Google made an announcement last night that the company intends to make photography enthusiasts smile. It has made the entire Nik Software collection of photo-editing plug-ins available as a free download for Windows and Mac users. This software was priced at $149 till a couple of days back. Users who have already purchased the Nik Collection in 2016 will get a complete refund, said Google. Nik software came under Google after it bought out Snapseed developer Nik. Before Google bought the company, the Nik Collection was selling for $500.
Nik Collection comprises seven plug-ins that work with Photoshop, Lightroom and Aperture. The seven plug-in are Analog Efex Pro, Color Efex Pro, Silver Efex Pro, Viveza, HDR Efex Pro, Sharpener Pro and Dfine. The seven desktop plug-in provide a range of photo editing capabilities – from filter applications that improve colour correction, to retouching and creative effects, to image sharpening that brings out all the hidden details, to the ability to make adjustments to the colour and tonality of images. As we continue to focus our long-term investments in building incredible photo editing tools for mobile, including Google Photos and Snapseed, we’ve decided to make the Nik Collection desktop suite available for free, so that now anyone can use it, said Google in its blog post.
Google says that the plug-ins bestow a great range of photo-editing abilities to their users. Some of these capabilities include sharpening to bring out the hidden details in a photo. Their filter applications are particularly valuable in enriching the color of the captured photo. On top of that, they are packed with retouching and creative effects, plus the ability to adjust the color and tonality of photos. In case you are interested in giving the Google Nik Collection a go, head to Nik Collection page to download it.