What Happened To My NIK? Troubleshooting...

[rpcrowe]

I have been using NIK Software for years since I originally purchased it (before it became a freebie) from Google.

I have always accessed the various NIK in components using Photoshop by selecting FILTER which always brought up a drop-down menu that included NIK Collection as one of the choices. After selecting NIK Collection I could choose any one of the NIK filters I wanted such as VIVEZA or DFINE.

Today, I shot a few pics, with my A6400, of a dog running around and after opening the image in Adobe Camera RAW, I tried to access the NIK collection in the filter menu and it was nowhere to be seen in the drop-down menu choices.

I tried this with a second camera A6500 and got the same results.

I then looked at how I transferred the image from memory card to the computer using Adobe Bridge and found that, for some strange reason, the check mark in the box selecting convert to Adobe DNG had been deleted. I don't know why or how this happened but, apparently that was where the problem originated.

I checked the Adobe DNG box with a new series of images and low-and-behold, after opening the image in Photoshop and selecting the FILTER choice; the drop down box included NIK COLLECTION choice.

However, in trying to troubleshoot this problem further. I shot some images with my Canon 6D Mark 2 opening them with both "convert to DNG" box checked and not checked. For some reason it did not make any difference whether that box was checked or not. NIK COLLECTION was available in the drop down FILTER menu in either case.

CONCLUSION:

When I open a Sony image without checking the "DNG Box" it will open as a .ARW image

When I open a Canon image without checking the "DNG box" it will open as a CR2 image

Obviously when the box is checked on both image types, they open as a .DNG image

I can access the FILTER Menu NIK Collection for a .DNG or CR2 image but, not for an .ARW image

No big problem since I usually have the DNG box checked but, it was confusing for a short while there...

[Shadowman]

Could be just a Sony compatibility issue, I had trouble converting some .ARW files with Adobe DNG converter recently, I think I had to download a Sony version.

[Manfred M]

What version of Photoshop are you using Richard?

I suspect that the Sony vs Canon raw is a "red herring". Photoshop does not handle raw and if the file opens it is because the raw processor you have used has passed an image file through to Photoshop. I'd be more inclined to suggest that the old Google issue Nik package no longer plays nicely with your updated version of Photoshop.

This is bound to happen as Adobe continues to evolve their package and the "hooks" used to integrate plug-ins are broken.

[rpcrowe]

Manfred - I am using Photoshop CC 2018 which is the latest update that I have

Here is the selection menu for Adobe Bridge CC Photo Downloader - note: the convert to DNG box is not checked


Here are the selections in Adobe Bridge - note: They have an .ARW suffix


Here is the selection in Adobe Camera RAW - note: It still carries the .ARW suffix


Finally here it is opened in Photoshop CC 2018 - note: still carrying the .ARW suffix


DEFINITION OF .ARW
The ARW Raster image file format. ARW (Sony Alpha Raw) files refer to the Sony RAW image file or an ArtStudio project file. Images captured digitally using Sony cameras using the TIFF specifications create a raw, uncompressed ARW file. They contain all data captured by the camera's CCD.

Obviously, when the downloading is done with the "convert to DNG" box is checked - the image opens in ACR and Photoshop CC 2018 with a .DNG suffix...

[Manfred M]

Once ACR passes the data over to Photoshop, it is an image, regardless of the source. I suspect what you are seeing is the incompatibility issues I suggested in #3. Your version of Photoshop has evolved, but your version of the Nik Collection was compatible with CC 2015 (the last update that Google made).

The DxO Labs version of the Nik Collection 2.0 works fine on Photoshop CC 2019, as it should.