Nik Collection has now been acquired by DxO, breathing a new lease of life in the photography app, which Google said it will no longer update. The Nik Collection, acquired by Google in 2012, offers a host of photo editing tools and plugins for Mac and Windows.
Google was dragging Nik Collection
Google mainly acquired the Nik Collection for its photo-editing app Snapseed. Without a doubt, Snapseed continues to be one of the most popular photo-editing apps for the Android and iOS. Its integration into Google Photos has also been smooth. The Nik collection, on the other hand, is the series of PC-based photo-editing tools allowing users to add special effects to photos such as film simulation, as well as, noise reduction.
Back in 2013, Google decreased the price of the collection tool, and then started offering it free just last year. Offering something free alone indicates that the search giant was not keen to continue with the Nik Collection. Also, this year in May, Google confirmed that it would not further update the Nik Collection. The news came as a disappointment for photographers, who have been using the tools for quick reduction of color, noise and other creative properties.
Confirming the acquisition, Google Engineering Director Aravind Krishnaswamy said, “The Nik Collection gives photographers tools to create photos they absolutely love. We’re thrilled to have DxO, a company dedicated to high-quality photography solutions, acquire and continue to develop it.”
How Nik Collection fits DxO’s business model?
DxO, which is mostly known for DxOMark reviews and benchmarks for phones and cameras, does have other lines of products and interests. One such product is the DxO ONE camera add-on for phones. Therefore, acquiring a photo-editing tool does make sense for the company.
“We are very excited to welcome the Nik Collection to the DxO family,” Jérôme Ménière, CEO and founder of DxO said in a press release. Further, Ménière stated that DxO has transformed the image processing market a number of times over the past year, and powered by its innovative solutions, in the future, the company wishes to do so with Nik’s tools, which offer creative opportunities to millions of photographers.
DxO might fit the Nik Collection into the existing DxO software. Lately, DxO has rebranded its OpticsPro RAW conversion software as DxO PhotoLab, and the new update includes a Nik Collection’s U Point technology, which Ménière refers to as the “first embodiment of this thrilling acquisition.”
Other than the U Point technology, PhotoLab is also equipped with an automatic mask retouching brush for precise selections. The new filter tool offers local edits with new additions. The update also smoothens the lens correction, a popular feature of the app. Further, the tool can be optimized for the photograph’s ISO to get better results while controlling noise.
For now, the Nik Collection will be available free on the DxO homepage. DxO is also planning to release a new version in 2018. However, there is no information if the 2018 version will also be free, suggesting fans and users would need to pay.
