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Nik Software Color Efex Pro™ 3.0 filters are the leading photographic filters for digital photography. The award-winning Color Efex Pro 3.0 filters are widely used by many of today's professional photographers around the world to save time and get professional level results. Whether you choose the Complete Edition, Select Edition, or Standard Edition, you’ll get traditional and stylizing filters that offer virtually endless possibilities to enhance and transform images quickly and easily.

Patented U Point® technology provides the ultimate controlto selectively apply enhancements without the need for any complicated masks, layers or selections. Control color, light and tonality in your images and create unique enhancements with professional results. With 52 filters and over 250 effects found in Color Efex Pro 3.0, you can perform high quality retouching, color correction, and endless creative enhancements to your photographs.

Updates to old favorites such as Classical Soft Focus, Darken/Lighten Center, and Vignette filters are joined by exciting new filters Film Effects, Glamour Glow, High Key, Tonal Contrast, Bleach Bypass, and more. See the full filter list with sample images here.

The result is nothing less than the most complete, most useful collection of photographic filters you can add to your toolkit.

Click on the New Features tab to learn about the new enhancements found in Color Efex Pro 3.0, download a free Trial version to take advantage of Color Efex Pro 3.0 with full functionality for 15-days, or click here to see the software in action.

All registered customers of Color Efex Pro 3.0 Complete Edition are eligible for a free download of Color Efex Pro 3.0 for Lightroom 2. To receive the free update, download the Color Efex Pro 3.0 for Lightroom 2 installer, and then use your Color Efex Pro 3.0 for Photoshop product key to activate the software.


Image with Noise
Color Efex Pro 3.0

Color Efex Pro 3.0 has been significantly updated to provide photo enthusiasts and professional photographers alike with the most powerful yet easy to use set of photographic filters ever created. Digital SLR owners will revel in the wide range of quick and easy fixes to dramatically improve their photos with just a few clicks of the mouse.

Professional wedding, nature, commercial, and portrait photographers will appreciate the speed of workflow and advanced features designed to support uniquely creative styles and deliver class-leading power.

U Point® Technology

U Point-powered Control Points make it easy to selectively add, modify, and remove a filter’s effect. Award-winning U Point technology gives you ultimate control to selectively apply enhancements without the need for any complicated masks, layers or selections.

New Filters

The new filters in Color Efex Pro 3.0 range from creative enhancements and special effects to re-touching tools and over 30 conventional film emulation filter effects. New filters include Bleach Bypass, Cross Balance, Film Effects, Film Grain, Glamour Glow, High Key, Low Key, Polaroid Transfer, and Tonal Enhancer. Previously available filters have also been updated to provide even more options. Click here to see a complete list of filters, descriptions and before/after samples.

New Interface

The new resizable interface lets you easily accommodate large monitor configurations, preview before and after results, and quickly access the entire range of unique tools to match your workflow.

Powerful Selective Tool (Adobe® Photoshop® only)

Unique among photographic filter software on the market today, the Color Efex Pro 3.0 Selective Tool allows you to quickly and easily brush any filter effect into your image. Layers and masks are created automatically, so you are free to create and experiment unfettered.

Smart Filter Compatibility (Adobe Photoshop only)

Color Efex Pro 3.0 is Smart Filter compatible which allows you to go back and "fine tune" images even after effects have been applied

Multi-image Support (Lightroom® & Aperture™ only)

Color Efex Pro 3.0 is compatible with Lightroom & Aperture’s ability to work on multiple images at once. When more than one image is opened, "Previous" and "Next" buttons appear that allow photographers to easily copy and paste settings between images to maintain consistency.

Color Efex Pro 3.0 Interface
(Capture NX 2 from Nikon Corporation)

Color Efex Pro 3.0 has been integrated into Nikon’s flagship image editing application Capture NX 2. For example, where U Point® technology has been incorporated into the plug-in for Photoshop and Aperture (to allow precise selective control over filter enhancements), Capture NX 2 already has the ability to selectively apply enhancements via U Point powered selection control points.

This makes for a more seamless experience, and fits well with the photography-centric feature set and non-destructive workflow of Capture NX 2. This tight integration dramatically simplifies the art of enhancing images and offers photographers a complete photo editing solution.

