Use of Kodak Plug-in Filters for Photoshop

At the October DISIG meeting George Hamma presented a demonstration of the use of the use of Photoshop plug-in filters for performing a number of image corrections. As a refresher and for those members who were unable to attend, the following examples will demonstrate the use of these filters.

Plug-ins are small independent programs which perform functions within the photo editing program (e.g. Photoshop). By comparison, Actions are scripts which define a series of steps using regular commands in the program. Hundreds of plug-ins are available, some for free, Many plug-ins provide more levels of adjustment or more sophisticated ways of performing normal image correcting functions such as sharpening or applying smoothing blurs. In the examples below, the original unedited image is shown followed by the result using different techniques for achieving the desired correction. Each image represents a single technique; effects are not applied sequentially.

The Kodak ROC, SHO and GEM plug-ins are available in both Std and Pro versions. The Pro version generally provides more adjustments for greater versatility. The GEM Airbrush plug-in is only available as a Pro version. Fully functional trial versions are available. (The final image is watermarked to prevent unauthorized use.) For more information, visit the Kodak website: http://www.asf.com.

Kodak ROC Pro filter: This filter is designed to remove a color cast from the image. The New Zealand Passion flower was photographed in open light at the Butterfly Garden at Coyote Hills Park (Minolta A2, 1/50 sec @ f/3.5, ISO 64, 200mm macro, RAW format). The original image clearly shows a bluish cast.
Unretouched picture
Original unretouched image
Color temperature adjustment in Adobe Photoshop RAW converter using eye dropper to select white point.
Levels adjustment layer
(curves adjusted by eye dropper white point selection)
Kodak ROC filter (default values)
Kodak SHO Pro filter: This plug-in adjusts the shadow and highlight values of the image: Image was taken on an overcast day with backlighting creating a shadowed interior garden area and a bright sky (Minolta A2, 1/60 sec @ f/3.2, ISO 200, 28mm, RAW format).
Original image

Exposure adjustment +1EV in Adobe Photoshop RAW converter
Original plus Photoshop Shadows/Highlights adjustment
Original plus Kodak SHO Pro filter adjustment (default values)
Kodak GEM Pro filter: This plug-in is used for noise reduction. The image is a blowup section from the previous garden photo (after SHO filter) to show the noise in the wooden fence area:

Original image
Original plus Kodak GEM Pro filter (default settings)
Kodak GEM Airbrush PRO - This filter is used to soften or smooth out skin tones. The effect is quite subtle.
Original image
Original plus Kodak GEM Airbrush Pro (default values) plus Healing Brush for blemishes