Nik Collection for desktop users is free, says Google, and everybody cheers. But in the same paragraph Google says they’re investing in photo editing tools for mobile, probably meaning that there will be no more updates for Nik Collection.
The original Nik Software is a software development company established in 1995, and responsible for a series of plug-ins and tools for digital image processing applications. In September 2012 Google acquired Nik Software, and the original collection, which had a price around $500, was dropped to $150. Now the whole collection is free to download.
Available for Windows and Mac, the Nik Collection is comprised of seven desktop plug-ins that provide a powerful range of photo editing capabilities — from filter applications that improve color correction, to retouching and creative effects, to image sharpening that brings out all the hidden details, to the ability to make adjustments to the color and tonality of images.
Today, Google announced that the latest Nik Collection will be freely available to download: Analog Efex Pro, Color Efex Pro, Silver Efex Pro, Viveza, HDR Efex Pro, Sharpener Pro and Dfine, and assured those who purchased the Nik Collection in 2016, that they will receive a full refund.
Google state that they’re “excited to bring the powerful photo editing tools once only used by professionals to even more people now “ and while many users are excited with the news, others suggest that this may well be the end of the line for the Nik Collection. Compatibility problems with Windows 10, for example, are still an issue, and with Google saying that they “continue to focus our long-term investments in building incredible photo editing tools for mobile, including Google Photos and Snapseed” users are afraid that no more updates will be available for Nik Collection. If this happen, the Nik Collection, which was one of the most respected packages of software in the industry, will slowly fade way.