Image with Noise interface
user interface

The New Color Efex Pro 3.0
User Interface

Adobe Photoshop

See the new resizable and efficient user interface in Color Efex Pro 3.0.

control points

User Interface in Aperture

Apple Aperture

See how to access and use Color Efex Pro 3.0 as a plug-in for Apple Aperture 2.

control points

User Interface in Lightroom

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom

Learn about the Color Efex Pro 3.0 interface and how to access Color Efex Pro 3.0 in Lightroom.

control points

Discover the Selective Enhancements Empowered by U Point Technology

Use U Point-powered Control Points to specify where an image’s effect is applied without using masks and selections.

graduated filters

Enhancing the Sky
Using the Graduated Filters

Learn how to blend the colors in an image quickly and easily using traditional Graduated filters.

remove color cast

Remove Color Casts Quickly and
Effectively using Remove Color Cast

See how to use the Remove Color Cast filter to neutralize unwanted color casts.

white neutralizer

Making Whites Pop with
the White Neutralizer

Learn how to clean up images and create bright, crisp whites, without affecting other colors in an image.

dynamic skin softener

Creating Beautiful Skin with
the Dynamic Skin Softener

Learn how to create soft, smooth skin quickly and easily using one of the most popular filters in Color Efex Pro.

procontrast

Enhancing Contrast and Improving
Color with Pro Contrast

Learn how to quickly control the contrast and color in an image with the powerful Pro Contrast filter.

bleach bypass

New Filter: Bleach Bypass

Learn how to create a unique high contrast, low saturation effect used by photographers and film makers alike.

glamour glow

New Filter: Glamour Glow

Find out how to stylize portrait images by adding a soft, dreamy effect using the new Glamour Glow filter.

film effects

New Filter: Film Effects

Find out how to take your digital photographs through a variety of film types using the new Film Effects filter.

Smart Filter

New Smart Filter Compatibility

Adobe Photoshop

Learn to use Color Efex Pro 3.0 as a Smart Filter in Adobe Photoshop CS3, providing the ability to fine tune your filter enhancements at any time.

Multiple Image Editing

Multiple Image Editing

Apple Aperture

Speed up your workflow and learn how to enhance several images in one Color Efex Pro 3.0 session with the new multiple image editing capabilities in Color Efex Pro 3.0.

Multiple Image Editing

Multiple Image Editing

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom

Speed up your workflow by enhancing multiple images with Color Efex Pro 3.0 in Lightroom.

filter listComplete Filter List

View a complete list of filters, filter descriptions, and before/after sample images.

user guideUser Guide

Download the complete User Guide (PDF) for Color Efex Pro 3.0.


quick start guideQuick Start Guide

Download the Quick Start Guide (PDF) for Color Efex Pro 3.0.


System Requirements

windows_logoWindows

  • Windows XP with Service Pack 3, Windows Vista, and Windows 7 (32-bit and 64-bit compatible)
  • AMD or Intel processor
  • 1GB RAM (2GB or more Recommended)
  • Adobe Photoshop® CS2 through CS5 32-bit (64-bit compatibility, please click here), Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0 through 8*
  • Adobe Photoshop Lightroom® 2.3 or later**
  • Capture NX 2 from Nikon Corporation (excludes Color Efex Pro 3.0 Standard Edition)
 

mac_logoMacintosh

  • Mac OS 10.4 and later
  • PowerPC or Intel processor
  • 1 GB RAM (2GB or more Recommended)
  • Adobe® Photoshop® CS2 through CS5 in 32-bit (for 64-bit compatibility, please click here), Adobe Photoshop Elements 6 and 8*
  • Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.3 or later**
  • Apple® Aperture™ 2.1.x and Aperture 3 in 32-bit (for 64-bit compatibility, please click here)
  • Capture NX 2 from Nikon Corporation (excludes Color Efex Pro 3.0 Standard Edition)

* Nik Software product filters are developed to integrate seamlessly into many popular image editing applications that support the Adobe plug-in architecture and there are numerous software applications that accept Adobe plug-in compatible filters. Please consult your image editing application’s documentation for compatibility and installation instructions for 3rd-party plug-ins.

** Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.3 compatible with Color Efex Pro 3.0 Complete Edition only.

Color Efex Pro 3.0 Testimonials

~~ Tony Sweet

~~ Martin Grahame-Dunn

~~ Mike Strickland

To view how other professional photographers integrate Nik Software products within their workflow, visit our Team Nik section.


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Complete Collection Silver Efex Pro 30 Day


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