Yes, you can still download the free version of the Nik Collection, or the Nik Collection 2012 as DxO now calls this. Is the Free Nik Collection Still Available to Download? At the time I published this video on YouTube giving my assessment of the upgrade. But the upgrade was virtually identical to the previous Google version.

There was though bad news for Nik fans who now needed to pay for the upgrade (as you might expect). I suspect that’s because Google purchased the software in 2012, but it makes it seem a lot older than the final build Google produced. At the same time, they branded the old Google version “Nik Collection 2012”. In June 2018, DxO released their first new version of the Nik Collection branding it the Nik Collection 2018. By this time, some Nik Collection users were reporting stability issues when upgrading Photoshop, Lightroom and their computer operating systems.

Their priority was to fix any serious bugs in the Nik Collection software and ensure the software used the latest code libraries. The Nik Collection 20įollowing the purchase of the Nik Collection from Google, DxO commenced development. Fortunately, there was a lifeline for the Nik Collection when DxO purchased the assets from Google. Then in 2017 they formally announced that there would be no further releases of the Nik Collection. Later they went a step further, making the software free and issuing refunds to many who had purchased it.īut by late 2016 Google appeared to cease all development and bug fixes. As well as this Google slashed the price of the software, making it much more affordable for the photography enthusiast. Shortly after they followed up with Nik Analog Efex 2 which added further features.

Initially, they continued with enhancements and quickly released Nik Analog Efex. Then in 2012 Google purchased Nik Software and took control of the Nik Collection. The downside was that it was very expensive. It was (and still is) easy to use and can help you apply excellent enhancements to your photography. There’s a short page covering this on Wikipedia.įor a long time, the Nik Collection was a market leader and a favourite among professional photographers. Interestingly, Nikon also had a stake in Nik which is why many innovative features of the Nik Collection (like Control Points) also appear in the Nikon Capture NX software. This was a private software company which has its roots in Germany and the US. The Nik Collection was originally developed by Nik Software.

Nik silver efex pro