Nikon NX2 User Manual

SOFTWARE

User's Manual

Notices

© 2008 Nik Software, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this manual may be reproduced, transmitted, transcribed, stored in a retrieval system, or translated into any language in any form, by any means, without Nik Software, Inc.’s prior written permission.

Nikon reserves the right to change the specifications of the hardware and software described in these manuals at any time and without any prior notice.

Neither Nik Software, Inc. nor Nikon will be held liable for any damages resulting from the use of this product.

While every effort has been made to ensure the information in these manuals is accurate and complete, we would appreciate it were you to bring any errors or omissions to the attention of the Nikon representative in your area (addresses are provided separately).

Protected by U.S. patents. Patents pending in the U.S. and/or other countries.

Trademark Information

U Point is a registered trademark of Nik Software, Inc. Nik and the Nik logo are trademarks of Nik Software, Inc. Macintosh and Mac OS are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Intel, Pentium, Xeon, and Core are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation. Adobe and Photoshop are registered trademarks of Adobe Systems, Inc. All other trade names mentioned in this manual or in the other documentation provided with your Nikon products are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

Chapter 2

Chapters at a Glance

Chapter 1 Notices & Trademark Information

Chapter 2 Chapters at a Glance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Chapter 3 Table of Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Chapter 4 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Chapter 5 System Requirements & Installation . . . . . . . 11

Chapter 6 Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Chapter 7 Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Chapter 8 Interface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Chapter 9 The Browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Chapter 10 The Folders Palette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Chapter 11 The Metadata Palette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Chapter 12 Activity Toolbar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Chapter 13 The Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Chapter 14 Bird’s Eye . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Chapter 15 Edit List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

Chapter 16 Photo Info . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

Chapter 17 The Color Picker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

Chapter 18 File Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

Chapter 19 Edit Menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

Chapter 20 Adjust Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

Chapter 21 Filter Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209

Chapter 22 Batch Menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217

Chapter 23 View Menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227

Chapter 24 Window Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237

Chapter 25 Help Menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239

Chapter 26 Appendix: Short-cuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241

Chapter 27 Appendix: Supplied Color Profiles . . . . . . . . 247

Chapter 28 Appendix: Additional Notices. . . . . . . . . . . . . 251

Chapter 29 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261

Chapter 30 Contact Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265

Chapter 2 — Chapters at a Glance 1

2 Chapter 2 — Chapters at a Glance

Chapter 3

Chapter 1 Notices & Trademark Information

Notices Trademark Information

Chapter 2 Chapters at a Glance

Chapter 3 Table of Contents

Chapter 4 Introduction

RAW File Format Benefits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

Camera Relationship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

U Point® Technology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Chapter 5 System Requirements & Installation

System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Windows. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Macintosh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Installation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Windows. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Macintosh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Color Management Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Running Capture NX 2 in Trial Mode or Activating

Product . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Upgrading From Capture NX Version 1 . . . . . . . . 14

Nikon User Support Information (U.S.A.). . . . . . . . . . 14

Chapter 6 Getting Started

Launching Capture NX 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Convert Capture NX Version 1 Labels. . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Welcome Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Open Recent Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Open Recent Folder. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Don’t Show Again. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Drag an image here to open it (Macintosh Only)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Browsing and Opening Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Using the Browser. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Using Open Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Using ViewNX. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Using Nikon Transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

File Format Differences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

NEF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

TIFF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

JPEG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

Workflow Suggestions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

Printing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22

Printing a Single Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22

Printing contact sheets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26

Batch Processing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28

Applying a series of enhancements to a folder of

images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28

Adding XMP/IPTC data to a series of images using

an XMP/IPTC preset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

Converting NEF RAW files into JPEG or TIFF files . . .33

To convert a folder of files from NEF RAW to JPEG

or TIFF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33

To convert selected files from the Browser. . . . . .35

Chapter 7 Preferences

General. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38

Open With Application. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38

Place Open With TIFF File In . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38

D1X RAW Default . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38

Default Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38

Default Save As . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Keep all Steps Active in Edit List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39

Folder for Temporary Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39

Color Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40

Default RGB Color Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40

Use This Instead of Embedded Profile . . . . . . . . . .40

CMYK Separation profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40

Printer Profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40

Use This Profile when printing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40

Intent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41

Use Black Point Compensation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41

Levels & Sampling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42

Levels & Curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42

Dropper Sample Size. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43

Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44

Grid. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44

Selection Overlay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45

Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45

Chapter 3 — Table of Contents 3

Cache Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46

Browsing Cache . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Editing Cache . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46

XMP/IPTC Presets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48

Available Presets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Field Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

New . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49

Duplicate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Delete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Import . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49

Export . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49

Labels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50

Label Compatibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50

Available Labels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Manage Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51

Add. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51

Delete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Workspaces. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52

Default Workspaces. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52

My Workspaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52

Reset Shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Add. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52

Delete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Chapter 8 Interface

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55

Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Menu Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Browser. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55

Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Metadata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Bird’s Eye. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56

Edit List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56

Photo Info . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56

Image Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56

Workspaces. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57

Browser. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57

Metadata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Multi-Purpose. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Edit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58

Creating Custom Workspaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58

Working with Multiple Screens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60

Additional screen Sub-Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60

Desktop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Swap Workspaces. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Image Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62

Image Name. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62

Zoom Ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

File Size. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Color Profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Soft Proof. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Window & Palette Functionality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Minimizing & Maximizing Palettes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Docking & Undocking Palettes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Grip Edge. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Resize Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65

Finding Palettes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Chapter 9 The Browser

Browser Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Opening a Folder of Images in the Browser . . . . . . . 68

Using the Folders Palette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Using Open Folder in Browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Using Nikon Transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Navigating Within the Browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Filtering Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Filter by Label. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Filter by Rating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

File Type to Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Sorting Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Sort By . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Then Sort By. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Labeling and Rating Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Add Label . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Add Rating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73

Browser Header . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Browser View Selector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Thumbnail Grid. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Thumbnail List. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Opening Images from the Browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Chapter 10 The Folders Palette

Favorite Folders Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Adding Favorites. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Deleting Favorites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Folder Structure Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Chapter 11 The Metadata Palette

File & Camera Information Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

XMP/IPTC Information Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Adding Image Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Copying and Pasting IPTC Information . . . . . . . . . 83

Creating XMP/IPTC Presets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Loading XMP/IPTC Presets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

4 Chapter 3 — Table of Contents

Managing XMP/IPTC Presets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Chapter 12 Activity Toolbar

Workspace Selector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Launch Nikon Transfer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Print . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Chapter 13 The Toolbar

Tool Options Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Direct Select Tool. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Hand Tool. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Zoom Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Rotate Tool. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Straighten Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Crop Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Crop Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Show Crop Assistance Grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Black Control Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Black Control Point Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Advanced . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Neutral Control Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

Neutral Control Point Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

Show Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

Color Picker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

Advanced . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

White Control Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

White Control Point Method. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

Advanced . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Color Control Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Color Control Point Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Show Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Protect Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Color Picker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Red-Eye Control Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Auto Retouch Brush . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

Selection Control Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

Lasso and Marquee Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Lasso Tool. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Polygon Lasso Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Rectangle Marquee Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Oval Marquee Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Edge Softness. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Selection Brush Tool. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Brush Hardness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Opacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Pressure Controls. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Selection Gradient Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

Linear Gradient Tool. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

Radial Gradient Tool. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

Gradient Range . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Fill / Remove Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

Chapter 14 Bird’s Eye

Chapter 15 Edit List

Introduction to the Edit List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Show/Hide Triangles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

Apply Checkbox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

Reset Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

Delete Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

Version . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

Original . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

Last Saved . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

(Current) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

New Version… . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

Edit Versions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

Batch Menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Develop Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

Camera Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Quick Fix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

Camera & Lens Corrections. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

Adjust Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

Selection Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

Adjust & Filter pull-down menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Link Icon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Enhancement Controls. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Opacity Mixer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146

Working with the Edit List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

Deleting Steps and Enhancements. . . . . . . . . . . 148

Copying and Pasting Steps and Enhancements

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

Linking Enhancements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

Swapping Enhancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

New Step Button. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

Chapter 16 Photo Info

Histogram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

Channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

Double Threshold. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

Clear. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

Watch Points. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

Add Watch Point Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

Color Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

Chapter 3 — Table of Contents 5

Sample Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .154

Chapter 17 The Color Picker

Color Wheel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .156

Color Triangle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .156

RGB Selection Boxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .156

HSB Selection Boxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .156

LAB Selection Boxes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .156

Last Selected & Previous Picks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .157

Color Eyedropper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .157

Swatches Show/Hide Triangle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .157

Swatches Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .157

Chapter 18 File Menu

Duplicate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

Delete. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .171

Rename . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .171

Select All . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172

Deselect All . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172

Flip. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .173

Rotate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .173

90 Degrees CW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .174

90 Degrees CCW. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .174

Straighten . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .174

Size / Resolution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .176

Resample Image. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

Don’t Resample Image. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .176

Fit Photo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177

Open Image…. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .159

Open With… . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .159

Open Folder in Browser… . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .160

Open Recent. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .160

Launch Nikon Transfer… . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .160

Launch Camera Control Pro… . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .160

Save. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .160

JPEG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .160

Save As…. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .161

NEF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .161

TIFF. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .161

JPEG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .162

Revert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .163

Protect File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .163

Close . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .163

Page Setup…. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .163

Print… . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .164

Page Display and Page Forward and Back Buttons

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .164

Copies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .164

Page Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .164

Metadata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .165

Page Layout Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .166

Color Management Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .167

Print to File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .168

Exit. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .168

Chapter 19 Edit Menu

Undo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .169

Redo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .169

Cut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .170

Copy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .170

Paste . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .170

Chapter 20 Adjust Menu

Light > Levels & Curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .181

Channel Selector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .183

Curve Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .183

Black and White Output Sliders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .184

Black, Mid Point, and White Sliders . . . . . . . . . . . .184

Show Before / After Histogram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .185

Auto Contrast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

Set White Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

Set Neutral Point. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .185

Set Black Point. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .186

Add Anchor Point. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186

Reset Current Channel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .186

Reset All Channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186

Temporary Cancel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .186

Light > Contrast / Brightness. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186

Contrast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .186

Brightness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .187

Light > Auto Levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .187

Auto Levels Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .187

Correct Contrast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187

Correct Color Cast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .188

Light > D-Lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .188

Faster (HS) Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .188

Better Quality (HQ) Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .188

Color > LCH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189

Master Lightness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190

Color Lightness. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .193

Chroma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .194

Hue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

Color > Color Balance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .197

Brightness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .197

Contrast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .197

6 Chapter 3 — Table of Contents

Red . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197

Green . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197

Blue. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197

Color > Color Booster. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198

Protect Skin Tones. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198

Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198

Color > Saturation / Warmth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198

Saturation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198

Warmth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198

Focus > Gaussian Blur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

Radius . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

Opacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

Focus > High Pass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

Radius . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

Focus > Unsharp Mask. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200

Color. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201

Intensity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202

Radius . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202

Threshold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202

Delete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202

Correct > Distortion Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202

Correction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202

Fill Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203

Correct > Color Aberration Control. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203

Red — Cyan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203

Blue — Yellow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203

Noise Reduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204

Intensity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204

Sharpness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205

Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205

Edge Noise Reduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205

Color Profile. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206

Apply Profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206

Convert to Profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207

Chapter 21 Filter Menu

Photo Effects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209

Enhance Photo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209

Black and White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210

Sepia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

Tinted. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212

Add Grain / Noise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213

Grain Strength . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213

Grain Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213

Grain Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213

Contrast: Color Range . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213

Hue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213

Contrast. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213

Brightness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214

Colorize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214

Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214

Opacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214

Blending Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214

Black and White Conversion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214

Filter Hue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215

Color Filter Strength. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215

Brightness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215

Contrast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216

Third-Party Plug-Ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216

Chapter 22 Batch Menu

Run Batch Process. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217

Batch Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217

Watched Folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219

File Naming Dialog. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221

Processing Queue. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222

Copy Adjustments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224

Paste Adjustments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224

Save Adjustments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225

Load Adjustments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225

Copy IPTC Info . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226

Paste IPTC Info . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226

Save XMP/IPTC Preset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226

Load XMP/IPTC Preset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226

Chapter 23 View Menu

Selection Display. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227

Hide Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227

Show Overlay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228

Show Mask . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228

Show All Control Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228

Show Active Selection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228

Show Watch Points. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228

Show Grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229

Show Focus Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229

Show Lost Highlights. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229

Show Lost Shadows. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230

View at 100% . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231

Fit to Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231

Zoom In . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231

Zoom Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232

Full Screen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232

Presentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232

Hide Palettes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233

Compare Images. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234

Compare in Browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234

Chapter 3 — Table of Contents 7

Compare in Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .235

Compare with Original. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .236

Chapter 24 Window Menu

Workspace. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .237

Reset Workspace. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .237

Browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .237

Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .237

Metadata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .237

Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .238

Bird’s Eye . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .238

Edit List. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .238

Photo Info . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .238

Cascade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .238

Tile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .238

Chapter 25 Help Menu

Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .239

Technical Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .239

Show Welcome Screen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .240

Update Capture NX 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .240

About Capture NX 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .240

Chapter 26 Appendix: Short-cuts

The Browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .241

The Toolbar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .242

Photo Info . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .242

File Menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .243

Edit Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .243

Adjust Menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .244

Filter Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .244

Batch Menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .244

View. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .244

Window Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .245

Help. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .245

Apple Specific Shortcut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .245

Chapter 28 Appendix: Additional Notices

General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .251

Nikon Message Center Agent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251

Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .251

Camera Adjustments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .252

White Balance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252

Color Mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253

Exposure Compensation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .253

Image Dust Off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254

Vignette Control. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .255

Opening Images. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .255

Saving Images. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256

Printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .256

Size / Resolution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .257

Color Management Preferences (Windows). . . . . .257

Color Management Preferences (Macintosh). . . . .257

Levels & Curves. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .258

D-Lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .259

Unsharp Mask . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .259

Color Aberration Control. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259

Batch Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .259

Chapter 29 Index

Chapter 30 Contact Information

Life-Long Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .265

Chapter 27 Appendix: Supplied Color Profiles

Standard RGB Profiles Supplied in Capture NX 2

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .247

Profiles with a Gamma Value of 1.8 . . . . . . . . . . . .247

Profiles with a Gamma Value of 2.2 . . . . . . . . . . . .247

Technical Data for RGB Profiles Supplied with

Capture NX 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .249

Capture NX 2 and Adobe Photoshop Color

Profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .250

8 Chapter 3 — Table of Contents

Chapter 4

Introduction

Capture NX 2 contains a wide range of improvements designed to make it an even more complete and powerful photo editing application specifically designed for photography. The interface and tools in Capture NX 2 provide you with a new intuitive approach to the art and science of image editing that saves you valuable time and effort. Capture NX 2 is the latest version in a long line of quality tools from Nikon designed to speed up workflow for photographers. With Capture NX 2 you will work with industry leading tools that deliver quality and performance you expect from a photo editing application.

RAW File Format Benefits

Unique among image editing software, Capture NX 2 provides you with the ability to achieve the highest quality results for processing NEF (Nikon Electronic Format) RAW files as well as powerful tools that can enhance any image.

Shooting RAW has a number of distinct advantages over shooting and saving processed files such as JPEG and TIFF files. The RAW format records important archival information about the conditions under which the image was captured. This information can be used by Capture NX 2 to make unique adjustments to enhance the image after capture. The following are some of the camera settings and RAW adjustments that can be controlled within the Develop section of the Edit List palette:

• Color mode or Picture control (depending on the camera model)

•White balance

• Tone compensation

• Saturation

•Sharpening

• Exposure compensation

•Hue adjustment

• Color moiré reduction

•Image Dust Off

• Auto color aberration

• Active D-Lighting (depending on the camera model)

Chapter 4 — Introduction | RAW File Format Benefits 9

Camera Relationship

Capture NX 2 was designed to support JPEG and TIFF files and to provide unique features that fully support Nikon digital cameras, allowing you to change many of the settings selected in your camera. After opening a NEF RAW file within Capture NX 2, you can view the shooting, camera, and exposure information of the file within the Metadata palette.

U Point® Technology

A key feature in Capture NX 2 is U Point technology. The controls powered by U Point technology enable you to modify sections of a photograph directly or control where an enhancement is being applied selectively, all without having to go through the time-consuming process of creating a selection normally required in other software applications.

U Point technology has been widely recognized as one of the most revolutionary technologies in the market today and now that technology powers even more tools in Capture NX 2. U Point technology provides precise and direct control to a variety of tools within Capture NX 2, providing powerful yet simple photographic manipulation. U Point technology powers Capture NX 2’s series of control points: the color control point, the black, neutral, and white control points, the red-eye control point, and the new selection control point. These control points provide you with the ability to create color and tonal enhancements, fix issues, or selectively apply photographic enhancements within any image, all being applied directly to the image and with immediate feedback.

The U Point-powered control points found within Capture NX 2 enable you to work with your images without the need to perform a complicated series of operations in a particular order.

Control points work by identifying an object based on a number of criteria. When you place your first control point, U Point technology identifies the unique elements of the object on which you place a control point, including its position, color, saturation, and texture. By identifying these elements, and in conjunction with the Size slider, the control point can determine the boundaries of the object in order to affect only that object and objects with like elements. With every control point that you apply to the image comes greater control over specific objects in the image. The additional control points ensure that the adjustments you make are being applied to the current object only, and placing a control point on an object with default settings prevents other control points from affecting that object. Through a unique mixing function, the effects of the control points are applied throughout the image so as to create a natural-looking, professional result.

U Point technology powered tools are designed to make enhancements fast, professional, and of the highest quality. The results will be nothing short of amazing.

10 Chapter 4 — Introduction | Camera Relationship

Chapter 5

System Requirements & Installation

System Requirements

Windows

Preinstalled versions of Windows Vista 32-bit Home Basic/Home Premium/

Processor Pentium 4 or better RAM 768 MB minimum (1 GB recommended) Hard-disk space 200 MB required for installation

Screen resolution

Macintosh

Processor PowerPC G4, PowerPC G5, Intel Core Duo, Intel Core 2 Duo, Intel Xeon, or better RAM 768 MB minimum (1 GB recommended) Hard-disk space 200 MB required for installation

Screen resolution

Business/Enterprise/Ultimate editions (Service Pack 1) or Windows XP Home Edition/Professional (Service Pack 2)

1024 × 768 pixels (1280 × 1024 or higher recommended) with 16-bit color (32-bit color recommended)

Mac OS X (version 10.4.11 or 10.5.2)

A Please note: Capture NX 2 is not compatible with the Case Sensitive or Case Sensitive,

Journaled disk formats.

1024 × 768 pixels (1280 × 1024 or higher recommended) with 16-bit color (32-bit color recommended)

For the latest information on this application, visit the following sites:

For users in the U.S.A.: http://www.nikonusa.com For users in Europe and Africa: http://www.europe-nikon.com /support For users in Asia, Oceania and the Middle East: http://www.nikon-asia.com

Chapter 5 — System Requirements & Installation | System Requirements 11

Installation

Windows

To install Capture NX 2 into the Windows operating system, follow these steps:

Place the Capture NX 2 setup CD into your computer’s CD or DVD drive. Open the CD through the

My Computer icon on your desktop, and double-click on the setup icon that appears within the window that is displayed to begin the setup wizard.

If you downloaded Capture NX 2, locate and double-click on the setup file that was saved to your computer to begin the setup wizard. (Product keys can only be purchased over the Internet in some countries and regions.)

Capture NX 2 will check to see if the Microsoft .NET Framework is installed and available on your

computer. If not, the Capture NX 2 setup wizard will attempt to download and install the appropriate version of the .NET Framework, which is required for Capture NX 2.

Follow the steps in the installer to select the appropriate location to install Capture NX 2 to.

Once the software has been installed, follow the steps for color management found in the “Color

Management Options” section later in this chapter.

At the last screen, select which file types to associate with Capture NX 2. Those file types associated

with Capture NX 2 that are then opened from within the Windows Explorer will be opened directly into Capture NX 2.

Macintosh

To install Capture NX 2 into the Macintosh operating system, follow these steps:

Place the Capture NX 2 setup CD into your computer’s CD or DVD drive. Double-click on the CD icon

that appears on your desktop and double-click on the setup icon that appears within the window that is displayed to begin the setup wizard.

Follow the steps in the installer to select the appropriate location to install Capture NX 2 to.

Once the software has been installed, follow the steps for color management found in the “Color

Management Options” section later in this chapter.

Complete the installation process.

12 Chapter 5 — System Requirements & Installation | Installation

Color Management Options

Once the setup wizard has installed the files onto your computer, you will be provided with options to set up your color management preferences. The color management settings provided within the setup wizard enables you to set the default functionality for Capture NX 2 and can be later changed within the “Preferences” dialog.

To determine how Capture NX 2 manages the color of opened images, follow these steps:

Select how the working color space is determined when a file is opened in Capture NX 2. You are

provided with two options to set the working color space:

Use the color space of the file to be opened as the working color space

When selected, Capture NX 2 will always use the profile embedded in the image that is opened as the working color space.

If Capture NX 2 cannot determine the profile of the embedded image, the profile identified as the default RGB color space will be used as the working space for that image.

Always use the default RGB color space as the working color space

When selected, Capture NX 2 will automatically convert the image from the color profile embedded in the image to the color profile selected in the Default RGB Color Space pull-down menu.

Select the color space to be used as the default working color space.

Click on the Default RGB Color Space pull-down menu and select the desired color space to be used either if Capture NX 2 cannot determine the embedded profile or if the Always use the default RGB color space as the working color space option is selected.

Complete the installation process of Capture NX 2.

Running Capture NX 2 in Trial Mode or Activating Product

Upon first launching Capture NX 2 after completing the setup process, you are presented with the Capture NX 2 splash screen. The Capture NX 2 splash screen presents you with the options of either running Capture NX 2 for 60 days with full functionality in trial mode or entering your product key.

To run Capture NX 2 in trial mode, click on the Continue Trial button from the Capture NX 2 splash screen. The Continue Trial button will be accessible for the entire 60 days of the trial mode. At the end of the 60 day trial, you will only be able to access the Purchase Product Key, Enter Product Key, and Exit buttons.

To activate Capture NX 2, click on Enter Product Key and enter your name, company (optional), and product key. You may enter a product key and active Capture NX 2 at any point.

If you purchased Capture NX 2 from a camera store or retailer, the product key may be found on the CDROM case. If you purchased Capture NX 2 as an electronic download, the product key will be found in the email you received as a receipt of the purchase. Do not lose this key. It is required when installing or upgrading this software and cannot be replaced if lost. (Product keys can only be purchased over the Internet in some countries and regions.)

Chapter 5 — System Requirements & Installation | Installation 13

Upgrading From Capture NX Version 1

When upgrading from Capture NX version 1, follow the installation instructions as listed previously in this chapter. Both Capture NX version 1 and Capture NX 2 can be installed on the same computer at the same time.

When activating an upgrade version, your Capture NX version 1 product key will be requested. First, enter your name, company (optional), and Capture NX 2 product key. You will then be prompted to enter your Capture NX version 1 product key.

After entering both the Capture NX 2 and Capture NX version 1 product keys, your copy of Capture NX 2 will be activated and the application will open.

Nikon User Support Information (U.S.A.)

Thank you for choosing Nikon, and welcome to our family of digital imaging products.

We are confident your Nikon product will meet and exceed the high level of quality, reliability, and innovative design you have come to expect from Nikon.

Please contact us if you have any questions or suggestions. We value your feedback and want to be sure you are completely satisfied with your purchase. To assist us in ser ving you better, we ask that you please register your product on-line at www.prodreg.com/nikon.

If you have any questions or suggestions about Nikon Digital Imaging products, please call the Nikon Digital Imaging Hotline:

1-800-NIKON-UX (1-800-645-6689)

Technical Support - 24hours a day, 7 days a week

Other Services - Monday through Friday, 10am to 10pm EST.

Technical support for your Nikon Digital Imaging product is free. Support for computer related issues is free for either six or twelve months from the date of your first call to Nikon, depending on your product. Please ask our customer service representative for details. Also, visit6 our technical support web site at www.nikontechusa.com for FAQs, software updates, manuals, and solution forums. Information on other exciting Nikon products is available at www.nikonusa.com.

Technical support and repair services are only available in the United Sates, the Caribbean, and South and Central America. If you are in this service area but cannot reach our toll-free number, please call 1-631-547-

4311. Software and other items cannot be shipped outside of this service area.

Thank you for choosing a Nikon Digital Imaging product.

14 Chapter 5 — System Requirements & Installation | Nikon User Support Information (U.S.A.)

Chapter 6

Getting Started

Launching Capture NX 2

In the Windows operating system, Capture NX 2 can be opened by navigating to the start menu, selecting the programs menu, rolling over the Capture NX 2 menu item, and selecting Capture NX 2.

In the Macintosh operating system, double-click on the Macintosh HD icon on your desktop and navigate to the “Applications” folder. Double-click on the Capture NX 2 folder, and then double-click on the Capture NX 2 application icon.

Convert Capture NX Version 1 Labels

If you labeled images on your computer using Capture NX version 1, Capture NX 2 provides you with the opportunity to convert those labels to the system used by Capture NX 2 and ViewNX. When Capture NX 2 is launched, it will check for any existing Capture NX version 1 labels stored on your system. If Capture NX version 1 labels are found, the Convert Labels dialog is displayed.

Click on Ye s to begin converting the labels used by Capture NX version 1 into labels compatible with Capture NX 2 and ViewNX. Selecting this option will not remove the labels from your system and images labeled by Capture NX version 1 will continue to be accessible within Capture NX version 1.

A Please note: If you have many images labeled by Capture NX version 1, this process may take some time.

Click on No to prevent Capture NX 2 from converting your labels. If you do not wish to see the Convert Labels dialog the next time Capture NX 2 is launched, check the Don’t Show Again checkbox.

Chapter 6 — Getting Started | Launching Capture NX 2 15

Welcome Screen

Upon launching, Capture NX 2 will display the “Welcome” screen, which lists the last files and folders that you accessed.

Windows Macintosh

q w

q Open Recent

Image

w Open Recent

Folder

e Don’t Show

Again

r Drag an image

here to open it (Macintosh Only)

The Open Recent Image section contains a list of the most recent images that were opened within Capture NX 2. The last image edited can be found at the top of the list, with the remaining images you have edited listed in chronological order. Click on the image name to open the image within Capture NX 2.

The Open Recent Folder section contains a list of the most recent folders accessed within the Browser palette, with the most recent folder displayed at the top. Click on one of the displayed folders to open that folder within the Browser palette.

The Don’t show again checkbox enables you to prevent the “Welcome” screen from being displayed after launching Capture NX 2. Check this box to prevent the “Welcome” screen from appearing when Capture NX 2 is launched. To access the “Welcome” screen again, navigate to the Help menu and select Show Welcome Screen. You can then uncheck the Don’t show again checkbox in order to display the “Welcome” screen whenever Capture NX 2 is launched.

The Drag an image here to open it section is available only in the Macintosh version and enables you to open an image by dragging it from the Macintosh Finder onto this section. In the Windows operating system, you can drag an image from the Windows Explorer into the Capture NX 2 window to open the image within Capture NX 2.

16 Chapter 6 — Getting Started | Welcome Screen

Browsing and Opening Images

Capture NX 2 provides you with a number of ways of locating and opening images in order to enhance them.

Using the Browser

To open an image using the browser, follow these steps:

Open the Folders palette, the Browser palette will

automatically open. Click on the folder within the Folders palette that you wish to display within the browser.

Locate and double-click on the image that you wish to open.

Using Open Image

To open an image using Open Image…, follow these steps:

Navigate to the File menu and select Open

Image….

Chapter 6 — Getting Started | Browsing and Opening Images 17

Within the dialog that is displayed, locate an image

to open, and click on the Open button.

Using ViewNX

To open an image from ViewNX, follow these steps:

Select one or more images to open into Capture NX 2.

Click on the Open with Capture NX button within the ViewNX interface.

Using NikonTransfer

To open a folder of images transferred to your computer using Nikon Transfer, follow these steps:

Within Nikon Transfer, navigate to the “Preferences” tab.

Click on the pull-down menu for the Open destination folder with other application after

transfer option.

Select Browse….

Select Capture NX 2 from the displayed “Select program” window and click OK.

After the next transfer is completed, the folder identified in the primary destination folder will be displayed within the Capture NX 2 browser. You can then open one or more images by double-clicking on them within the browser.

18 Chapter 6 — Getting Started | Browsing and Opening Images

File Format Differences

Capture NX 2 supports three different file formats: NEF, TIFF, and JPEG.

NEF

The NEF, or Nikon Electronic Format, was designed as the archive file format for your images. The NEF file format saves the complete contents of the Edit List palette along with the original image. All changes made to the image are stored separately within the file, enabling a non-destructive image editing workflow. NEF allows for relatively small file sizes with no loss in image quality. Within Capture NX 2, NEF images remain nearly the same size as the original image file, regardless of the number of enhancements that are applied within the image.

A Please note: The file size of NEF files may increase slightly after being saved in Capture NX 2 due to the inclusion

of a full resolution, high quality JPEG preview. This JPEG preview ensures that other applications can accurately display the current state of the image. This file size increase will occur only after the first save within Capture NX 2, while subsequent saves may cause small file size variations due to the inherent nature of the JPEG compression used on the embedded JPEG preview or due to the size of the JPEG preview having been changed with the Crop or Size / Resolution tools.

There are two different types of NEF files: NEF RAW files and converted NEF files. NEF RAW files are created by a camera using the RAW file type option. Converted NEF files are files that started off as either TIFF or JPEG files, but were saved as NEF using Capture NX 2 or a previous Nikon Capture application.

Both NEF RAW files and converted NEF files benefit from the ability to store enhancements separate from the original image details.

A Please note: Only NEF RAW files support changes to settings made within the camera and other RAW specific

enhancements.

NEF RAW File Support

NEF RAW files are generated by all Nikon Digital SLR cameras as well as some COOLPIX cameras. Capture NX 2 provides support for NEF RAW files from the entire line of Nikon digital cameras that produce NEF RAW files.

For the latest information on supported digital cameras, visit the Nikon website for your area.

For users in the U.S.A.: http://www.nikonusa.com For users in Europe and Africa: http://www.europe-nikon.com/support For users in Asia, Oceania, and the Middle East: http://www.nikon-asia.com

TIFF

TIFF is commonly used as a standard for high-quality image reproduction. Saving your image in TIFF will result in a file that contains the final state of your image as shown within Capture NX 2, with full image quality. Once an image is saved in TIFF and closed, you will not be able to change the edits previously applied to the image within the Edit List palette.

Chapter 6 — Getting Started | File Format Differences 19

JPEG

The JPEG file format is one of the most widely used file formats. This file format enables you to save a greater number of images using the same amount of hard disk space as the other file formats. To create such a small file size, a form of compression is used that irreversibly affects the quality of the image. Because of this compression, it is recommended that you only use the JPEG file format when a small file size is required.

Workflow Suggestions

While there is no single workflow optimized for every image, there are some basic guidelines to consider. When using Capture NX 2 to edit images, the following order is recommended:

Start with characteristics that affect the entire image, such as removing digital noise, fixing color

casts, and reducing tonal issues (such as brightness of contrast issues).

20 Chapter 6 — Getting Started | Workflow Suggestions

Next, modify elements that affect only localized areas, such as blemishes and small distracting

elements.

Then, apply effects that add a style or mood to the image.

Finally, prepare the image for output by resizing and sharpening.

Following these simple guidelines can help improve the quality of your images and provide a more structured approach to enhancing your images.

Chapter 6 — Getting Started | Workflow Suggestions 21

Printing

Capture NX 2 provides you with a full range of printing options. The print function is both easy and powerful, enabling you to create high quality, fully color managed prints. You can select Print… from the

File menu at any time to print the current image, or you can select multiple images from within the Browser palette to create a print package. Print packages are essentially a collection of images printed at

the same time, often with more than one image appearing on the same page. Print packages make the most of your printer and paper, enabling you to create proof sheets so that you can review and select images based on the output, rather than the computer screen.

Printing a Single Image

Capture NX 2 provides you with a variety of different printing options for a single image.

Printing an Image to Fill the Current Page

To print an image so that it fills the entire page, follow these steps:

Navigate to the File menu and select Print….

Ensure the Use Output Resolution checkbox is

unchecked.

22 Chapter 6 — Getting Started | Printing

Click on the Select Layout option and choose 1

Photo on Page.

If the image’s orientation is different from the paper

you will print to (such as when you print a landscape oriented picture), check the Rotate to Fit option.

If desired, check the Crop Photos to Fit option to

ensure the entire printable surface is utilized. If the image’s aspect ratio is different from that of the paper, some image detail may be cropped away.

Chapter 6 — Getting Started | Printing 23

Review the settings within the “Color Management”

tab and then click Print.

Printing an Image Using the Settings Found Within the Size / Resolution Dialog

To print an image using the size and resolution settings made with the Size / Resolution tool, follow these steps:

Ensure that the appropriate size and resolution are

set for the image by navigating to the Edit menu and selecting Size / Resolution…. If necessary, modify the settings and click OK.

Navigate to the File menu and select Print….

24 Chapter 6 — Getting Started | Printing

Check the Use Output Resolution option. If the

image is larger than the page, click on the Page Setup button and select the appropriate paper size

that the image will fit upon.

If the image’s orientation is different from the paper

you will print to (such as when you print a landscape oriented picture), check the Rotate to Fit option.

Review the settings within the “Color Management”

tab and then click Print.

Chapter 6 — Getting Started | Printing 25

Printing contact sheets

To print a series of images as a contact sheet, follow these steps:

Open the Browser palette and select the images you

would like to print. To select multiple files, hold either the Shift key and click on the first and last images of a range, or hold the Ctrl (Windows) or command (Macintosh) keys while single-clicking on each additional file you want to add. To select all of the images in the current folder, navigate to the Edit menu and click on the Select All option, or use the shortcut Ctrl + A (Windows) or command + A (Macintosh).

Navigate to the File menu and select Print….

Ensure the Use Output Resolution option is not

selected.

26 Chapter 6 — Getting Started | Printing

Click on the Select Layout option, and then in the

provided pull-down menu, choose the number of images you would like to display on a single page. Alternatively, you can use the Select Picture Size option and select the size of each picture. Capture NX 2 will automatically tile the available images to fit onto one or more pages.

Click on the page backward or page forward buttons

to review the available pages.

To add information about each picture, such as the

file name, shooting data, or date shot, click on the Metadata… button.

Review the settings within the “Color Management”

tab and then click Print.

For more information on the various options available in the “Print layout” window, please see “Print…” in Chapter 18, “File Menu”.

Chapter 6 — Getting Started | Printing 27

Batch Processing

Batch processing is the automatic application of one or more enhancements to a series of images. Typically, a photographer will use a batch process to apply a predefined series of adjustments to several images at once. Capture NX 2 contains even more methods of batch processing than before. You can select a folder of images and select a series of enhancements to apply to those images, you can add an XMP/IPTC preset to a series of images, you can set up a live edit batch process, or you can set up a watched folder.

Applying a series of enhancements to a folder of images

Enhance an image that is representative of the images that you would like to apply a batch process

to.

Navigate to the Batch menu and select Save

Adjustments…. This will call up the “Save Adjustments” dialog and let you create a settings file.

Check each of the checkboxes for the enhancements

that you would like to apply in the batch process and provide a name for the settings file. Click OK.

28 Chapter 6 — Getting Started | Batch Processing

Navigate to the Batch menu and select Run Batch

Process…. You will then be presented with the Batch Process dialog.

Click on the Browse… button in the Source section

and locate the folder of images you wish to process.

Check the Apply Settings checkbox, ensure that

Use Settings File is selected, and click on the Browse… button. Locate the settings file created in step 3 and click OK.

Chapter 6 — Getting Started | Batch Processing 29

Check the Rename box if you would like to change

the name of the processed files. Click on the Edit… button to call up the File Naming dialog and determine the naming convention for the processed images.

Use the Select File Format pull-down menu to

select the file format for the processed images.

In the Destination section, select the folder that the

processed images should be placed in and click OK.

The Processing Queue will be displayed and the batch process will start. To pause the batch process, click on the Pause button within the Processing Queue. To prevent an image from being processed, highlight the image in the queue and then click on the Clear from list button under the queue. To cancel the process, click on the button to stop the batch process and close the Processing Queue.

30 Chapter 6 — Getting Started | Batch Processing

Adding XMP/IPTC data to a series of images using an XMP/IPTC preset

Open an image within Capture NX 2, open the

Metadata palette, and add the desired XMP/IPTC data to an image.

Navigate to the Batch menu and select Save XMP/

IPTC Preset…. Within the dialog that is displayed, select the checkboxes for each of the XMP/IPTC fields that you would like to apply to additional images, add a name for the XMP/IPTC preset, and click OK.

Chapter 6 — Getting Started | Batch Processing 31

Open the Browser palette and select the images you

would like to apply the XMP/IPTC information to. To select all of the images in the current folder, navigate to the Edit menu and choose Select All.

Navigate to the Batch menu, click on the Load XMP/

IPTC Preset menu, and then locate the XMP/IPTC preset that you saved in step 2.

The XMP/IPTC information you added to the XMP/IPTC preset will then be added to all of the selected images.

