Nik Collection by DxO

About this release

The Nik collection has been part of photographic workflows for long enough that many of its looks are simply what a certain kind of picture is expected to look like. Eight applications cover analogue film emulation, black and white conversion, sharpening, noise reduction, high dynamic range merging, colour effects, perspective correction and sky work, each opening from the host as a plug in and returning a finished layer.

Control points are the idea that made the set famous and they still hold up. Drop a point on a part of the image, set its radius, and the adjustment applies only to areas that resemble what sits underneath it, spreading by colour and tone rather than by a hard geometric boundary. It is local adjustment without drawing a mask, and it is quicker than masking for most real images.

The film emulation is built from measured stocks rather than invented, so the grain structure, tonal curve and colour response of each one behave the way the original did, and the strength of each element can be dialled separately. Black and white conversion works the same way, with filter simulation, sensitivity control and grain modelled on the papers and stocks it names.

The technical tools carry the rest. Sharpening runs a separate creative and output pass so a print and a screen version get what each needs, noise reduction handles high sensitivity captures while preserving detail, perspective correction fixes converging verticals from a wide lens, and the high dynamic range tool merges brackets with tone mapping that stops short of looking artificial.

What it does

Control points

Local adjustment that spreads by colour and tone similarity instead of a drawn mask.

Measured film emulation

Grain, tonal curve and colour response taken from real stocks, with each element separately adjustable.

Black and white conversion

Filter simulation, sensitivity control and modelled grain rather than a simple desaturation.

Two stage sharpening

Separate creative and output passes so screen and print versions each get the right treatment.

Noise reduction

High sensitivity cleanup that keeps fine detail rather than smearing it.

Perspective and sky tools

Converging vertical correction and dedicated sky adjustment for landscape work.

Changed in this version

• Faster rendering across the whole collection on high resolution files.
• New preset collections added to the film emulation and black and white tools.
• Control point engine improved on images with subtle tonal separation.
• Sky tool selection reworked for cleaner edges through foliage.
• Better integration with the current versions of the common host applications.

System requirements

Install order

1. Close every host application before installing.
2. Unpack the archive and run the installer.
3. Select which hosts should receive the plug ins on the component screen.
4. Open one plug in from the host to confirm the round trip works before real work.

Worth knowing before you start

File details