As you all know, I am very fond of the Topaz plugin.  Awhile back, I purchased the whole bundle because I knew I will eventually end up using all of the plugin. Part of that bundle was Topaz B&W Effects, a nifty little plugin which I often use to convert my images into monochrome. Today, the new Topaz B&W Effects 2 came out and I was really excited because the upgrade is free to existing owners.

Two major improvements that I’ve noticed right off the bat.

• The user interface has been revamped to give way to a much cleaner and user-friendly workflow.
• The preset preview area is much bigger now and in my opinion is a much-needed update (the earlier version has a very small square preview window above the preset list).

I did process an image using the new plugin. This is a photo of the Montreal Olympic Stadium. This image is the unaltered version.  Click here to see the transformed version of this image.

Montreal Olympic Stadium