OnOne Software have just launched a free to try version of Perfect Photo Suite 8 Beta 2 so my advice is to download a copy and give it a spin. Do keep in mind that it is a Beta and that means they’ll be some bugs, not everything will be 100% working and the final version will be better.
I’d recommend jumping in and trying the Effects module first (File – Automate – Perfect Effects). The example above made use of the sunshine effect to add a warm glow to the image but the thing that caught my eye are the clarity style adjustments. Things Like HDR, Dark Contrasts and Dynamic Contrast are already shaping up to me some of my favourite features. There’s even an effect called Grunge… How can I resist that! All the effects come with a bunch of presets which are previewed on adjustable sized thumbnails. You can also take control with the sliders to create your own style and save it for future use.
If you do give it a go I’d be interested in hearing what you thought, especially if like me you’re a user of Nik.
Great tip, interesting to see the effects that can be achieved. And excellent to see the town of Maldon and the statue of Byrthnorth appearing on your website!
Ah I see lets scare the Nik users into buying this software.
Far from it. I’m suggesting giving the Beta a spin which is FREE 🙂
Nik has just added Analog Efex Pro to their collection so much for your fade away theory, guess this response will be removed as well.
Any update is good news, let’s hope they have more in the pipeline for color / silver Efex.
As for removing responses, I think your confusing removal for awaiting moderation.
Great recommendation. I’ve been using Topaz plugins for years and wonder if you have any thoughts on how the Topaz suite compares with Perfect Photo?
It’s been a while since I used Topaz but as with anything where you have a choice, I’d give them all a go (free trials) and see if one works for you better than another.
I’ve use all the products beginning with Photo Suite 3 and now I have Perfect Photo Suite 7 and can’t wait for eight. I glad to hear that someone likes it just as much if not more than Nik because i want to buy but never did. I enjoy using the OnOne it’s a great piece of software.
Hey, Gavin…
I’ve been using Perfect Photo Suite for several months and have been quite impressed. I don’t do a lot of “effects,” and I use B/W very sparingly. The greatest thing about the suite in my book, however, is that you get Perfect Resize (formerly Genuine Fractals) with it. There is no better way that I’ve yet seen to up-sample a digital image, and the gallery wrap feature is especially useful.
In fact… why don’t you explore that and give us a video!
Carry on… and Photoshop.
A C Baker
I am a long-time user of PPS. I have no experience with NIK. PPS is very user friendly and I have always found that I can get a first class result from using it. I was so confident that PPS8 would be tops I pre – bought it two months before it’s release an I am certainly not disappointed, I enjoy using it. I, like another person who wrote one of these comments, am a user of Topaz modules and have found them very good too. ReMask 3 is my favorite.
Barry from Tassie
Hi Barry. I also gone for the full PPS8 and so far I couldn’t be happier 🙂
I have been looking for a software program to enhance my photos. From what I have seen with the release of OnOne perfect photo suite 9 seems to have way more options than Nik’s photo suite 3. I also notice this blog is a couple years behind but I see nothing from Nik that compares with the latest OnOne software. I buy my software through Journey Ed, and I notice they no longer offer any photo plug ins other than OnOne. I guess I will have to try the trial to see for myself.