Nik Software Dfine 2.0 Update

Press Release:

Nik Software announces today that Dfine 2.0, its popular award-winning digital photographic plug-in offering photographers advanced and powerful noise reduction for their digital images, is now available for Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.3 and higher. Dfine 2.0 provides superior noise reduction while maintaining detail and sharpness throughout an image and providing unprecedented selective control over noise reduction by employing Nik Software’s U Point technology. The update is available now as a free download to current Dfine 2.0 owners at www.niksoftware.com/lightroom.

“Dfine 2.0 now joins Sharpener Pro 3.0, Viveza, Color Efex Pro 3.0 and Silver Efex Pro and completes the Lightroom update for our entire line of software plug-ins for photographers,” said Michael J. Slater president and CEO of Nik Software. “We are pleased to announce that Dfine 2.0 is now available and this update, like previous Lightroom compatibility releases, is offered to Dfine 2.0 users at no additional cost.”

Dfine 2.0 installs as a plug-in for Lightroom 2.3, itself a free update from earlier versions and available for download from the Adobe website. Once installed, Dfine 2.0 is accessible via the Lightroom Photo>Edit In… menu. Edits made using the plug-in within Lightroom are non-destructive in nature, with edits applied automatically to a newly generated TIFF file and not the original. Dfine 2.0 also takes advantage of Lightroom’s efficiencies for everyday tasks, including the ability to edit multiple images in one session, increasing productivity.

About Dfine 2.0

• Featuring Nik Software's patented U Point technology, Dfine 2.0 noise reduction can be applied globally or selectively using various controls including:
• Control Points powered by U Point technology – with a single mouse click, photographers can place Control Points on an image and selectively adjust the amount of contrast (luminance) and color (chrominance) noise reduction.
• Target Colors – using an eyedropper tool to select colors, photographers can reduce noise based on a range of colors.  This method is ideal for batch processing a series of images.
• Selective Tool – using brushes, noise reduction can be applied selectively. For added control and fine detail adjustments, Dfine also supports pressure sensitive features optimized for Wacom® Pen Tablets.

Other features include:

• New Smart Filter Support (Photoshop only)—Provides compatibility with Adobe Photoshop’s Smart Objects enabling modifications or adjustments to noise reduction after Dfine has been applied.
• New Multi-Image Support (Aperture and Lightroom only)—Provides compatibility with Aperture’s multi-image support, allowing photographers to easily reduce noise in several images without leaving Dfine’s interface.
• New Debanding Control—Resolves issues in which unwanted horizontal or vertical banding artifacts are introduced in the capture process. Dfine is the only product designed specifically to handle this issue.

Dfine also includes an auto camera profile system as part of its image processing core.  This feature adjusts the noise reduction to match specific parameters and nuances based on camera manufacturer specifications. Camera profiles may be applied automatically upon launching the plug-in, thus enabling literally “one click” noise reduction for images and faster workflow.  Profiles may also be created manually and saved, and then loaded by users at a later time.

Pricing and Availability
The fully compatible Dfine 2.0 product, offering support for Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom, and Apple Aperture, is available immediately for electronic delivery directly from Nik Software (www.niksoftware.com) or through specialty camera retailers. A complete list of resellers may be found on the Nik Software website. Current owners of Dfine 2.0 may download a free update from the Nik Software website. The suggested retail price of Dfine 2.0 is $99.95.