© Mark LaMonica. All Rights Reserved.
Nikon Capture NX User Report
If you're a diehard Nikon user then this software is all you. Average Price $129.95 which is a bargain for such a
versatile program. There is a 30 day free trial available at the Nikon USA web site under the Software Downloads
section.
Capture NX is a user-friendly non-destructive NEF (Nikon Electronic Format) image editing software. What I love
about it is the U Point technology developed by Nik Software Inc. that allows you to use control points to modify
specific areas of an image without effecting the entire image globally. U point in NX will also work on your JPEG
images captured with a point and shoot. You can however achieve the same results by using layers and masks in
one of those other editing software programs that cost 5 to 7 times more and takes a lot longer. This program
works equally well on scanned film and I personally use a Nikon scanner and save my files as a NEF.
Our sample picture is a basic snapshot without fill flash of a mother and her son sitting on the porch steps of my
house. Due to the position of the sun there’s bright areas and shadows, but overall the picture would be acceptable
for the family album. To give it a better feel, I opened it up in capture NX and made a few adjustments, but nothing
too major.
First step was to focus on the subject matter, so I used the free crop method to crop the picture into a square
format focusing on their faces. The Next step is to open a color control point to lighten the shadow by our mothers
left eye to give us a light natural shadow. Another color control point was used to darken and blend the tone of her
neck to be more natural with the central area of her face. A final color control point was used to slightly darken her
sons face in the highlight area. Apply some sharpening and print or save.
Capture NX has D-Lighting that will balance most pictures from highlights to shadows, but for the best control, the U
point Technology gives you the tools at hand to concentrate on specific areas of each image.
If you love Black and White deep or Sepia tone pictures and want to add those effects later at home rather than
during the picture taking process, capture NX can handle that as well.
versatile program. There is a 30 day free trial available at the Nikon USA web site under the Software Downloads
section.
Capture NX is a user-friendly non-destructive NEF (Nikon Electronic Format) image editing software. What I love
about it is the U Point technology developed by Nik Software Inc. that allows you to use control points to modify
specific areas of an image without effecting the entire image globally. U point in NX will also work on your JPEG
images captured with a point and shoot. You can however achieve the same results by using layers and masks in
one of those other editing software programs that cost 5 to 7 times more and takes a lot longer. This program
works equally well on scanned film and I personally use a Nikon scanner and save my files as a NEF.
Our sample picture is a basic snapshot without fill flash of a mother and her son sitting on the porch steps of my
house. Due to the position of the sun there’s bright areas and shadows, but overall the picture would be acceptable
for the family album. To give it a better feel, I opened it up in capture NX and made a few adjustments, but nothing
too major.
First step was to focus on the subject matter, so I used the free crop method to crop the picture into a square
format focusing on their faces. The Next step is to open a color control point to lighten the shadow by our mothers
left eye to give us a light natural shadow. Another color control point was used to darken and blend the tone of her
neck to be more natural with the central area of her face. A final color control point was used to slightly darken her
sons face in the highlight area. Apply some sharpening and print or save.
Capture NX has D-Lighting that will balance most pictures from highlights to shadows, but for the best control, the U
point Technology gives you the tools at hand to concentrate on specific areas of each image.
If you love Black and White deep or Sepia tone pictures and want to add those effects later at home rather than
during the picture taking process, capture NX can handle that as well.
| Camera original before Capture NX adjustments |
| Final picture after using Capture NX |