Google makes its $149 Nik Collection photo editing software free to download
Back in 2012, Google purchased German company Nik Software, the firm behind a series of photo editing plug-ins designed for amateur and professional photographers. The acquisition was primarily so Google could get its hands on popular photo app Snapseed, but the company also reduced the cost of Nik's collection of seven plug-ins from $499 to $149. Now, the price has dropped even more, right down to zero.
The collection includes Analog Efex Pro, Color Efex Pro, Silver Efex Pro, Viveza, HDR Efex Pro, Sharpener Pro and Dfine. It's free to download for Windows and Mac, and provides “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,” according to a statement from Google.
“We’re excited to bring the powerful photo editing tools once only used by professionals to even more people now,” said Google.
The company does say in its Google+ post that it is continuing to focus on building photo editing tools like Snapseed and Google Photos for mobile, so there’s a chance that the Nik Collection may stop receiving support and updates now it’s free. You can download Google Nik Collection for free here.