Photo editing just got a whole lot easier with the launch of the DxO Nik Collection 6, bringing with it a whole host of new features and updates.
While most other software updates are making use of AI, DxO's Nik Collection keeps things simple and brings updates to the slick new user interfaces for several of its plug-ins.
• See our picks of the best photo editing software
Never heard of the Nik Collection? It's been around for years – and is essentially a series of plugins that you can install on your computer (Mac or Windows) that offer advanced editing tools to be used either standalone or integrated with your own primary editing software of choice. It is compatible with Lightroom, Photoshop, Affinity Photo, Capture One, or DxO's own PhotoLab 6 RAW editing software and works with the non-destructive workflow of those applications.
The popular suite includes eight separate plug-ins that each have a different purpose, these are: Nik Color Efex, Nik Silver Efex, Nik Analog Efex, Nik Viveza, Nik Dfine, Nik Sharpener, Nik HDR Efex, and Nik Perspective.
Nik Collection 6 offers some pretty impressive new features, including the ability to apply any of your last 15 edits to a new image with a single click. New Control Selectivity sliders have been added to elevate specific areas of your image, and the new Control Lines tool incorporates linear gradient filters into your workflow.
With the new collection, you can now also search for presets within all plugins (excluding Nik Dfine), and rename local adjustments while saving them as part of presets, making it easy to apply quick changes to your gallery. The Nik Perspective plug-in has a new ReShape tool, and the Nik Color Efex has been equipped with a newly added Hue/Saturation/Luminance slider.
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The Nik Dfine preset has been rebuilt from the ground up, in what the company describes as a "Complete visual overhaul" for a refined editing experience. It's also been given an upgraded user interface (along with Nik Sharpener and Nik HDR Efex) and the ability to save denoising profiles and return to them later.
In terms of integration improvements, the Nik Collection 6 will auto-detect the presence of Affinity Photo during software installation. Users of newer Macs will appreciate that it now supports Apple Silicon natively.
Want to try it out? You can take the Nik Collection 6 for a spin with the 30-day free trial of the full unlimited version, with no payment options required to test it out, and it can also be installed and reverted back to an existing version of Nik Collection after testing – now that's confidence! There are also helpful onboarding tutorials included with the trial to show you how to navigate the plugins and user interfaces. Head to the DxO website for details.
• You might also be interested in the best photo editing tools and accessories, and require one of the best computers for photo editing . If Nik has piqued your interest, check our review of the DxO Nik Collection 4 plug-in.