32 Chapter 6 — Getting Started | Batch Processing

Converting NEF RAW files into JPEG or TIFF files

Capture NX 2 can quickly and easily convert NEF RAW files that are produced by your Nikon digital camera into JPEG or TIFF files, which can then be opened and used by other applications. To convert your NEF RAW files into JPEG or TIFF files, follow these steps:

To convert a folder of files from NEF RAW to JPEG or TIFF

Navigate to the Batch menu and select Run Batch

Process….

Within the Source section, click on the Browse…

button to select the folder you wish to convert from NEF into JPEG or TIFF.

Next, ensure that the Apply settings checkbox is

not checked.

Check the Rename box if you would like change the

name of the files as they are converted from NEF to JPEG or TIFF.

Chapter 6 — Getting Started | Converting NEF RAW files into JPEG or TIFF files 33

From the Select File Format pull-down menu, select

the file format to convert the images to, either TIFF or JPEG.

Click on the Advanced show/hide triangle to control

the options for the selected file format.

For the Destination option, choose where the new

JPEG or TIFF files should be placed by using the Select folder option to place them in a new folder or using the Use source folder option to place them in the same folder as the original NEF files.

Click OK to add the files into the Processing Queue

and start converting the files.

You can check the status of the conversion process in the Processing Queue and you can pause the process by clicking on the Details show/hide triangle in the Processing Queue and clicking on the Pause button. To cancel the process, click on the button to stop the batch process and close the Processing Queue.

34 Chapter 6 — Getting Started | Converting NEF RAW files into JPEG or TIFF files

To convert selected files from the Browser

Open the Browser palette and select the files you

want to convert from NEF RAW to JPEG or TIFF. To select multiple files, either hold the Shift key and click on the first and last images of a range, or hold the Ctrl key (Windows) or command key (Macintosh) while single-clicking on each additional file you want to add.

Navigate to the File menu and select Save As….

Alternatively, you can use the keyboard shortcut of Ctrl + Shift + S (Windows) or command + shift + S (Macintosh).

In the Destination section, select either the Select

folder option to choose a new folder to place the converted image files into or Use source folder to place the image files into the same folder as the original NEF files.

Chapter 6 — Getting Started | Converting NEF RAW files into JPEG or TIFF files 35

In the File name section, select the file format to

convert the images to, either TIFF or JPEG.

The Advanced section provides you with options for

the selected file format.

Click Start to begin converting the files.

36 Chapter 6 — Getting Started | Converting NEF RAW files into JPEG or TIFF files

Chapter 7

Preferences

Preferences modify the default behavior of Capture NX 2. Preferences can be found either under the Edit menu in Windows or the Capture NX 2 menu in Macintosh. There are nine different categories of preferences:

• General

• Color Management

• Levels & Sampling

•Display

•Cache Settings

• XMP/IPTC Presets

•Labels

• Manage Settings

•Workspaces

Shortcut

Ctrl + K (Windows) command + K (Macintosh)

If Capture NX 2 displays unexpected behavior, the preferences may be damaged. Restoring preferences to their defaults may resolve this issue. To restore the preferences to the default settings, click on the Reset button within the Preferences dialog.

Chapter 7 — Preferences 37

General

Open With Application

Choose this option to select the application you wish to use when opening files with the Open With… command in the File menu.

Place Open With TIFF File In

The Place Open With TIFF file in option allows you to determine where to place the TIFF files created by the Open With… command in the File menu.

Check the Same as File checkbox to place the TIFF file created by the Open With… command in the same folder as the source file.

D1X RAW Default

Use this option to set the default size of NEF RAW images taken with the D1X. This option utilizes a unique resizing algorithm to resize D1X images to a 10 megapixel equivalent image.

Default Units

Choose from inches and millimeters.

38 Chapter 7 — Preferences | General

Default Save As

Use this option to determine the default file type in the “Save As…” dialog. The following options are available:

• Same as original file Select the Same as original file option to set the default file type in the “Save As” dialog to the file type of the image being saved.

• Previous file format Select the Previous file format option to set the default file type in the “Save As” dialog to the file type of the image that was last saved.

•NEF

•TIFF

•JPEG

Keep all Steps Active in Edit List

Use this option to control how the editing of steps in the Edit List palette is handled. When this option is turned off, the editing of a step in the Edit List palette causes any following step to be temporarily disabled. When this option is turned on, steps will not be temporarily disabled, and you will be able to see the impact of the changes made with all steps being considered.

Please note, when this option is turned on, additional processing will be required as all enhancements will be processed in real time. Turning this option on is only recommended for computers with powerful processors.

Folder for Temporary Data

This option enables you to set the location where temporary data is stored. If possible, set this option to use a folder on a disk other than the primary startup disk.

Chapter 7— Preferences | General 39

Color Management

Default RGB Color Space

Use this option to set the default RGB space that is used for your images.

Use This Instead of Embedded Profile

This option causes Capture NX 2 to automatically convert the image from the embedded profile to the profile as defined in the Default RGB Color Space option. This option is automatically enabled if you selected the Always use the default RGB color space as the working color space option during installation.

CMYK Separation profile

This preference enables you to set the default separation profile to be used when saving CMYK TIFF files.

Printer Profile

This preference enables you to set the default profile to use for your printer as well as within the soft proof feature.

Use This Profile when printing

Check this option to automatically change the color profile within the color management section of the print dialog to the profile set with the Printer Profile option.

40 Chapter 7 — Preferences | Color Management

Intent

Use this preference to set the default rendering intent for the various color management features throughout Capture NX 2. The different rendering intents control how colors from your image are made to fit into the colors that your printer can produce as indicated by the printer profile.

A Please note: different printer and paper combinations, as well as the different software used to create printer

profiles, benefit from different rendering intents. Experiment with the different rendering intents within your workflow to find the option that works best.

The four options are:

Perceptual

This rendering intent maintains the relationships of colors so that the printed image appears natural to the human eye. While this intent maintains the relationship of colors, the actual color values will be changed.

Saturation

This rendering intent produces highly saturated colors, but it may not produce accurate colors in a photograph.

Relative Colorimetric

This rendering intent maps all of the colors that fall outside of the gamut of the target profile to the closest reproducible color. This profile reproduces accurately all of the colors that are within the range of colors reproducible by your printer. This option preserves as many natural colors as possible and is often the best choice for printing photographs.

Absolute Colorimetric

This rendering intent is very similar to relative colorimetric, except that it maps the white point of the image to the white point of the destination profile. It is recommend that you use absolute colorimetric only if you want to proof your images for a specific print device other than your printer, since this rendering intent will attempt to reproduce the results of the output device, including the effect of a different paper color.

Use Black Point Compensation

Check this box to set the default state of the various color management options throughout Capture NX 2 to utilize black point compensation. Black point compensation ensures that the black point from the image is mapped to the black point of your printer, ensuring that the full color range of the printer is used. If your print contains either gray shadows or too little detail, try turning this option off. It is recommended that you always use this option, except when you notice problems with a specific printer and profile combination.

Chapter 7 — Preferences | Color Management 41

Levels & Sampling

Levels & Curves

The options within the “Levels & Curves” section enable you to set the default values for controls found within the “Levels & Curves” step.

Set Black Point

Use this option to set the black point to a different color other than the default of 0, 0, 0 when setting a black point within the “Levels & Curves” step.

Set Neutral Point

Use this option to set the neutral point to a different color other than the default of 128, 128, 128 when setting a neutral point within the “Levels & Curves” step.

Set White Point

Use this option to set the white point to a different color other than the default of 255, 255, 255 when setting a white point within the “Levels & Curves” step.

Black Auto-Contrast Clip

Set this number to determine the percentage of the darkest pixels to exclude when using the AutoContrast option in the “Levels & Curves” step.

White Auto-Contrast Clip

Set this number to determine the percentage of the lightest pixels to exclude when using the AutoContrast option in the “Levels & Curves” step.

42 Chapter 7 — Preferences | Levels & Sampling

Dropper Sample Size

Use this option to set the sample size of the droppers used within the “Color Picker”, “Levels & Curves”, and “Watch Point” elements of Capture NX 2. When Point Sample is selected, a single pixel will be sampled when a dropper is used. With the 3 x 3 Average and 5 x 5 Average options, the average of the pixels sampled will be used. Choosing a large sample size reduces precision, but also minimizes the effects of noise; choosing a small sample size has the opposite effect.

Chapter 7 — Preferences | Levels & Sampling 43

Display

Grid

The options within the “Grid” section enable you to control what is displayed when the Show Grid option is turned on from the View menu.

Grid Color

Click on the color patch to bring up the color picker and select the color for the gridlines displayed on top of the image when the Show Grid option is enabled.

Gridline Every

Use this option to set the frequency of and the unit of frequency of the gridlines when the Show Grid option is enabled.

Subdivisions per Line

This option enables you to set the subdivisions, or smaller gridlines, that are displayed between the major gridlines defined by the Gridline Every preference.

44 Chapter 7 — Preferences | Display

Selection Overlay

The options within the “Selection Overlay” section enable you to control the appearance of the overlay displayed when Selection Display > Show Overlay is selected in the View menu. The options selected within this section will determine how the current step’s selection is superimposed on top of the image.

Color

Click on the color patch to bring up the color picker and select the color of the overlay that is used to represent the current step’s selection.

Opacity

Use this option to determine the opacity of the overlay that is displayed on the image. A value of 100% will completely obscure the image’s detail, with lower values allowing more and more of the original image’s detail to be visible.

Image

Auto-Hide On-Image Elements

Use this option to automatically hide elements that appear on top of the image whenever the mouse exits the image window. Active selections, control points (that are not currently selected), watch points, and the grid will automatically be hidden when the mouse cursor exits the image window to give you a clear view of your image. These items will reappear when the mouse cursor returns into the image window. Turn this option off to always see those on-image elements.

Chapter 7— Preferences | Display 45

Cache Settings

Capture NX 2 utilizes two caching systems: a browsing cache and an editing cache. Both cache systems speed up the interaction of Capture NX 2 by storing processed information on the hard disk, enabling Capture NX 2 to use the cached information instead of reprocessing the files.

The browsing cache is used for the thumbnails created and displayed in the Browser palette, while the editing cache is used for NEF files saved during editing.

Browsing Cache

In order to increase the speed of displaying thumbnails, Capture NX 2 utilizes a thumbnail cache for the Browser palette. This cache is created after the image is first processed, making subsequent browsing of the same folder significantly faster. You can view the amount of space used by the browsing cache as well as clear the cache to reclaim disk space using the Clear Cache button. After clearing the cache, you will not lose any image data, however thumbnails will need to be recreated, taking additional time.

Editing Cache

The Editing Cache option enables NEF images (both NEF RAW and converted NEF files) that were previously opened within Capture NX 2 to open more quickly. Capture NX 2 provides you with different options to control how NEF images are cached, as well as how much hard disk space is dedicated to the cache files.

While the Editing Cache option is enabled, saving NEF files will automatically create a cache file in the folder specified by the Cache Location option. This cache file contains information that Capture NX 2 can use to greatly accelerate the opening of this file in the future.

46 Chapter 7 — Preferences | Cache Settings

With the default settings, Capture NX 2 will utilize up to 2 gigabytes of hard disk space to store cache files. If all 2 gigabytes of allocated space are utilized by cache files, Capture NX 2 will begin to replace the oldest cache files with new cache files. In this manner, the files you interacted with most recently will open the fastest. It is important to note that no unique information is stored within these cache files, and if a cache file is replaced, your image will not lose any information or quality. It will simply require additional processing in order to open, which will take additional time.

You can alter the cache settings to change when cache files are created, where the cache files are placed, and how much hard disk space should be utilized for these cache files.

After a file has been added to the editing cache, a lightning bolt icon will be placed next in the image window and next to the image in the Browser palette. This icon indicates that the file is currently within the editing cache.

Use Image Cache

Check this box to enable Capture NX 2 to utilize cache files to increase the speed of opening NEF files.

Cache files saved within the Editor

Check this box to enable Capture NX 2 to cache files when an image is saved using the Save or Save As… options in the File menu.

Cache Files created in a Batch Process

Check this box to enable Capture NX 2 to cache files whenever a batch process is used to save images using the NEF file format. This includes both batch processes and watched folders.

Clear Cache

Click on this button to delete all editing cache files created by Capture NX 2.

Cache Location

Click on the Browse button to select a new location to place cache files.

Limit Cache Size

Check this box in order to set a limit to the amount of disk space Capture NX 2 will use for cache files.

You can then use the slider to change the amount of space available for the editing cache system. Next to the slider you will see the amount of space currently allocated to the editing cache system, along with an approximate number of images that can be stored within that space.

Chapter 7— Preferences | Cache Settings 47

XMP/IPTC Presets

XMP/IPTC presets enable you to create different sets of XMP/IPTC data that can then be applied to either a single image or to a group of images.

Available Presets

Presets that you create or save within Capture NX 2 will be displayed within the “Available Presets” window. You can click on any of the available presets to display the contents in the field editor, duplicate the preset using the Duplicate button, or delete the preset using the Delete button. To create a new preset, either save a preset using the Save XMP/IPTC Preset option in the Batch menu, or click on the New button at the bottom of the “Available Presets” window.

Field Editor

The field editor displays all of the available fields and contents for an XMP/IPTC preset. Enter the values you would like to automatically apply through the XMP/IPTC preset. After entering a value, the checkbox for that field as well as for the section will be turned on. Only those fields with a checkbox next to them will be added to an image when the XMP/IPTC preset is applied to an image or group of images.

To prevent a field from being modified by the XMP/IPTC preset, uncheck the box for that field.

To clear a field in an image or group of images, delete the content of that field in the field editor and check the box. This will result in a blank field with a checkbox next to it, indicating that when this XMP/IPTC preset is applied to an image, that image will have a blank field for the corresponding field. This is helpful if you would like to clear away one or more XMP/IPTC fields in an image or group of images.

48 Chapter 7 — Preferences | XMP/IPTC Presets

New

The New button creates a new, empty XMP/IPTC preset. After clicking on this button, you will be provided with a dialog to enter the name for the XMP/IPTC preset. This name will be displayed in the Load XMP/IPTC Preset sub-menu of the Batch menu.

After creating a new XMP/IPTC preset, enter the values for that preset in the fields displayed in the field editor.

Duplicate

Clicking on this button will duplicate the contents of the XMP/IPTC preset selected in the “Available Presets” list and provide you with a window to enter the name for the new XMP/IPTC Preset.

Delete

Click on the Delete button to permanently delete the XMP/IPTC preset selected in the “Available Presets” list.

Import

Click on the Import button to import an XMP/IPTC preset from a file on your computer. You will be prompted for the location and name of the file for the XMP/IPTC preset that you wish to load. XMP/IPTC preset files use the file extension “.XMP”.

Export

Click on the Export button to create an XMP/IPTC preset as a file with the extension “.XMP”. You will be prompted for the location and name of the file for the XMP/IPTC preset that you wish to save.

Chapter 7 — Preferences | XMP/IPTC Presets 49

Labels

Label Compatibility

Use the Label Compatibility pull-down menu if you use another digital asset management software application to tag and sort your images. Capture NX 2 supports a number of digital asset management software applications. If you select the appropriate option from the pull-down menu, Capture NX 2 will be able to read the label and rating information added by that application.

Each option controls the maximum and default number of labels available, along with their color and label name.

The Default Settings option shows all nine labels, however you may choose to display fewer than nine labels.

The Custom option lets you determine not only the number of labels available, but also the names for each label to be used.

For example, if you use only one label to determine those images to keep, use the Custom option to select only one label and name that label accordingly.

Alternatively, if you prefer to create a variety of labels based on different types of images, use the Custom option to select the number of labels you wish to use and then name each label accordingly.

A Please note: Changing the label names can reduce compatibility with other applications, including ViewNX.

50 Chapter 7 — Preferences | Labels

Available Labels

The maximum number of labels available depends on the selection in the Label Compatibility pull-down menu. You can choose the number of labels to display by clicking on the radio button next to the desired number of labels.

Manage Settings

The Manage Settings section enables you to determine which settings are displayed within the Load Adjustments sub-menu of the Batch menu. Use this dialog to identify which settings files to display within

the Load Adjustments sub-menu or to add or delete available settings files.

To learn more about creating settings files, please see the “Save Adjustments” section in Chapter 22, “Batch Menu”.

Add

Clicking on the Add button will open a file browsing window, enabling you to navigate and locate a settings file that resides on your computer. If you use the Add option, the settings file that you selected will automatically be copied to the Capture NX 2 “Settings” folder and added to the list of available settings files both in the “Manage Settings” tab as well as in the Load Adjustments sub-menu of the Batch menu.

Delete

The Delete button will delete the highlighted setting from within the “Manage Settings” tab as well as from the Capture NX 2 “Settings” folder.

Chapter 7— Preferences | Manage Settings 51

Workspaces

The “Workspaces” section of the preferences enables you to modify the workspaces provided within Capture NX 2.

By default, Capture NX 2 provides you with four different workspaces. Within this tab, additional workspaces can be added or removed and you can determine the shortcuts to assign each available workspace.

Default Workspaces

The workspaces listed under “Default Workspaces” are the default workspaces provided by Capture NX 2, and are always available.

To change the shortcut to use for a specific workspace, click on the pull-down menu next to the name of the workspace and select the new shortcut to use. If you select a shortcut that is already in use by another workspace, that other workspace’s shortcut will automatically be set to None.

My Workspaces

Any workspaces that you create will be listed under “My Workspaces”. To change the shortcut to use for a specific workspace, click on the pull-down menu next to the name of the workspace and select the new shortcut to use. If you select a shortcut that is already in use by another workspace, that other workspace’s shortcut will automatically be set to None.

Reset Shortcuts

Clicking on the Reset Shortcuts button will reset the shortcuts used for the “Default Workspaces” to the default shortcuts.

Add

Clicking the Add button will create a new workspace based on the current palette and screen arrangement. A dialog will be displayed enabling you to enter a name for the new workspace.

52 Chapter 7 — Preferences | Workspaces

Delete

Clicking the Delete button will remove the highlighted workspace from in the “My Workspaces” section. Please note that, you cannot delete a default workspace.

Chapter 7 — Preferences | Workspaces 53

54 Chapter 7 — Preferences

Chapter 8

Interface

Capture NX 2’s interface was designed to put all of the important tools for enhancing a digital photograph right at your fingertips. This section contains a brief overview of each of the main elements that make up the Capture NX 2 interface, as well as information about the new workspaces, working with multiple screens, using the image window, and working with palettes and menus.

Overview

q Editor

w Menu Bar

e Browser

The main window of Capture NX 2, the editor, is the window you see when you are editing images. Within the editor, you can open and close images as well as access each of the different control palettes.

The menu bar provides access to nearly all of the features and enhancements within Capture NX 2. Please see chapters 18 through 25 for information on the features located within each menu.

Capture NX 2’s browser enables you to browse, sort, and organize your images, as well as to rotate or apply batch processes to multiple images simultaneously. Images can be opened from the browser into the editor to provide additional control. For more information, please see Chapter 9 “The Browser”.

Chapter 8 — Interface | Overview 55

r Folders

t Metadata

y Toolbar

u Bird’s Eye

i Edit List

o Photo Info

!0 Image Window

The folders palette provides you with an easy-to-access palette which displays the content of an entire folder in the browser. For more information, please see Chapter 10, “The Folders Palette”.

The Metadata palette displays information about the image provided automatically by the camera as well as XMP/IPTC data of the image. With this palette, you can review camera, lens, flash, and exposure information unique to the selected image as well as review and add XMP/IPTC data to one or more images. For more information, please see Chapter 11, “The Metadata Palette”.

The toolbar provides access to the various tools available within Capture NX 2. You can use these tools to perform various edits, from zooming to rotating the image, to applying enhancements selectively. For more information, please see Chapter 13, “The Toolbar”.

The Bird’s Eye shows a portion of the image that is visible in the active image window, providing the ability to navigate through the image while zoomed in.

For more information, please see Chapter 14, “Bird’s Eye”. The Edit List palette is the master control list for the features and enhancements of

Capture NX 2. Anything that affects your image will have an entry in the Edit List palette. Every entry can be removed, altered, or duplicated from this list.

The Edit List palette automatically organizes each entry by steps in chronological order. This provides you with the ability to turn on or off one or more steps at any time to monitor the effect on your image. You can selectively apply steps with the selective tools found in the toolbar, you can place multiple enhancements within one step by linking enhancements, and you can create batch processes based on the contents of the steps. You can also manually create new steps using the New Step button.

For more information, please see Chapter 15, “Edit List”. The Photo Info palette combines the Histogram and Watch Point s functionalities

into a single palette. The Histogram section shows a live histogram that reflects the statistical makeup of the image. The Watch Points section enables you to monitor the effects of the changes you make to the color values in the image. For more information, please see Chapter 16, “Photo Info”.

Image windows display images within Capture NX 2, along with important information and controls for the images. For more information, please see the section “Image Window” later in this chapter.

56 Chapter 8 — Interface | Overview

Workspaces

Workspaces are new in Capture NX 2, enabling you to quickly change tasks while displaying only the palettes and windows necessary for that task. Capture NX 2 comes with four different default workspaces and provides you with the ability to create custom workspaces. Selecting a particular workspace will arrange all of the palettes and windows according to the stored settings for that workspace including the position, state of the palette (maximized or minimized), as well as other settings that affect what is displayed within a palette or window.

The settings for the default workspaces were created based on the tools used in typical tasks. Custom workspaces however can be created to meet your specific workflow needs.

To change workspaces, navigate to the Window menu, select the Work spaces menu, and then select the workspace to which you would like to switch. Alternatively, use the workspace selector found within the activity toolbar, or use the corresponding shortcut.

Browser

Use the browser workspace to browse and sort through your images. In this workspace, the browser fills the screen, the Folders palette is open, and all other palettes are closed.

While in this workspace, use the folders palette to find the folder you wish to work on and then use the tagging and filtering tools to rate and label your images and then filter and sort your images to find only those images you want to work further on in Capture NX 2’s editor.

When the browser workspace is used on a single screen, opening an image or group of images from the browser will automatically toggle the edit workspace.

Shortcut

Alt + 1 (Windows) option + 1 (Macintosh)

Chapter 8 — Interface | Workspaces 57

Metadata

The metadata workspace is designed to provide you with optimum workspace to review and add metadata to your images. Within this workspace only the Browser and Metadata palettes are displayed.

The Metadata palette displays both information about the camera and exposure along with XMP/IPTC information. Use the browser to select the image or group of images you want to review or add XMP/IPTC information to.

When the metadata workspace is used on a single screen, opening an image or group of images from the browser will automatically toggle the edit workspace.

Shortcut

Alt + 2 (Windows) option + 2 (Macintosh)

Multi-Purpose

The multi-Purpose workspace is best used on high resolution monitors and was designed to enable you to browse and edit images simultaneously. Selecting this workspace opens the Browser palette to reduced size and displays the Bird’s Eye, Edit List, and Photo Info palettes. Any images that are currently being worked on are displayed between the Browser and Edit List palettes.

Opening images from the browser in the multi-purpose workspace will not toggle the edit workspace; instead, the multi-purpose workspace will be maintained.

Shortcut

Alt + 3 (Windows) option + 3 (Macintosh)

Edit

The edit workspace is typically used when editing images. Only the Toolbar, Bird’s Eye, Edit List, and Photo Info palettes and the images currently open in the editor are displayed, ensuring that maximum

space is available for editing images without distractions.

Creating Custom Workspaces

Capture NX 2 provides you with the ability to create your own custom workspaces. Use these custom workspaces to save the position and state of all of the palettes and windows for use in the future. This can help you save time and ensure that the palettes and windows are arranged in a way that best fits your workflow.

Custom workspaces save the current state on all active screens, enabling you to create a single workspace that controls the position and state of palettes across multiple screens.

58 Chapter 8 — Interface | Workspaces

Shortcut

Alt + 4 (Windows) option + 4 (Macintosh)

To create a custom workspace, follow these steps:

Arrange the palettes and windows according to your taste.

Navigate to the Window menu and select the

Work spaces sub-menu, then select Save Work space. Alternatively, click on the workspace

selector and select Save Workspace.

Type in the name of the new workspace and click

OK.

You can then assign a shortcut to this new workspace by following these steps:

Navigate to the Edit menu (Windows) or

Capture NX 2 menus (Macintosh), select the Preferences sub-menu, and select Work spa ces.

Alternatively, click on the workspace selector and select Manage Workspaces.

Chapter 8 — Interface | Workspaces 59

In the “Workspaces” tab of the “Preferences” dialog,

click on the pull-down menu next to the name of the workspace you created and select the shortcut you would like to use. If you select a shortcut already in use by another workspace, the shortcut for that other workspace will automatically be set to None.

To access your custom workspaces, navigate to the Window menu and select the My Workspaces submenu, then select the desired workspace to apply. Alternatively, click on the workspace selector, select the

My Workspaces sub-menu and select the desired workspace.

