Mark S. Johnson Photography

Don’t let the title of this Workbench fool you. Even if you don’t use Color Efex Pro, you can still very much take advantage of nesting Smart Objects in Photoshop.

That said, Color Efex Pro 4 is remarkable software that is the subject of my previous Workbench. At the conclusion of that Workbench, I indicated that as much as I like Nik’s Control Points, I prefer to perform all masking in Photoshop using nested Smart Objects. Here are three reasons why. First, Color Efex Pro works seamlessly with Smart Objects. Second, since we’re already familiar with Photoshop’s powerful masking tools, why not take advantage of them. Third, nested Smart Objects allow us to apply numerous filters and precisely control where each is applied.

Keep in mind that nested Smart Objects can also be used with the filters in Photoshop. If, however, you’d like to give Color Efex Pro a try, visit the Discounts section in the sidebar of my site and click the “Nik Software: Color Efex Pro 4 15% Discount” link. This takes you to a page where you can either purchase a discounted version or download the free demo.