Topaz Labs has done it again.  As usual they are continuously improving on their already awesome products.  They recently announced the release of Black and White Effects 2.1 which will be hitting the streets April 11th.  They have added a couple of  new features that I find very helpful.

1. The ability to edit your photos in B&W Effects 2.1 using the Zone system.  It is very similar to the Ansel Adams zone system of the grayscale.  You can switch on certain zones of grey value and edit them accordingly.  This gives you some extreme control over the tones in your image.
2. The second new feature is more borders.  The borders are a nice touch as people are really into borders these days.  They can be tricky to effectively accomplish in Photoshop so having pre-programmed ones are pretty nice.

If you have purchased Black and White Effects in the past, this will be a free upgrade as usual!  If you have not checked it out yet, why not head over to the Topaz store and buy your copy today!

Also check out my walkthrough of Black and White Effects 2 from a month or so ago.

Check out the before and after of what I have created in the new B and W Effects.  The before image is a simple black and white conversion in PS, the after image uses Black and White Effects 2.1 to add more depth by taking advantage of the zone system and the cool edge border!

Blake Rudis

f.64 Academy and f.64 Elite are the brainchildren of Blake Rudis. While he is a landscape photographer, he is most passionate about post-processing images in Photoshop and mentoring others.

For Blake, it's all about the art and process synergy. He dives deep into complex topics and makes them easy to understand through his outside-the-box thinking so that you can use these tricks in your workflow today!