Working with Multiple Screens

Capture NX 2 has been improved to better support multiple screens. Palettes and windows can be freely placed on any available screen. Furthermore, you can set workspaces independently on each connected screen. Custom workspaces can also be created, capturing the state of multiple screens, enabling you to quickly and easily switch between single screen and multiple screen configurations.

When working with multiple screens, Capture NX determines which screen is the primary screen and which screen is the additional screen differently for the different operating systems.

For the Windows operating system, the primary screen is the screen where the application window is placed. You can move the application window by clicking on the Restore button, moving the application window to another screen, and then clicking on the Maximize button. The remaining screen will be the additional screen.

For the Macintosh operating system, the primary screen is the screen that contains the Menu Bar and Dock. The screen that does not have the Menu Bar and Dock will be the additional screen.

Additional screen Sub-Menu

Capture NX 2 continuously checks for the presence of additional screens. As soon as an additional screen is found, a new sub-menu called the Additional Screen sub-menu is added to the Wor kspaces sub-menu of the Window menu as well as to the Workspaces selector menu.

The Workspaces sub-menu will continue to control the workspace of the primary screen. The Additional Screen sub-menu will control the workspace to be applied to the additional screen.

To use the default workspaces in a multiple screen configuration, follow these steps:

Navigate to the Window menu, select the Workspaces sub-menu, and select the workspace you

would like to use on your primary screen.

Navigate back to the Window menu, select the Workspa ces sub-menu, select the Additional

Screen sub-menu and then select the workspace to use on the additional screen.

60 Chapter 8 — Interface | Working with Multiple Screens

A Please note: Only default workspaces can be applied in this manner. Custom workspaces always are applied to

all available screens.

A Please note: Some workspaces cannot be used in conjunction with another. The following table shows the

available combinations.

Additional Screen

Desktop

Browser

Metadata

Multi-Purpose

Edit

Browser ✔ ———✔

Primary Screen

Metadata ✔ ———✔ Multi-Purpose ✔ ———— Edit ✔✔✔——

Desktop

The desktop workspace provided within only the Additional Screen sub-menu, hides all palettes on the additional screen, letting you see either the operating system’s desktop or other running applications.

Swap Workspaces

The Swap Workspaces option is available in the Additional Screen sub-menu and exchanges the contents of both screens. Use this function to swap the contents of the primary screen for the contents of the additional screen and vice versa.

Chapter 8 — Interface | Working with Multiple Screens 61

Image Window

Image windows are the frames that contain your images and provide you with important data which can help you enhance the image. Image windows are displayed as long as Capture NX 2 is not in the full screen or presentation modes.

Shortcut

Cycle through open image windows:

Ctrl + Tab

q w e

r t

Each image window displays important information about the image:

q Image Name This is the file name you have given the current image.

The zoom ratio is the current zoom ratio of the image. A value of 100% means you are looking at the actual image data, while anything lower than 100% is showing

w Zoom Ratio

e File Size This shows you the size in megabytes of the current image you are working on.

r Color Profile

you only a portion of the image. A zoom ratio over 100% is showing you an enlarged view of the individual pixel details. You can zoom in and out using the zoom tool, Bird’s Eye palette, or the zoom controls in the Window menu.

The color profile area shows you the profile that is currently applied to your image. You can change the color profile with the Color Profile option in the Adjust menu. For more information about the Color Profile option, please see the section “Color Profile” in Chapter 20, “Adjust Menu”.

62 Chapter 8 — Interface | Image Window

t Soft Proof

The soft proof feature enables you to preview the effect of an output profile on your image, approximating the results you can expect from your printer. The soft proof function provides you with controls to preview the use of different profiles. It also allows you to set different parameters for the color management system to use.

To turn soft proofing on, follow these steps:

Click on the pull-down menu next to the soft proof

status area in the image window.

In the “Soft Proof” window that appears, click the

Soft Proof On option.

Select the appropriate Targe t Pr ofi le, Intent, and

Use Black Point Compensation state options and then click OK.

You can turn soft proof off by repeating step 1 and selecting the Soft Proof Off option in the “Soft Proof” window.

Chapter 8 — Interface | Image Window 63

Soft proof offers the following options:

Target Profile

Select the color profile from the list to view the result of the color management system and to preview how the different color management settings will affect your image.

Intent

Choose from four different rendering intents. The different rendering intents control how colors in your image are mapped to the colors that your printer can produce (as indicated by the printer profile).

A Please note: Different printer and paper combinations, as well as the different software used to create printer

profiles, benefit from different rendering intents. Experiment with the different rendering intents within your workflow to find the option that works best.

Capture NX 2 provides the following intents:

❏ Perceptual

❏ Saturation

This rendering intent produces highly saturated colors, but it may not produce accurate colors in a photograph.

❏ Relative Colorimetric

❏ Absolute Colorimetric

Use Black Point Compensation

Check this box to utilize black point compensation. This ensures that the black point from the image is mapped to the black point of your printer, enabling the full color range of the printer to be used. If your prints contain either gray shadows or too little detail, try turning this option off. Unless you are having problems with a specific print and profile combination, it is recommended that you always use this option.

64 Chapter 8 — Interface | Image Window

Shortcut

Toggle Soft Proof on and off:

Ctrl + Y (Windows) command + Y (Macintosh)

Window & Palette Functionality

Each palette within Capture NX 2 provides you with a number of different controls for that palette.

Clicking on the Minimize / Maximize button either expands or collapses a palette.

q Minimizing &

Maximizing Palettes

w Docking &

Undocking Palettes

e Grip Edge

r Resize Control

In some situations, the palette cannot be collapsed until the operation within that palette has been completed.

Alternatively, you can click on the palette’s title bar to switch between the maximized and minimized states.

Clicking the dock button enables you to either dock or undock a palette. When undocked, the palette will float freely and can then be positioned anywhere. This can be handy if you utilize two screens and you want to place a palette on the additional screen. Clicking the dock button on an undocked palette will cause that palette to become docked in its default position.

The position of undocked palettes are recorded when a custom workspace is created, enabling you to position the palettes where you want and then recall that position at any time in the future.

Click and drag on the grip edge to reposition a palette. Click the dock button to reposition the palette in its default position.

The resize control is found in the bottom corner of a palette that can be resized and enables you to resize the palette to suit your needs. Simply click and drag the resize control to change the palette’s size. Some palettes have a maximum or minimum size.

Chapter 8 — Interface | Window & Palette Functionality 65

Finding Palettes

Undocking many palettes can sometimes make it difficult to locate that palette. All palettes and windows can be located using the Window menu. The most frequently used palettes and windows are listed directly in the Window menu, while less frequently used undocked palettes and windows are listed in the Undocked Palettes section of the Window menu.

Click on the palette or window that you want to locate and it will be brought to the front of whichever screen it is positioned on, on top of other floating palettes and windows.

66 Chapter 8 — Interface | Window & Palette Functionality

Chapter 9

The Browser

Browser Overview

The browser has been greatly updated for Capture NX 2 to provide even more control over browsing and sorting through your images. The Browser palette now contains enhanced tagging and rating functionality, new filtering and sorting functions, as well as compatibility with other organizational software applications. Additionally, the labels utilized by Capture NX 2 are based on the XMP standard. Depending on the application and the options selected with the Capture NX 2 preferences, utilizing the XMP standard can help ensure that labels added by other applications that also utilize the XMP standard can be seen in Capture NX 2. For example, as both ViewNX and Nikon Transfer utilize the XMP standard, labels and ratings can be shared between all three applications.

To open the Browser palette, either click the maximize button in the browser title bar or select the Browser workspace from the Workspaces sub-menu of the Window menu.

Chapter 9 — The Browser | Browser Overview 67

Opening a Folder of Images in the Browser

The browser provides you with a number of ways of displaying a folder of images. By default, the browser displays the “My Pictures” (Windows) or “Pictures” (Macintosh) folder. To open a folder of images in the browser, double-click the folder icon in the browser or use the Folders palette, the Open Folder in Browser command in the File menu, or NikonTransfer.

Using the Folders Palette

To select a folder to display using the Folders palette, follow these steps:

Click on the maximize button for the Folders palette

to display your computer’s folder hierarchy.

Navigate to the folder you want to display in the browser and click on that folder.

Using Open Folder in Browser

Another way to display a folder in the browser is to use the Open Folder in Browser command in the File menu. To use this technique, follow these steps:

Navigate to the File menu and select the Open

Folder in Browser command.

In the navigation dialog that appears, navigate to the appropriate folder and click on that folder to

highlight it.

68 Chapter 9 — The Browser | Opening a Folder of Images in the Browser

Click OK to open the folder in the browser.

Using NikonTransfer

You can also use Nikon Transfer to open a folder of images transferred to your computer. To open a folder in the browser after the transfer operation has completed, follow these steps:

Within Nikon Transfer, navigate to the “Preferences” tab.

Click on the pull-down menu for the Open destination folder with other application after

transfer option.

Select Browse….

Select Capture NX 2 from the displayed “Select Program” window and click OK.

Chapter 9 — The Browser | Opening a Folder of Images in the Browser 69

Navigating Within the Browser

At the top-left of the Browser palette are three buttons that help you choose which folder to display within the browser.

q w e

Click on the “Previous Folder” button to navigate to the last folder that you opened

q Previous Folder

w Next Folder

e Folder Up

within the browser. You can view the folder history by holding this button down, and can jump to a folder by selecting it. This button is not accessible when viewing the first folder of that editing session.

The “Next Folder” button navigates back to the last folder that you viewed before using the “Previous Folder” button. This button is not accessible until you use the “Previous Folder” button once.

Use the “folder up” button to navigate to the parent folder of the currently displayed folder within the browser.

Filtering Tools

Capture NX 2 contains new filtering tools to help you display only images according to label, rating, or file type.

q w e

q Filter by Label

The filter by label tool lets you choose which images to display within the browser based on labels that you applied previously, either within Capture NX 2 or within one of the software applications with which Capture NX 2 provides compatibility. Capture NX 2’s compatibility mode can be set with the Label Compatibility option of the “Labels” tab of the “Preferences” dialog.

To use the filter by label tool, follow these steps:

Click on one of the labels to display only images that have that label applied to them. Click on

additional labels to display images with those additional labels as well.

After clicking on more than one label, you can hide images with specific labels by clicking on that

label again, turning the filtering for that label off.

70 Chapter 9 — The Browser | Navigating Within the Browser

To display all images again, click on the checkmark next to the filter by label tool.

Shortcut

To show only images with a specific label (multiple shortcuts can be performed):

Shift + label number (0 through 9)

w Filter by Rating

The filter by rating tool lets you choose which images to display within the browser based on the ratings that you applied previously, either within Capture NX 2 or within one of the software applications with which Capture NX 2 provides compatibility.

To use the filter by rating tool, follow these steps:

To display only images with a specific rating, click once on the corresponding icon to display only

images with that rating.

To display images that fall within a range of ratings, click and drag on the filter by rating tool to

describe the range of ratings. For example, if you would like to see all images that have two, three, or four stars, click on the two-star icon and drag to the four-star icon, then release the mouse button.

To display all images again, click on the checkmark next to the filter by rating tool.

Shortcut

To show only images with a specific rating:

Ctrl + Shift + rating number (1 through 5 and 0) (Windows) control + shift + rating number (1 through 5 and 0) (Macintosh)

e File Type to Display

The filter by file type tool lets you show only images with a specific file type. Click on the pull-down menu and select one of the available options. You are provided with the following options:

NEF + JPEG | TIFF

NEF | JPEG | TIFF

NEF only The NEF only option displays only NEF files within the current folder. JPEG only The JPEG only option displays only JPEG files within the current folder. TIFF only The TIFF only option displays only TIFF files within the current folder.

The NEF + JPEG | TIFF option shows all images within a specific folder, but only displays the NEF image in each NEF + JPEG pair.

The NEF | JPEG | TIFF option shows all images within the current folder, including the JPEG image in each NEF + JPEG pair.

Chapter 9 — The Browser | Filtering Tools 71

Sorting Tools

The “Sorting Tools” let you choose the order that images are displayed in within the current folder.

Sort By

The Sort section determines the primary sorting method for the current folder. After selecting the primary sorting method, choose to have the images sorted in either ascending or descending order using the Ascending and Descending options.

Then Sort By

The Then Sort By section determines the secondary sorting method for the current folder. This is helpful if there are many images grouped together after the Sort option has been selected.

72 Chapter 9 — The Browser | Sorting Tools

Labeling and Rating Toolbar

The labeling and rating toolbar can be found at the bottom of the browser palette and provides you with tools to add labels and/or ratings to your images.

