Review: PSKiss Black and White filters for Adobe Photoshop CS5

I had the honour to doing a review for PSKiss, a company that develops one-click-of-the-mouse filters that converts your images into stunning images.

The set of filters I received from them are the black and white filters.

The image above is taken during my recent trip to Huangshan, China. It was converted into black and white using the PSKiss Creative Mono filter with +7 grain.

Hit the jump for more about the filters.

Here’s how the original shot looks like. To show a fair comparison, I use Hue/Desaturation to reduce the image to black and white for comparison with the rest.

Dull and flat. What else do you expect with basic desaturation?

Now, after you install the filters (follow proper instructions provided by them please), it will appear under the filter menu.

I started off by selecting ‘Creative BW’, which had three more options: High Contrast Old-Style BW, Faux IR (infra-red) and Super High Key.

Which ever option you select, you will see an immediate preview… depending on how fast your computer is.

You will also have the option to select the intensity of grains (what’s black and white without grains?) on your photo.

The first photo you saw was with grain intensity of 7. Here’s one with intensity of 15.

Take a look at grain intensity 7 again.

To me, grain intensity 7 for a 10 megapixel jpg file feels about right. However, I suspect with significantly higher resolution files like a 39 megapixel file from a medium format digital back or a 21-megapixel Canon 5D Mark II, you will need to push the intensity higher to force out film-like grains.

Moving on, I tried Faux IR filter and for the rest of the images, I stayed with grain intensity 7.

I was never a fan of IR images. Furthermore the chosen image did not do the IR filter any justice. So do it justice by trying on your own pics with this filter.

And then there was the Super High Key, which was way over for me.

Again, it was not the best photo to showcase the capabilities of the Super High Key filter. So maybe another photo will do it justice.

So I moved on with PS Mono filter.

This one is interesting because it comes with no less than 10 options of different colour filters.

If you are an oldie like me, who shoots black and white film, you will know what each of these black and white color filter do. For a crash course on that, click here.

To me, this is a god-send. I shoot a lot of black and white film and I sure as hell use plenty of color filters to go with my film.

I cannot tell if the choice of color filters correctly affects the tones of the black and white images. With my limited knowledge, I roughly know how green and red filter affect the green tones of the tree leaves (thus the choice of this photo!).

Again, I need to emphasize the ease of use.

Green filter on black and white creates more contrast on green. Red filter on the other hand, produces intensive color deviation. Take a look at both options and decide if you agree on it. To me, the color filters’ alteration to black and white matches my expectation.

So there you have it. PSKiss black and white filters at a glance. Granted I can and I should show results with other photos but I need a break from this long entry. Will upload more photos later on.

Verdict: People who are into black and white photography but do not know how or where to start will find these filters tremendously fun to play with. People with in-depth knowledge of black and white will find these filters easy to use and helpful, though I suspect at the end of the day, they will still want more control over the outcome of the final image.

I will be sold when these filters can withstand the test of uber-high resolution files like a 24 megapixel file from a Sony Alpha-900 or one of those files from a medium format digital backs. But until I have the motivation to dig out my hard drive and retrieve those Alpha/MF files, I think I will have some fun converting some of my Canon Powershot S95 images into black and white.

I also have the filters for Adobe Camera Raw but alas it did not come with instructions on how to install em. Will have a word with PSKiss on this. When I finally know how to install em, I will do a separate review for ACR PSKiss filters. Also, there is a filter called ‘PS Skintone BW’ that places a lot of emphasis on black and white skin tone conversion. I ran some filters on a subject but until she gives me permission to use her photos for my review, I will keep the results under-wraps. But from what I am seeing, the results look pretty decent.

The filters are not expensive, ranging from USD (I think) 4 – 6. But that’s for black and white filters only.

If you want the whole package then you are going to have to fork out up to USD (i think) 135.

More on prices here.

*Update

OK PEOPLE I HEAR YOUR COMPLAINTS SO HERE’S SOME OTHER PHOTOS CONVERTED USING PSKISS.

Original

Creative BW filter with grain intensity 7

Original

Mono filter with Red Plus color filter

Original

Mono filter with Green color filter

Mono filter with Red Plus color filter

OK DONE.

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