- The results with Capture One only or Nik Dfine 2 plus Capture One are pretty close. There is a bit more noise in the Capture One file, but also a bit more contrast and details. RAF Fuji noise reduction with Topaz Denoise AI I opened the RAF in Topaz Denoise AI.
- I've owned Nik Collection since the very first edition. I am using Nik Collection 3 (New) on my iMac. When I Opening with or Edit with then go to Nik, after doing the retouching the Bruch Tool that is next to Save and Cancel is no longer present. I reached out to Nik and it was a flat we don't support Capture One.
The Nik Collection 3 by DxO (Windows and macOS) is now available for download on the DxO website for a special launch price of $99.99 instead of $149, and $59.99 instead of $79 for the upgrade. The Nik Collection of plug-ins works with Capture One as external editors, rather than being native plug-ins but that doesn’t really make any practical difference. For most people they should show up once you’ve installed them, in the “Edit With” and “Open With” menus. Like many photographers, I stopped using Nik Collection at one point because of compatibility issues. Happily, thanks to DxO, that’s all been sorted now. Nik Collection 3 by DxO is compatible with all 64-bit Windows and Mac platforms, as well as with Adobe Lightroom Classic CC, Photoshop CC 2019, and Photoshop Elements.
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Can I get the Nik Collection Download for Free?
Recently I’ve been receiving lots of emails asking can I still get the Nik Collection download free. There so much confusion and misinformation about the Nik Collection that I want to set the record straight. The simple answer to this is yes you can still get a free download of the Nik Collection download. Later in this article, I’m going to explain how to do it legally, but there are some caveats and a bit of a back story you need to understand.
A Brief History of the Nik Collection
The Nik Collection was originally developed by Nik Software. This was a private software company which has its roots in Germany and the US. 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. There’s a short page covering this on Wikipedia.
For a long time, the Nik Collection was a market leader and a favourite among professional photographers. It was (and still is) easy to use and can help you apply excellent enhancements to your photography. The downside was that it was very expensive.
Then in 2012 Google purchased Nik Software and took control of the Nik Collection. Initially, they continued with enhancements and quickly released Nik Analog Efex. Shortly after they followed up with Nik Analog Efex 2 which added further features. As well as this Google slashed the price of the software, making it much more affordable for the photography enthusiast. Later they went a step further, making the software free and issuing refunds to many who had purchased it.
But by late 2016 Google appeared to cease all development and bug fixes. Then in 2017 they formally announced that there would be no further releases of the Nik Collection. Fortunately, there was a lifeline for the Nik Collection when DxO purchased the assets from Google.
The Nik Collection 2012 and 2018
Following the purchase of the Nik Collection from Google, DxO commenced development. Their priority was to fix any serious bugs in the Nik Collection software and ensure the software used the latest code libraries. By this time, some Nik Collection users were reporting stability issues when upgrading Photoshop, Lightroom and their computer operating systems.
In June 2018, DxO released their first new version of the Nik Collection branding it the Nik Collection 2018. At the same time, they branded the old Google version “Nik Collection 2012”. 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.
There was though bad news for Nik fans who now needed to pay for the upgrade (as you might expect). But the upgrade was virtually identical to the previous Google version. At the time I published this video on YouTube giving my assessment of the upgrade.
Is the Free Nik Collection Still Available to Download?
Yes, you can still download the free version of the Nik Collection, or the Nik Collection 2012 as DxO now calls this. Below is a link to a page on the DxO website page to request the free Nik Collection 2012 download (affiliate link).
Here you can enter your email address and DxO will send you a link to free Nik Collection download. I’ve tried this myself and it works (as at April 2019).
Important Problems with the Free Nik Collection
There are though some issues you need to be aware of.
The original Nik Collection always had a few bugs and a few more crept in during Googles ownership. I will spare you the lecture on software development and why I think this happened. What it does mean though is that some features such as the Brush option in the Selection Tool are unusable.
You might also find that in your installation that trying to launch a Nik tool from the Selection Tool will crash Photoshop. If you find this, just access the Nik tools from the Photoshop Filters menu. If you’re using Lightroom, it seems a little better behaved. DxO fixed these problems, along with lots of others, in the Nik Collection 2018. I upgraded in June 2018 and the software, which I use daily, hasn’t crashed once on either my Mac or Windows PC. I’ve also received a few new versions of the software which address more bugs.
If you find you like the Nik Collection but the bugs are causing too many issues, it’s well worth the price of the upgrade. There’s also a free 30-day trial of the Nik Collection which you can download. Do be aware though, if you install the new trial version of the software it will automatically remove the old version from your computer. If you want to return to the old Nik Collection 2012 after the trial, you will need to install it again.