Add Label

The add label section of the labeling and rating toolbar displays the available labels based on the Label Compatibility option of the “Labels” tab in the “Preferences” dialog. To add a label to your image or group

of images, follow these steps:

Select one or more images in the browser.

Click on the desired label.

Shortcut

label number (keys 0 through 9)

Add Rating

The add rating section of the labeling and rating toolbar enables you to add a rating to one or more images. To add a rating to your image or group of images, follow these steps:

Select one or more images in the browser.

Click on the desired rating.

Shortcut

Ctrl + rating number (keys 1 through 5) (Windows) command + rating number (keys 1 through 5) (Macintosh)

Chapter 9 — The Browser | Labeling and Rating Toolbar 73

Browser Header

Displayed at the top of the browser is the browser header. This section provides information about the current folder as well as control over the size of the thumbnails displayed within the folder.

On the left side of the browser header is the number of images within the current folder and the number of selected images.

On the right side of the browser header is the thumbnail size selector, which enables you to determine the size of the thumbnails displayed within the browser. To the left and right of the thumbnail size selector are the smaller thumbnails and larger thumbnails buttons. Clicking on either of these buttons will make the thumbnails one size smaller or one size larger.

Browser View Selector

The top and right-most button in the browser is the browser view selector. This pull-down menu lets you switch between the two browser views available in Capture NX 2: thumbnail grid and thumbnail list.

Thumbnail Grid

The thumbnail grid is the default browser view. Images are displayed in a grid format; resizing the browser causes the images to be resorted.

In thumbnail grid view, the thumbnail size selector offers a choice of seven thumbnail sizes.

Thumbnail Information Overlay

❏ Label Icon

The label icon displays the label currently applied to the image and can be adjusted either by clicking on this icon and selecting the appropriate label from the pull-down menu or by clicking on the desired label in the labeling and rating toolbar.

74 Chapter 9 — The Browser | Browser Header

❏ Name

The image’s file name and extension are displayed under the thumbnail. To rename the current file, click once on the file name to highlight it and a second time to change the file name. You will not be able to change the file’s extension in this manner. To change the file’s extension, use the Save As… command in the File menu.

To rename more than one file, select multiple files in the browser, right-click (Windows) or control-click (Macintosh) and in the displayed contextual menu, select Rename. This will call up the “File Naming” dialog and enable you to change the names of more than one file. For more information on the “File Naming” dialog, please see “File Naming Dialog” in Chapter 22, “Batch Menu”.

❏ Edited Icon

This icon is displayed on NEF images whenever that image has been edited and saved using the Capture NX 2 editor or by ViewNX.

❏ Rating Icon

The rating icon displays the rating currently applied to the image. To set the rating for an image, click on the desired rating on the rating icon underneath the thumbnail or in the ratings and labels toolbar.

❏ XMP/IPTC Data Icon

The XMP/IPTC data icon is displayed whenever the current image has XMP/IPTC data added to it. XMP/ IPTC data can be added either by the camera, with another image editing application, or using the Metadata palette within Capture NX 2.

❏ Voice Memo Icon

The voice memo icon is displayed for images that have a voice memo attached to them.

❏ Hi-Speed Crop Icon

This icon is displayed on images shot using the camera hi-speed crop option.

❏ NEF + JPEG Pair Icon

The NEF + JPEG pair icon is displayed for images that were shot using the camera “NEF + JPEG” image quality option.

❏ Protected Icon

Images with the protect icon displayed cannot be edited in Capture NX 2 until they are unlocked. Images can become locked either using the camera protect button or by turning the Protect File option on in the Capture NX 2 File menu.

To remove the protect icon, navigate to the File menu and select the Protect File item. In the thumbnail grid display, information about each image is shown beneath its thumbnail.

Chapter 9 — The Browser | Browser View Selector 75

Thumbnail List

The thumbnail list places important information about each image in a column and enables you to sort by each of the columns.

In thumbnail list view, the thumbnail size selector offers a choice of three thumbnail sizes.

The available columns in the thumbnail list are:

❏ Label

The Label column displays the label for each image.

❏ Name

The Name column displays the image's file name and extension. To rename a file, click once on the file name to highlight it and then click a second time to change the file name.

❏ Rating

The Rating column displays the rating. To set the rating for an image, click on the desired rating on the rating icon underneath the thumbnail or within the ratings and labels toolbar.

❏ Status

The Status column displays an edited icon for NEF images that have been edited and saved within the Capture NX 2 editor or by ViewNX. If the file contains versions, the number of versions contained within the image will be displayed in this column. For more information on version, please see Version in Chapter 15, “Edit List”.

❏ Date Shot

The Date Shot column displays the date the image was created.

❏ Date Modified

The Date Modified column displays the date the image was last modified.

❏ Size

The Size column displays the size of the file, in KB or MB.

❏ Typ e

The Typ e column displays the image’s file type.

76 Chapter 9 — The Browser | Browser View Selector

❏ Extras

The Extras column displays additional information about the image. You cannot sort images by this column.

XMP/IPTC Data Icon

Voice Memo Icon

The XMP/IPTC data icon is displayed whenever the current image has XMP/ IPTC data.

The voice memo icon is displayed for images that have a voice memo attached to them.

Hi-Speed Crop Icon This icon is displayed on images shot using the camera hi-speed crop option.

NEF + JPEG Pair Icon

The NEF + JPEG pair icon is displayed for images that were shot using the camera “NEF + JPEG” image quality option.

Protected Icon

menu.

To remove the protect icon, navigate to the File menu and select the Protect File item.

Chapter 9 — The Browser | Browser View Selector 77

Opening Images from the Browser

Images in the browser can be opened in the editor either by double-clicking on the desired image, or selecting multiple images and use the Open Image command from the File menu. Alternatively, you can press the enter key on your keyboard to open the selected images.

If the Capture NX 2 is open on a single screen, opening an image will cause the browser to automatically minimize. To prevent this from happening, either position the browser on another screen (by manually undocking and repositioning the browser or using the additional screen workspace option) or use the multi-purpose workspace.

78 Chapter 9 — The Browser | Opening Images from the Browser

Chapter 10

The Folders Palette

The Fold ers palette displays the folders on your hard disk in the same manner as the operating system. Capture NX 2’s Folders palette is now split into two sections: the “Favorite Folders” section and the “Folder Structure” section.

Chapter 10 — The Folders Palette 79

Favorite Folders Section

The “Favorite Folders” section provides quick access to the most often used folders and enables you to add and remove folders to and from this section.

Adding Favorites

To add a folder to the “Favorite Folders” section, click and drag a folder from the “Folder Structure” section into the “Favorite Folders” section.

Deleting Favorites

To delete a folder from the “Favorite Folders” section, rightclick (Windows) or control-click (Macintosh) on the folder you wish to delete and select Delete from the displayed contextual menu.

A Please note: Deleting a favorite will not delete the folder or its contents from your hard disk. Only the link to that

folder will be removed from your computer.

Click and drag on the bar that divides the “Favorite Folders” section and the “Folder Structure” section to adjust the amount of space dedicated to either section.

Folder Structure Section

The “Folder Structure” section displays a hierarchical view of the folders available on your computer. Use this section to locate a specific folder and display the contents of that folder within the browser. Double-click on a folder to open the browser and display the contents of that folder.

80 Chapter 10 — The Folders Palette | Favorite Folders Section

Chapter 11

The Metadata Palette

The Metadata palette contains a list of information regarding the current image as well as access to the IPTC information for that image. Use this palette to review the image’s camera and exposure information as well as to add XMP/IPTC information to one or more images.

File & Camera Information Section

Within the “File & Camera Information” section, you can see information regarding the camera, the time and date the image was shot, the exposure data, as well as the settings used within the camera that affected the current image.

When more than one image is selected, information that is shared between images will be displayed while information that is different in each image will be identified with a “–”.

Click on the show/hide triangle next to a section’s header to expand or collapse that section.

Click and drag on the bar that divides the “File & Camera Information” section and the “XMP/IPTC Information” section to adjust the amount of space dedicated to either section.

Chapter 11 — The Metadata Palette | File & Camera Information Section 81

XMP/IPTC Information Section

The “XMP/IPTC Information” section contains a standardized list of text fields that can be used to indicate the copyright and usage requirements of your images. The contents of the “XMP/IPTC Information” section was originally designed to simplify and clarify information needed when sharing photographs with different publications.

These fields enable you to add important information by attaching labels such as Creator, Headline, Keywords, Categories, and Origin to the image. For more information about IPTC and how it is used, please visit the following web page:

http://www.iptc.org.

Adding Image Information

You can view and change the contents of the different IPTC fields on images within both the browser and the editor.

To add IPTC information to one or more images, follow these steps:

Open the Metadata palette and expand the “IPTC

Information” section.

Select one or more images in the browser.

Alternatively, you can add IPTC information to the current image open within the editor.

Enter information for each field that you would like to contain IPTC information. It is not necessary

to enter a value in every field.

82 Chapter 11 — The Metadata Palette | XMP/IPTC Information Section

Click on the Apply button.

When more than one image is selected, information that is shared between images will be displayed while information that is different in each image will be identified with a “–”. You can replace the different contents of each image with the same information by replacing the “–” with the desired text. You can also clear out different information by simply deleting the “–”.

If you make a mistake and want to revert back to the original IPTC contents, click the Reset button before clicking Apply. Please note that after you click the Apply button, you will not be able to reset the contents of the “XMP/IPTC Information” section.

Copying and Pasting IPTC Information

The contents of the “XMP/IPTC Information” section can be copied from one image and pasted to one or more additional images. To copy and paste IPTC information, follow these steps:

Select an image in the browser. Alternatively, you

can copy ITPC information from the image currently open in the editor.

A Please note: IPTC information can be copied only

from a single image.

Navigate to the Batch menu and select Copy IPTC

Info. Alternatively, you can click on the batch menu located to the left of the labeling and rating toolbar and select Copy IPTC Info.

Chapter 11 — The Metadata Palette | XMP/IPTC Information Section 83

Select one or more images within the browser or

select another image within the editor.

Navigate to the Batch menu and select Paste IPTC

Info. Alternatively, you can click on the batch menu located to the left of the labeling and rating toolbar and select Paste IPTC Info.

A Please note: IPTC information can be copied to

multiple images; however, existing IPTC content will be overwritten by the copied IPTC information.

Creating XMP/IPTC Presets

XMP/IPTC presets enable you to create a collection of frequently used XMP/IPTC information that can be later applied to one or more images in a more efficient manner. Multiple XMP/IPTC presets can be created and later accessed within Capture NX 2, making it possible for you to create different XMP/IPTC presets for different tasks.

To create an XMP/IPTC preset, follow these steps:

Select an image in the browser. Alternatively, you

can create an ITPC preset from the image currently open in the editor.

A Please note: An XMP/IPTC Preset can only be created

from a single image.

84 Chapter 11 — The Metadata Palette | XMP/IPTC Information Section

Navigate to the Batch menu and select Save XMP/

IPTC Preset. Alternatively, you can click on the batch menu located to the left of the labeling and rating toolbar and select Save XMP/IPTC Preset.

In the “Save XMP/IPTC Preset” dialog that appears,

type in the name for the new XMP/IPTC Preset. This is the name that will be displayed in the Load XMP/ IPTC Preset sub-menu.

Next, review the fields that will be created in the XMP/IPTC preset. Fields that contain a checkmark

in the box to the right will be added to the preset. Fields that contain information within them are automatically checked, while fields that are empty will not be automatically checked.

Change any of the text within the fields if necessary and check or uncheck any additional fields that

you would like to add or remove from the XMP/IPTC preset. Checking a blank field will cause that XMP/IPTC preset, when loaded, to clear out any text found within that field in the images that the XMP/IPTC preset is applied to.

Chapter 11 — The Metadata Palette | XMP/IPTC Information Section 85

Click OK.

Loading XMP/IPTC Presets

After creating one or more XMP/IPTC presets using the Save XMP/IPTC Preset option, you can load an XMP/IPTC preset to one or more images. To use an XMP/IPTC preset to load XMP/IPTC information to one or more images, follow these steps:

Select one or more images within the browser.

Alternatively, you can add ITPC information to an image open within the editor.

Navigate to the Batch menu and select the Load

XMP/IPTC Preset sub-menu, and select the XMP/ IPTC preset you would like to load into your images. Alternatively, you can select an XMP/IPTC preset from the Load XMP/IPTC Preset sub-menu of the batch menu located to the left of the labeling and rating toolbar.

