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Google Nik Tools now Free!

mikeodial

By mikeodial
in Digital Forum

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plasticman

plasticman

Posted
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It's almost exactly three years ago that Google made the suite of applications a free upgrade for existing registered users. Everyone else was pretty overjoyed but I cynically thought that Google had abandoned development of the products, as I wrote in the discussion about it at the time.

Since then, they've done nothing further with the collection of tools, and making it totally free for everyone is pretty obviously the final sign of abandonware. I'm hoping they keep the software compatible with future versions of my OS and Photoshop, but I'm not expecting anything more positive to come out of this.

 

Not sure when people began thinking free software was a good and sustainable business model for ongoing development?

 

PS: just read the actual announcement - it is abandoned 

 

"As we continue to focus our long-term investments in building incredible photo editing tools for mobile, including Google Photos and Snapseed, we’ve decided to make the Nik Collection desktop suite available for free, so that now anyone can use it."

 

Sad news. I really like Viveza - I'm hoping it continues to work for as long as possible in the future.

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pop

pop

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Not sure when people began thinking free software was a good and sustainable business model for ongoing development?

There are several brands of Linux, virtual machine environments, the GIMP, LibreOffice, mySQL and so on which I find hugely useful and for which there is much development work going on. Android comes to mind, too.

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plasticman

plasticman

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There are several brands of Linux, virtual machine environments, the GIMP, LibreOffice, mySQL and so on which I find hugely useful and for which there is much development work going on. Android comes to mind, too.

 

But those are Open Source projects. This is software that Google owns and has decided to abandon. I think there are quite a few users of Silver Efex on the forum, and I personally use Viveza as an integral part of my post-processing. I just can't believe that people see "free" and are totally blindsided by the fact it means that those apps are effectively terminated.

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plasticman

plasticman

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Advertisement (gone after registration)

Oh well, not many people seem to be bothered. I wrote my own ineffectual little mail to Google about it. Seeing as they've abandoned software and services with far, far larger user-bases in the past without blinking, I don't think it'll make any difference. But if you use Silver Efex or one of the other apps, then maybe it might be worth adding your voice. Here's my mail anyway:

 

"The Nik Suite of applications is an integral part of very many photographer's workflow - both pros and amateurs. The announcement today is a pretty obvious signal that the applications are abandoned. At the very least, please continue to develop them to the extent that they can continue to be used for the long-term future, and remain compatible with host application upgrades and new Operating Systems.
This is yet another very sad example in the lengthening list of Google abandonware, and gains the company no real fans in the long-term."

 

I'm not holding my breath.

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ECohen

ECohen

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I too love Viveza  and SilverEfex pro has been my starting point for 5 years now.......5 years is a long time is digital photography

 

Times are always changing and I'll change with them....whatever the big picture.

 

I've always hoped there would be some competition for Photoshop .....something more intuitive.

...after 20 years I know where  the buttons I need are.....I've always disliked when tools are hidden in layers of menus.....thats why I like Leica.....nothing hidden

 

 

My workflow  is sound but adaptable so  whatever happens...... I'll adapt

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terrycym

terrycym

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I used it some years ago.

Whilst the functionality was ok, I was frustrated by the poor stability.

I found it crashed frequently taking down Photoshop and any unsaved edits with it.

I moved to DxO which is very stable.

I installed the latest version this morning and it crashed on me twice in 1/4 hour.

Ah well.

I guess you get what you pay for.

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plasticman

plasticman

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I used it some years ago.

Whilst the functionality was ok, I was frustrated by the poor stability.

I found it crashed frequently taking down Photoshop and any unsaved edits with it.

I moved to DxO which is very stable.

I installed the latest version this morning and it crashed on me twice in 1/4 hour.

Ah well.

I guess you get what you pay for.

 

Used it for maybe 4 or 5 years. I can honestly say I've never once, not ever experienced a single crash. I've used the suite as standalone applications, as filters within Photoshop and Photoline, and not ever - not one single time - had any single one of these apps crash on me. Not ever. 

 

But you see, YOU are exactly the target audience Google was aiming for when they give away these apps for free. Some random person who downloads them, tries them out on what I can only assume is some underpowered computer, and says 'yeah what do you expect when you get something free - they're rubbish'. 

 

Makes it it so much easier to throw them all in the trash.

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pop

pop

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But you see, YOU are exactly the target audience Google was aiming for when they give away these apps for free. Some random person who downloads them, tries them out on what I can only assume is some underpowered computer, and says 'yeah what do you expect when you get something free - they're rubbish'. 

Please, do stop the ad hominem arguments. Like the software and the offering or don't, but leave other members alone.

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terrycym

terrycym

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I have an 8 core Win 10 pc with 16gb of ram. I have a 1tb ssd.

I tried the hdr plug in and it took down Photoshop, trying again worked

I tried the noise plugin and that worked but when I tried to change some of the settings specifically, language, it bombed again

just reporting what I saw

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ECohen

ECohen

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Ahhhh sounds like computer hiccups 

 

For me Nik works like a charm and I use it daily. It's the lazy way to get more out of Photoshop. 

I also have "Perfect Photo 9" and "Topaz" ( which both crash occasionally).......Both of those are good for some things.... but  mostly for just messing around....When you don't care where you go.

Neither "Perfect Photo 9" or "Topaz"were worth the money as a tool. But even at  its original offering of $500. Nik's software was a good value  at $150 it was a steal.

 

When it stops working I go back to getting similar effects in Photoshop....saving them as Acton's for future use ......I love Actions.

 

I wonder what Leica will bundle with it's MM to up the value? .....What good is bundling SilverEfectsPro now that its free :)

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plasticman

plasticman

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Please, do stop the ad hominem arguments. Like the software and the offering or don't, but leave other members alone.

 

Come on, this hardly qualifies as an 'ad hominem'. I obviously meant this in generic terms - the other post was exactly the sort of thing that Google is aiming for: someone who downloads the free apps then writes disparagingly about them.
 
Together with the high-fives of those for whom the free apps work well - it's a win-win for Google.
 

 

And no-one really cares when the apps get closed down in a year's time: easy come, easy go.
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ECohen

ECohen

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IMO the only part of pp9 worth having is perfect resize

I always prefered DXO  film pack to the Nik version.

my computer works fine everywhere else.

Funny the habits we get into. I resize in Photoshop so I never looked to anything else.....I'll have to give pp9.'s resize a whorl

 

I've been on the fence with DXO having enough ........what so you call software GAS?

 

I also dont get VSCO I have a couple that I never use. I dont like them because being raised on film I know what all these emulsions looked and felt like .

VSCO doesn't do anything but ruin great RAW shots ......For me Silver Effects gives me the tools to make the B&W looks I desire. As for color ...I tweak in photoshop because none of the " fillm " plug ins do it for me .

 

I remain hopeful ....as I said, I like plugins. When I was working professionally I never used them, too many variables.

 

Are there any products out there that really look like film ? ....in color.

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