Jump to content

Upgrade to Nik Collection 3?


Recommended Posts

Advertisement (gone after registration)

DxO just presented a new version of its Nik Collection. I am using Nik Collection in a version from 2016 (when it still was a Google company). Obviously there no upgrade offer from this version (I think it was free then). Thus, I had to pay the full price.

Anyone there who tested already if it is worth to upgrade? (I am using almost exclusively Silver Efex and sometimes Color Efex.)

Link to post
Share on other sites

For standalone use and use with DXO Photolab there seems to be no change. Seems to be more changes around the plugin in Lightroom and Photoshop and the option to work non destructive from these host applications.

Additionally they embedded DXO Viewpoint functionality into DXO NIK Collection.

I already use Photolab + DXO NIK Collection 2 + DXO Viewpoint and for that combination I see no valid reason to upgrade.

 

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

This might be something to consider withDOX V3:

quote from a review 

“The upshot is a world first – a non destructive plug-in filter workflow from within Lightroom. The multipage TIFF format does produce quite large files, but it does allow re-editing within the Nik plug-ins, something never before possible.

In fact, this will work with any photo editor, including Photoshop, and including programs which can launch external editors, such as Capture One, since the Nik plug-ins can also operate as standalone programs.”

Working with raw files nondestructively is a plus to me.

It is still less expensive than the original suite with the 30% offer on the table right now. Plus there is a try & buy trail offer right now. DOX v2 introduces film sims in SEP that the original NIK and free google versions didn’t have at the that time. I’d say DOX is trying to make their version still worth while as a plug-in. 

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

vor 59 Minuten schrieb ru2far2c:

This might be something to consider withDOX V3:

quote from a review 

“The upshot is a world first – a non destructive plug-in filter workflow from within Lightroom. The multipage TIFF format does produce quite large files, but it does allow re-editing within the Nik plug-ins, something never before possible.

In fact, this will work with any photo editor, including Photoshop, and including programs which can launch external editors, such as Capture One, since the Nik plug-ins can also operate as standalone programs.”

Working with raw files nondestructively is a plus to me.

It is still less expensive than the original suite with the 30% offer on the table right now. Plus there is a try & buy trail offer right now. DOX v2 introduces film sims in SEP that the original NIK and free google versions didn’t have at the that time. I’d say DOX is trying to make their version still worth while as a plug-in. 

I'm not sure if this will work with other programs than Lightroom/Photoshop. If it worked then DXO would advertise it accordingly.

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, tom.w.bn said:

If it worked then DXO would advertise it accordingly.

I use DOX v2 SEP with C1 v20 with out issue as a plug-in. Will download the trial and report back to you.

Would be my guess that they gear their advertising toward  LR and PS because they have a larger base of users there would be my guess. I do know that not all the plug-ins in version 2 will work as a standalone. There're not a great deal of plug-in's on the market for C1 unlike PS and LR where are tons.

Link to post
Share on other sites

vor 33 Minuten schrieb ru2far2c:

I use DOX v2 SEP with C1 v20 with out issue as a plug-in. Will download the trial and report back to you.

Would be my guess that they gear their advertising toward  LR and PS because they have a larger base of users there would be my guess. I do know that not all the plug-ins in version 2 will work as a standalone. There're not a great deal of plug-in's on the market for C1 unlike PS and LR where are tons.

No one said, that it does not work together 🙂 But C1 + SEP is not non-destructive. When you work on an image in C1 and then go to SEP, the result is baked in a TIF File. You can only apply more changes to the TIF File but you can't revert changes you did before.  When I understand it right then with LR + SEP 3 you can undo changes later.

Link to post
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, tom.w.bn said:

When I understand it right then with LR + SEP 3 you can undo changes later.

That is the way it reads on their site using a TIFF. If you're using LR then you are able to make changes but it is a TIFF as I read it on their website. They do not mention working as a standalone that I could find.

So working within C1 will be as before you'd be exporting a TIFF round tripping to DXO plugin and back to C1.Not really a big deal for me.

So this begs the question what are the real improvement in DXO3 from DXO2 for non Adobe users in the end if any?

Link to post
Share on other sites

Silver Efex Pro 2 seems the same as before. 

Got this message at start up as a standalone:

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

When saving my image it SEP crashed. So far it is very buggy IMO.

Not sure about keeping DXO 3 since DXO 2 works just fine as a plugin and standalone.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I haven't had any crashes nor did I notice anything 'buggy'.
If you encounter issues like crashes, I'd suggest you contact support.

Good to know is that the non destructive workflow using Tiff documents also works with stand alone and from within PhotoLab.

 

Link to post
Share on other sites

Guest Nowhereman

You need to provide more information on the operating system version you're running the SEP2 under. On Mac OS X/Mojave, I've tried the Nik Collection 3 Silver Efex as a plugin in Lightroom 9.2.1, DxO Photolab 3 and as a standalone. I find the Nik Collection solid and haven't seen anything that be considered buggy. Also, I think it's a useful upgrade for  Silver Efex, if you want to be able to work successively on a file by applying SEP adjustments that you later want to adjust further.

For an M10 file it creates a 280 MB file that contains a file with two TIFFs, one with the original file and the other with the adjustments. Once you're satisfied that you have what you want in Silver Efex you can uncheck the Save and edit later option, and the saved files becomes a single TIFF that is 140 MB. I think the this new facility is particularly useful when you want to make your own custom Silver Efex presets, in that they can save you time in perfecting the presets, since you don't lose the adjustments when you save the file.

In general, some people like to use Silver Efex on input files that have some uniformity, usually low contrast — the way it's often useful in making negatives for darkroom prints: you can first create a low contrast Lightroom preset that you apply to files for processing in Silver Efex and applying your custom SEP presets.
____________________
Frog Leaping photobook

Link to post
Share on other sites

18 hours ago, Nowhereman said:

You need to provide more information on the operating system version

Thanks for input and here you go.

Mac OS Mojave 10.14.6 MacBool Pro 2015 16GB ram

Uninstalled  DXO 3 NIK trail and reinstalled it. Uninstalled DXO 2 NIK. Now it seems to working as it should. Using it as plugin with Capture One and a stand alone. My understanding coming from v2 not all these will work as standalone apps.

Yes, the TIFF file are in the 250MB range per image. The big difference between v2 and v3 is the ability to save and reopen a file to rework which is a time saver in some cases. Other for now I do not see any difference between v2 and v3 with SEP. My preset work just fine in V3. Have not tried the plugins as of yet. 

My interest is SEP, Dfine and both Sharpeners.

Link to post
Share on other sites

"The big difference between v2 and v3 is the ability to save and reopen a file to rework . . ."  I am not understanding what the new capability is.  (I use SEP2 as a plup-in to Photoshop; I don't use SEP2 as a stand-alone.)  In SEP2 you could go to settings, go to "after clicking OK", and select "apply filtered effect to a separate layer".  The layer then can be opened again in Silver Efex.  When you reopen a file in SEP3 to rework it, does a different set of adjustment options appear to help refine that layer from the point that OK was selected?  

Link to post
Share on other sites

Guest Nowhereman

The point is that this was not possible with Nik v2 in Lightroom. Of course, it was possible to reopen a file in SEP under Lightroom and make further adjustments, but the adjustments that had been made were baked into the file. Now all the settings applied are shown, when using this facility.

Indeed, in Photoshop,  it was possible to reopen a file that showed earlier SEP adjustments if one had opened the file as a smart object. I haven't looked into what is new in Nik 3 for Photoshop.
____________________
Frog Leaping photobook

Edited by Nowhereman
Link to post
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Nowhereman said:

The point is that this was not possible with Nik v2 in Lightroom. Of course, it was possible to reopen a file in SEP under Lightroom and make further adjustments, but the adjustments that had been made were baked into the file. Now all the settings applied are shown, when using this facility.

Indeed, in Photoshop,  it was possible to reopen a file that showed earlier SEP adjustments if one had opened the file as a smart object. I haven't looked into what is new in Nik 3 for Photoshop.
____________________
Frog Leaping photobook

Look for "Selective tool". Much enhanced in v3.

 

17 hours ago, ru2far2c said:

My understanding coming from v2 not all these will work as standalone apps.

This should now be possible for all the apps from the Nik suite.

  • Thanks 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...