If you decide against Nik and want to find an alternative, this article I published should help you.
Find out how toimprove your photography using the Nik Collection.
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The Nik brand may not be household name like Adobe is, but photographers working in the digital darkroom have likely heard of it, if not used the company’s software. It’s been around a long time—I’ve personally been using it for a decade—and has changed ownership (and pricing) a few times over the years. It’s now owned by DxO, a brand that has developed its own image editing software, benchmark testing methodology, and even dabbled in hardware with the DxO One camera.
If you’re used to workflow applications like Lightroom Classic and Capture One Pro, you’ll be a little surprised by how the Nik Collection is delivered. It’s not one big piece of software, but rather a suite of distinct plug-ins, which work with a workflow application as a host.
For most photographers, that’s Lightroom or Capture One, for which the Nik Collection works fine as an external editor. If you don’t subscribe to Adobe or have a Capture One License, DxO includes the scaled-back Essential edition of its Raw conversion suite, DxO PhotoLab. It omits some of the more advanced features found in the Elite edition the company sells at retail, but is a serviceable workflow application for customers who don’t currently use one.
The real bones of the Collection are the standalone plug-in applications. You get Analog Efex Pro, Color Efex Pro, Dfine, HDR Efex Pro, Perspective Efex, Silver Efex Pro, Sharpener Pro, and Viveza. Each application is geared to a very specific purpose, and we’ll break them down one by one. The toolkit offers a mix of artistic filter effects and tools to accomplish more technical tasks, like noise reduction and sharpening.
Including Photo Lab allows DxO to advertise the Nik Collection as having Raw support, but the really compelling applications don’t work with Raw. You’ll need to round-trip rendered files from your host application to the plug-in, and for the best quality that means rendering a 16-bit TIFF for editing.
Download Nik Collection From Google
The process is pretty simple—all of the DxO apps are listed as external editors from the develop module in Lightroom, although I did have to manually add HDR Efex Pro to the list myself. But it’s not as simple as just making adjustments within the nondestructive confines of your workflow application.
To edit images at the best quality, you’ll need to export a 16-bit TIFF file from Lightroom, a format that’s much bigger in size than Raw formats. If you want to take advantage of the nondestructive features offered by Nik, the TIFF includes two versions of the image—the original and the edited version.
To give you an idea on the storage requirements, a 60MP Raw image from the Sony a7R IV is about 60MB in size; the same file as a TIFF is about 360MB, a figure that doubles to 720MB when nondestructive edits are enabled. There’s a benefit here—you can work on a single image across multiple editing sessions, delivering a bit more creative freedom.
There’s a limitation, though. The edits don’t carry over from one application to another. As an example, I applied a Vintage Camera look to the photo above in Analog Efex. With the nondestructive edits enabled, I was able to go back and make changes after the fact with ease. But once I loaded the same file into Color Efex Pro and added a Bleach Bypass effect, I lost the ability to undo edits made in Analog Efex. So the edits are nondestructive, but only for the most recent application you’ve used.
I tested DxO with both Lightroom Classic and Capture One 12, but spent the most time with it along with Lightroom. From here on out, I’ll talk about using the software with Adobe, but mechanics aside, the experience is similar with Photo Lab or Capture One as your launcher.
Of course, the software can’t load a Raw format image, so your original files remain untouched. Overall, the process is just a little more cumbersome than working with an image directly in Lightroom. Is the hassle worth it? It may be, if you fall in love with what the software does.
Google Nik Collection Capture One
Photographers use a multitude of tools to make images. A camera and lens are the very basic necessities. But pros, artists, and serious enthusiasts take the time to capture images in Raw format and process them using all sorts of software tools. A Raw processing application is going to be the backbone of your workflow. DxO Photo Lab Essential is included, but it’s not the most popular option. You’re much more likely to use Lightroom, Capture One, or recent upstart Skylum Luminar, and all of the Nik apps work fine with these.
Nik Collection Capture One Download
We’re happy to see some level of nondestructive editing added to this version. It’s not quite as convenient as Raw processing, and using it will eat up some space on your scratch drive, but you may find it worthwhile to have the option to go back and make edits to an image. It’s a little limited in that it doesn’t translate from one app in the suite to another.
Nik Collection Capture One Software
Perspective Efex is an inoffensive addition—I’m not sure who was asking for the functionality, but it works, and the miniature effect can come in handy. I’m more excited to see a level of nondestructive editing and new film simulations added to Color and Silver Efex. They make the strongest entries in the suite better. With Silver Efex especially, you won’t get closer to the look of film while still enjoying the convenience of digital capture.