GoogleNik

[Acorn]

Really some simple questions, is it worth downloading Google Nik? And is it a stand-alone piece of software or an add-on to established programmes?

[davidedric]

It's principally used as an add on, or plug in, to established programs. It has several modules, which you have to download or buy together. Most use it as an add on to non-pixel editing software such as Lightroom.

The black and white module is very well regarded. Others make use of Viveza, and Color Efex.

It uses "control point" technology rather than explicit masks for local adjustments., and there is certainly a learning curve.

The only way to answer your main question is to have a look.

Dave

[Manfred M]

As Dave has stated, it is a plugin for Adobe products (Lightroom, Elements and Photoshop) as well as Apple Aperture. No, it is NOT a stand-alone product.

I use it on occasion, especially the Color Efex. I have used Dfine (noise reduction) and Silver Efex. I find that I prefer doing my sharpening in Photoshop, rather than in Sharpener Pro (less control that I would like; I really find nothing beats the Photoshop Unsharp Mask).

Viveza, HDR Efex and Analog Efex I've played with but find I have had no use for them yet.

With Color Efex, I find I don't use it in it's "pure" form and will use it in conjunction with a layer mask and use it in specific parts of an image, at a much lower opacity.

My suggestion is the same as Dave's. Download the free trial and if you find you like it, buy it.

[DanK]

I bought the set and used a number of the packages a bit. For certain images, the control points function, which is a substitute for selections, is handy, and the Silver Efex package has some handy presets. However, over time, I found that I used it little enough that I have largely forgotten what I learned, and I rarely think to use it. On the other hand, there are people who post here who use it a great deal. Your taste may vary. I agree that you try it out for yourself.

[Mike Buckley]

One of the factors you may want to consider is taking the time to learn how to use some of the plug-ins when Google seems very uninterested in making improvements to them. I actually wonder now if any will ever be made. Google purchased Nik in September 2012 and as of now (2 1/2 years later) no upgrades have been released.

I gather that the primary reason Google bought Nik was to acquire Snapseed, an image editor for use on mobile devices that competes with Instagram, and that the Nik suite of products being discussed in this thread simply came along with the deal. Earlier that year Facebook had bought Instagram and the purchase of Snapseed was a tactic used by Google to compete with Facebook.

[Manfred M]

One of the factors you may want to consider is taking the time to learn how to use some of the plug-ins when Google seems very uninterested in making improvements to them. I actually wonder now if any will ever be made. Google purchased Nik in September 2012 and as of now (2 1/2 years later) no upgrades have been released.

I gather that the primary reason Google bought Nik was to acquire Snapseed, an image editor for use on mobile devices that competes with Instagram, and that the Nik suite of products being discussed in this thread simply came along with the deal. Earlier that year Facebook had bought Instagram and the purchase of Snapseed was a tactic used by Google to compete with Facebook.

Yes and no, Mike.

I noticed that Google was doing "push" upgrades to the software from time to time, i.e. I had no choice as to whether I wanted them or not. I'm someone who likes waiting for a few days to a week to implement new upgrades to ensure that there are no unintended consequences from the upgrades. That way there is a lower risk to me as others will quickly report problems and I want them solved prior to me installing them.

I contacted Google about their "push" approach and was told it was a "feature" that could not be disabled...

Anyways, there have been a few upgrades since I bought the software (the big one being Analog Efex), plus some other more minor changes.

I haven't been watching lately, so it is quite possible that there haven't been many. The "newest" Nik updates I see in my Photoshop Plugins directory are dated June 2014. Most of the other files were last updated in 2013.

[Simon Garrett]

One of the factors you may want to consider is taking the time to learn how to use some of the plug-ins when Google seems very uninterested in making improvements to them. I actually wonder now if any will ever be made. Google purchased Nik in September 2012 and as of now (2 1/2 years later) no upgrades have been released.

There have been 11 upgrade releases since Google took over, including one entirely new plug-in: Analog Effects Pro. Also there have been 64-bit versions of ones that were 32-bit only before.

See https://support.google.com/nikcollec..._topic=3001406

I gather that the primary reason Google bought Nik was to acquire Snapseed, an image editor for use on mobile devices that competes with Instagram, and that the Nik suite of products being discussed in this thread simply came along with the deal. Earlier that year Facebook had bought Instagram and the purchase of Snapseed was a tactic used by Google to compete with Facebook.

I'm sure you're right about that, and I too wondered if Nik plug-ins would be quietly left to rot, but so far it appears not. I bought Nik after the acquisition, as Google then immediately bundled them all together for a much lower price than Nik sold them (which added to my assumption that this was "leave them to rot"). Not something I use a lot, but at times very handy - and the effects are a lot of fun!

By the way, they work with Lightroom, Photoshop and Aperture, but they integrate best with Photoshop. With Lightroom, when you use any of the plug-ins, LR creates a copy, you edit in the plug-in, and those changes are then baked-in to the copy when it comes back to LR. In Photoshop you can use the plug-ins as smart filters in a separate layer, so you can go back and tweak the adjustments in the plug-in. Not sure about Aperture.

[Mike Buckley]

Thank you to Manfred and Simon regarding the information about updates. The reason I thought no improvements had been released is that Google had never informed me of them.

Even so, notice that some of the products in the suite have not been improved. As an example, I purchased the license to the suite only so I could use Silver Efex Pro. Yet no improvements have been made that are uniquely specific to that product according to the document provided by Simon.

My comment that no upgrades, as opposed to updates, have been released is also supported by the document. When owning a perpetual license such as is required to use the Google Nik suite of products, I think of an upgrade as being a release that has improvements that are significant enough that the developer feels justified in charging for a license to have access to the new enhancements. Contrast that with an update, which is a release that contains fixes to bugs or makes improvements that are so minor that charging for a new license is not justifiable.

So, I still wonder if Google is going to ever release any upgrades.

[russellsnr]

Hi, Agree 100%. The Analog Efex was an additional software rather than an upgrade to any of the older software. I stated on there own Google+ page about the lack of interest shown by Google on any improvments on the software that came out of NIK and the reply I got was Zero/Nothing from the company itself and only one reply from a user who agreed with me. Other software companies for example OnOne are coming out with improvments on a regular basis it is one of the reasons I bought the OnOne suite and for HDR I use SNS-HDR Pro who by the way have after a two year wait released a BETA version of SNS-HDR ver2. Russ

Thank you to Manfred and Simon regarding the information about updates. The reason I thought no improvements had been released is that Google had never informed me of them.

Even so, notice that some of the products in the suite have not been improved. As an example, I purchased the license to the suite only so I could use Silver Efex Pro. Yet no improvements have been made that are uniquely specific to that product according to the document provided by Simon.

My comment that no upgrades, as opposed to updates, have been released is also supported by the document. When owning a perpetual license such as is required to use the Google Nik suite of products, I think of an upgrade as being a release that has improvements that are significant enough that the developer feels justified in charging for a license to have access to the new enhancements. Contrast that with an update, which is a release that contains fixes to bugs or makes improvements that are so minor that charging for a new license is not justifiable.

So, I still wonder if Google is going to ever release any upgrades.

[bijutoha]

It's principally used as an add on, or plug in, to established programs. It has several modules, which you have to download or buy together. Most use it as an add on to non-pixel editing software such as Lightroom.

The black and white module is very well regarded. Others make use of Viveza, and Color Efex.

It uses "control point" technology rather than explicit masks for local adjustments., and there is certainly a learning curve.

The only way to answer your main question is to have a look.

Dave

Nice help davidedric. I just want to know about another thing is that If I use NIK beside the topaz then it is possible? Actually today is my first day to here about NIK.

[bnnrcn]

Hi Barry. Although I have PS CC, I bought Nik software in last December and I'm learning it. As the other members mentioned above, it is a plug in . I'm quite happy with Color Efex Pro4 because it has so many filters for artistic work. Silver Efex Pro 2 is highly recommended in this web site and in some books for B&W conversions. I'm just about to learn it with the help of a book and I feel excited about it.

I would recommend that you should download the trial version for a month. There are a lot of training videos on Nik's website, so I don't think you will have difficulty to test the software. If you have any questions about how to use the software,I can always help you, because I have been working on it recently. If you decide to buy the software I can recommend the book ' Plug in With Nik' by John Batdorff. It tells about how to use each programme with examples (The only missing part is Analog Efex ).

[davidedric]

Hi bijutoha, and welcome to our forums.

You certainly can install both Topaz and Nik as plug ins on the same computer. They do overlap quite a lot in the functions they provide.

Regards,

Dave

[John 2]

Yes they do overlap quite a bit but for anybody that hasn't got the right host programme for Nik plugins, Topaz offers the advantage of being standalone using PhotoFXlab which act as a host interface. I use both but I was lucky enough to catch the free download of the full set Nik plugins at the time when Google took over.

[rpcrowe]

I like both NIK and Perfect Photo Suite and use both regularly as Photoshop CS6 Plug-Ins. As far as your question, "is it worth downloading Google Nik". That is simply up to you and would depend on several parameters including...

Your skills in Photoshop and what you use your editing program for.

I personally enjoy working with both NIK and PerfectPhoto Suite and my enjoyment makes it worthwhile for me...

Any question regarding the "worth" of any software and hardware is a personal decision. Unless a person is presently earning money with their hardware and software, whether something is "worth" paying for depends on how much you enjoy using it and I don't think that a monetary "worth" can be determined.

I would be willing to guess, though; that if Adobe had come out with Control Point Technology in a Photoshop upgrade, that Photoshop users would praise this technology as the "best thing since sliced bread!"