Nik Collection 5 is a group of 8 plug-in software packages for Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom and DxO PhotoLab (formerly DxO Optics Pro). More recently, however, DxO has switched to developing Nik Collection further and the latest version, Nik Collection 4 was launched on 2nd June 2021. There then followed a period of stabilisation during which DxO worked on correcting all the compatibility issues and glitches that had arisen during Google’s tenure. Thankfully, in October 2017, DxO, the developer of the widely respected optical correction software now called PhotoLab, announced that it had bought Nik Collection from Google. However, in Spring 2017, Google confirmed that it wouldn’t develop the software any further. Nik Collection continued to be popular, possibly helped by the fact that in early 2016, Google made it free to download. At the time this was largely thought to be to enable Google to get hold of Snapseed, an excellent mobile image editing app. There is also a 30-day free trial so you can see if you like what the Nik Collection offers.Nik Collection, a group of Adobe Photoshop plugins, was originally launched by Nik Software but in September 2012 it was acquired by Google. This current update is free to owners of version 4.1. Nik Collection 4.1 is now available for download from the DxO website. The special launch price ($99.99 instead of $149, and $59.99 instead of $79 for the upgrade from pre 4.0 versions) has been extended to July 31, 2021. With 250 presets and the ability to adjust each tool to your own taste it's powerful and something most photographers would use. The Nik collection is something I use a lot. Not the biggest deal in the world, but I'd love to see this improved. The update deletes your older version of the Nik Collection, and updates all the individual tools. It could have been, and should have been simpler. I understand the reasons for this, but if I wasn't a first-time installer. Also, before it would install I was asked to OK some legal pages. Rather than do it all hands-off, I had to get the dmg file out of my downloads folder, mount it on my desktop, then select the installer It would be so nice if it just happened on its own. In fact, the app started downloading the DMG file that contains the update. I said OK, and nothing visible happened on my iMac. I was running version 4.0, and the 4.1 update popped up. If you pull up any of the tools, you are alerted to an available update. One thing I don't like is the DxO update method. After working with it for many years I miss the feature when I work in other editors. It has always worked well, and has been continually improved. U Point is a maskless selection of areas to edit. My most used tool, Color Efex Pro 4, hasn't been changed much, but the improvements to their U Point technology are universal throughout their apps. There are nice before/after buttons for side by side and split-screen to see the changes you are making. I didn't see anything dramatic in the update, but did notice speedier operations in the updated Nik Viveza and Nik Silver Efex tools. Viveza 3 is a color adjustment plug-in with sophisticated local adjustments for "dodging and burning" color images and applying global adjustments. Each tool is a separate app. Silver Efex Pro 3 is the latest version of one of the more popular plug-ins in the suite of tools, offering black and white image processing and darkroom effects. You can also use the software as a stand-alone editor. There are some specific changes to the user-friendliness of Nik Viveza and Nik Silver Efex (GUI tweaks) and the company claims improved compatibility if you are using the Nik Collection as a Photoshop or Lightroom preset, which most photographers do. The company also says there is better support for very high-resolution images and bug fixes. Also, there have been significant improvements to U Point technology resulting in more responsive Control Points and adjustments. The tools have been improved in performance, and more specifically the overall responsiveness of the interface and options to preview the effects applied to the image, whether in fit or fill mode or zoomed in, has been speeded up. The Nik Collection has just been updated to version 4.1, only a few weeks after version 4 launched.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |