Originally, Nik Collection worked just as a plug-in for Photoshop, Lightroom, and other Adobe Products. You can read more about the ups and downs of Nik Collection here. DxO has been updating the filters up to the last release of Nik Collection 3 by DxO.
The filters became very popular when Google bought them in 2012, and in 2017, the software company DxO acquired them after they left Nik Collection. Nik Collection started offering its first photo plugins when the Nik Software company was created back in 1995. This piece of software offers different tools to correct, enhance, and stylize images in post-processing. Nik Collection is the most complete package of creative plugins for digital photo editing. Is Nik Collection 3 worth it? Keep reading and you’ll soon find out! What is Nik Collection 3 by DXO?
DxO Nik collection comparison and my experience and thoughts using Nik Collection software for years. Lastly, we’ll wrap it up with a Google’s Nik Collection vs. I’ll also break down all the Nik Collection plugins that are included, their main effects, and the best way to use Nik Collection in Photoshop and Lightroom.
You’ll not only find out what is Nik Collection, but also how to download and install Nik Collection, plus all the steps to get Nik Collection for free so you can give them a tryand see if it fits into your workflow.
A full one-month trial version of Nik Collection 4 is available here.In this Nik Collection review, you’ll see everything you need to know about the most popular photography plugins in the market.
Photographers who own Nik Collection 3 or later can purchase an upgrade by signing into their accounts. Nik Collection 4.2 (Windows and macOS) is now available for download from the DxO website for the special price of $99.99 instead of $149 and $59.99 instead of $79 for the upgrade until October 10, 2021. They are often part of my landscape imaging workflow, and I often use the U Point technology to make smart selections of parts of an image for enhancement. I've been a long-time user of the Nik tools, way before the messy acquisition by Google. Nik Collection 4.2 also makes Nik Silver Efex and Nik Viveza compatible with the latest version of Capture One. “With the 4.2 version of Nik Collection, users can now opt to run the software in ‘M1 native’ mode and enjoy an optimized user experience.” I can't testify to the increased speed of the update, as I use the Nik Collection on Intel-based Macs, but early user comments are positive. Up until now, they had to use Rosetta to be able to run Nik Collection," recalls Jean-Marc Alexia, Vice President Product Strategy. "Users of Photoshop 22.3 (and later) working on a Mac M1 can run it in 'native' mode or with the Rosetta emulator. Its eight software plugins address every aspect of creative photography, including color and HDR photography, black-and-white conversion, and analog simulation. Nik Collection, combines 250 professional-quality presets with the flexibility of U Point™ local adjustment technology. The Nik creative suite also improves the performance of its software plugin, Nik Silver Efex, one of the most popular tools for black-and-white conversion. That means increased speed when used on Apple Silicon, and since Photoshop is already M1 compatible, it should make for a speedy bundle.
The big headline here is "Native M1" Adobe Photoshop compatibility. They've undergone continuous upgrades since then, and this new version will please Mac users with the new M1 chips. Google bought the tools, then dropped them, and DXO rescued the popular photo-editing aids in 2017. Nik Tools (now called the Nik collection) has been around since 1995 as an Adobe plugin.