Managing XMP/IPTC Presets

XMP/IPTC presets are managed from the “Preferences” dialog. Use the “XMP/IPTC Presets” tab of the “Preferences” dialog to add, delete, modify, import, and export XMP/IPTC Presets.

For more information on managing XMP/IPTC presets, see “XMP/IPTC Presets” in Chapter 7, “Preferences.”

86 Chapter 11 — The Metadata Palette | XMP/IPTC Information Section

Chapter 12

Activity Toolbar

The activity toolbar provides access to three of the most often accessed functions within Capture NX 2: workspaces, importing images, and printing images.

Workspace Selector

Use the workspace selector to access the different workspaces available within Capture NX 2. For more information on workspaces, please see the Workspaces section of Chapter 8, “Interface”.

Launch Nikon Transfer

The launch Nikon Transfer button will cause Nikon Transfer to load in a separate application window. Use Nikon Transfer to transfer images from an attached camera or compact flash card, with the ability to automatically add XMP/IPTC information, create backup copies of images, as well as automatically opening the Capture NX 2 browser to display the transferred images.

Chapter 12 — Activity Toolbar | Workspace Selector 87

Print

Click the print button to open the Capture NX 2 “Print Layout” dialog and begin printing your images. For more on the Capture NX 2 “Print Layout” dialog, please see the “Print” section in Chapter 18, “File Menu”.

88 Chapter 12 — Activity Toolbar | Print

Chapter 13

The Toolbar

Tool Options Bar

The tool options bar can be found directly beneath the toolbar and provides access to controls specific to a tool. The crop tool, auto retouch brush, lasso and marquee tools, selection brush, selection gradient, and fill / remove tools all utilize the tool options bar to display additional controls.

Direct Select Tool

The direct select tool enables you to select many of the different objects within Capture NX 2.

• Multiple objects can be selected by holding down the Ctrl key (Windows) or command key (Macintosh) when selecting additional objects.

• A range of objects can be selected by clicking on the first object of the desired range and then holding down the Shift key and clicking on the last object of the desired range.

• Control points within an image window as well as thumbnails within the browser can be selected by clicking and drawing a bounding box around the Control points or thumbnails that you want to select.

The following object types can be selected:

• Control points

•Images in the browser

• Steps in the Edit List palette

A Please note: Only one type of object can be selected at a time.

Shortcut

A key

Chapter 13 — The Toolbar | Tool Opt ion s Ba r 89

Hand Tool

The hand tool enables you to move within an image. Select this tool when viewing an image that does not fit in the image window. Click and drag to reposition the contents of the window.

Double-click this tool to fit the current image to the editor so that the entire image fits into the space available.

Shortcut

H key

Temporarily switch to the hand tool when any other tool is active: Spacebar

Zoom Tool

The zoom tool is used to zoom into and out from an image. Select this tool and click on the image to zoom in. Hold the Alt key (Windows) or option key (Macintosh) and click to zoom out.

Double click on the zoom tool to zoom the current image to 100%.

Shortcut

Z key

Zoom in when any other tool is active:

Ctrl + spacebar keys (Windows) command + spacebar keys (Macintosh)

Zoom out when any other tool is active:

Ctrl + Alt + spacebar keys (Windows) command + option + spacebar keys (Macintosh)

90 Chapter 13 — The Toolbar | Hand Tool

Rotate Tool

The rotate tool is used to rotate images 90° clockwise or counter-clockwise. Click on this button to rotate the image 90° in the direction indicated. Hold the Alt key (Windows) or option key (Macintosh) and click on this button to rotate the image 90° other direction. To choose the direction of rotation, click and hold this icon.

Multiple images can be rotated simultaneously by selecting multiple images in the browser and then clicking on this button.

Rotating an image within the editor will cause a step to be created within the Edit List palette, enabling you to remove the rotation at any point in the future. When you save your images with the NEF file format, you can remove the rotation after the image has been saved or closed. Rotating an image found in the browser will be applied in a non-destructive fashion, however there will not be a rotation step added to the Edit List palette.

Shortcut

Rotate the image 90° clockwise: Ctrl + R (Windows) command + R (Macintosh)

Rotate the image 90° counter clockwise: Ctrl + Shift + R (Windows) command + shift + R (Macintosh)

Straighten Tool

Select this button to add a Straighten step to the Edit List palette. In the Straighten step, you can rotate an image incrementally clockwise or counter-clockwise, or you can trace a line within your image that should be either horizontal or vertical and allow the straighten tool to automatically straighten your image.

Chapter 13 — The Toolbar | Rotate Tool 91

To straighten your image using the straighten tool, follow these steps:

With an image open within the editor, click the straighten tool in the toolbar.

Locate a line within the image that should be either

vertical or horizontal and click on the start of the line. Holding the mouse button down, draw the entire length of the line, letting go when you have reached the end of that line. The straighten tool will then calculate the direction and degree of the rotation to apply to the image to make the line you described either horizontal or vertical.

If you made a mistake while drawing the line, you can click on the line you added to the image and

adjust one of the two anchor points found at either end of the line, or you can re-draw the line by clicking and dragging within the image window again.

By default, Capture NX 2 will automatically crop the

image using the same aspect ratio to hide all areas of the image where there is no image information. These areas that lack information are created when the image is rotated, and are represented by pure white pixels. To prevent Capture NX 2 from automatically cropping the image, check the

Include areas without image data option in the Straighten step of the Edit List palette.

92 Chapter 13 — The Toolbar | Straighten Tool

If you are satisfied with the straightening effect,

continue editing your image using the other tools available within Capture NX 2 or perform a save. The straightening effect is now applied to your image. To cancel the straightening effect, click on the Delete button found at the bottom of the Straighten step within the Edit List palette or click on the Straighten step and press the delete key on your keyboard.

Crop Tool

The crop tool enables you to remove areas from the margins of your image or to change the aspect ratio of your image. To add a crop to your image, follow these steps:

Click on the crop tool in the toolbar.

Within the tool options section of the toolbar,

determine the crop method you would like to use.

Click and drag the mouse over the image in the active image window to make a selection. The area

outside of the selection will be masked to enable you to focus on the result of the selection.

Click on any of the edges or corners of the crop selection to modify the size and shape of the crop.

Chapter 13 — The Toolbar | Crop Tool 93

Double-click within the crop or press the enter key

to apply the crop. This will cause the image information outside of the crop to be hidden and a new Crop step to be added to the Edit List palette. If the image is saved in the NEF format, you will be able to remove the Crop step to display the hidden information again. The hidden information will be discarded if the image is saved in JPEG or TIFF.

A Please note: If the crop is not applied with the enter

key or by double-clicking within the crop, the crop will be discarded.

The crop tool offers the following tool options:

Crop Method

Choose from one of three different cropping methods.

❏ Free Crop

This crop method enables you to freely draw a cropping rectangle.

❏ Fixed Aspect Ratio

Choose from one of the predetermined aspect ratios or select Custom to enter the desired aspect ratio. This cropping method limits the crop tool to describing rectangles that match that aspect ratio.

Show Crop Assistance Grid

Select Show Crop Assistance Grid to display a grid of nine equally-sized rectangles superimposed on the image within the crop rectangle. The crop assistance grid is designed to assist you in cropping the image. Based on the photographic “rule of thirds”, the crop assistance grid helps guide your crop so that the main points of interest lie close to the points where the lines intersect. It also draws your attention to the natural horizontal or vertical lines in the image, such as a horizon or a large building, which often benefit from being placed close to one of the four lines.

You can also choose to temporarily superimpose this grid onto your image by holding down the Alt key ( Windows) or option key (Macintosh) while you are in the crop mode.

94 Chapter 13 — The Toolbar | Crop Tool

Shortcut

C key

Black Control Point

The black control point enables you to place a control point directly on your image, and to cause that targeted color to not only become black, but also to neutralize the dark tones of your image. Black control points are normally set on what should be the darkest point of the image and are used to set one end of the dynamic range of the image. The Double Threshold option in the “Histogram” section of the Photo Info palette is designed specifically to help you locate the darkest and lightest sections of your image.

Original Image Final Image

To add a black control point to your image, follow these steps:

Click on the black control point icon in the toolbar. The cursor will change to a crosshair.

Identify the object you would like to be the darkest

object in the image and click on that object to place a black control point. A B / W / N Control Point step will be added to the Edit List palette, with a black control point sub-step. You can reposition the black control point by clicking and dragging it. Please note that you may only add one black control point to each B / W / N Control Point step.

Chapter 13 — The Toolbar | Black Control Point 95

Adjust the effect of the black control point by either

clicking and dragging the luminosity slider or by entering a value directly into the text box in the black control point sub-step of the B / W / N Control Point step in the Edit List palette.

After a black control point is added to the image, the following options will be available in the B / W / N Control Point step of the Edit List palette:

Black Control Point Method

Use the black control point method pull-down menu to switch between controlling only the luminosity of the Black Control Point or the individual red, green, and blue values.

Luminosity Method

The Luminosity method of the black control point always changes the color that you have targeted by setting the black control point to a neutral black. This is often the most efficient mode to use, as most calibrated printers work best when the image contains a neutral black. Within this mode, you are presented with only a luminosity slider on the black control point and only a Luminosity setting within the black control point sub-step in the Edit List palette.

RGB Method

The RGB method of the black control point enables you to set the individual red, green, and blue values of the darkest color in the image. This option is helpful if your printer requires a non-neutral black. Within this mode, you are presented with individual red, green, and blue sliders on the black control point and red, green, and blue entries within the black control point sub-step in the Edit List palette.

96 Chapter 13 — The Toolbar | Black Control Point

Advanced

Click on the Advanced show/hide triangle to display the additional controls for the black control point. The values set for the selected black control point are displayed enabling you to enter a new value directly to adjust the effect of the control point.

Chapter 13 — The Toolbar | Black Control Point 97

Neutral Control Point

Neutral control points enable you to correct a color cast in your photograph by forcing the targeted color to become neutral. In its default operation, the neutral control point will change the color values in the targeted color so that the red, green, and blue values for that color are equal. Equalizing the red, green, and blue values for a specific color causes that color becomes neutral, or without a specific color or hue. Neutral control points are often most helpful if the image contains a neutral point of reference, for example, a gray card. By selecting an object that is established as neutral, Capture NX 2 is able to calculate the difference between that object and the color that is currently representing that object. The neutral control point will remove the difference in color from the targeted object, as well as from the entire image. This results in a color shift that affects the entire image.

One of the unique features of the neutral control points found in Capture NX 2 is that multiple neutral control points can be added to the same image. This feature enables you to identify different objects and neutralize more than one color cast that may appear in the image. When you use multiple neutral control points, each control point will communicate with the other neutral control points in the same B / W / N Control Point step of the Edit List palette to affect the entire image, correcting different objects and in the process removing multiple color casts.

Original Image Final Image

98 Chapter 13 — The Toolbar | Neutral Control Point

Nikon NX2 User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

Notices

Trademark Information

Chapters at a Glance

Table of Contents

Introduction

RAW File Format Benefits

Camera Relationship

U Point® Technology

System Requirements & Installation

System Requirements

Windows

Macintosh

Installation

Windows

Macintosh

Color Management Options

Running Capture NX 2 in Trial Mode or Activating Product

Upgrading From Capture NX Version 1

Nikon User Support Information (U.S.A.)

Getting Started

Launching Capture NX 2

Convert Capture NX Version 1 Labels

Welcome Screen

The Open Recent Folder section contains a list of the most recent folders accessed within the Browser palette, with the most recent folder displayed at the top. Click on one of the displayed folders to open that folder within the Browser palette.

Browsing and Opening Images

Using the Browser

Using Open Image

Using ViewNX

Using NikonTransfer

File Format Differences

TIFF

JPEG

Workflow Suggestions

Printing

Printing a Single Image

Printing contact sheets

Batch Processing

Applying a series of enhancements to a folder of images

Adding XMP/IPTC data to a series of images using an XMP/IPTC preset

Converting NEF RAW files into JPEG or TIFF files

To convert a folder of files from NEF RAW to JPEG or TIFF

To convert selected files from the Browser

Preferences

General

Open With Application

Place Open With TIFF File In

D1X RAW Default

Default Units

Default Save As

Keep all Steps Active in Edit List

Folder for Temporary Data

Color Management

Default RGB Color Space

Use This Instead of Embedded Profile

CMYK Separation profile

Printer Profile

Use This Profile when printing

Intent

Use Black Point Compensation

Levels & Sampling

Levels & Curves

Dropper Sample Size

Display

Grid

Selection Overlay

Image

Cache Settings

Browsing Cache

Editing Cache

XMP/IPTC Presets

Available Presets

Field Editor

Duplicate

Delete

Import

Export