I'm curious if anybody still uses these? DXO loves emailing me trying to get me to buy it or combine it with PureRAW. I had the full collection pre-Google and then once Google made them free. I liked a lot of functionality of how edits are applied however I feel like a lot of other editing programs have caught up and maybe surpassed Nik's original advantages (U-points, color grading, sharpening, etc). Thoughts?
I'm old school; I still use them (albeit almost exclusively in Photoshop). Nik's Colorefex's pro contrast tool has been worth the price of admission (minus my loyalty/upgrade discounts) for me over the years. That said, Snapseed's tonality tool is awesome for the same purpose; however, it's only available on mobile.
I went from the pre Google and free Google version to Nik collection 8, and will upgrade when 10 comes out. Its a great tool set. Only problem for me is the additional tif it generates, although there is an option to make the changes editable.
Robin Whalley has some very good youtube videos about various nik collection tools.
Here for instance the depth tool in the latest version
a good one about Nik Viveza (in combination with Affinity Photo).
Also check out his videos about silver efex pro and color efex pro like this one
There are also multiple video out about the excellent Photoshop integration for those using Photoshop.
Unfortunately it lacks the real integration in DXOs own Photolab, like Filmpack. C1 requires a roundtrip too. Best integration is into Photoshop.
Dave Kelly has a video for each Color efex pro tool.
I don't use on a regular basis, but every now and then based on photograph. ColorEfex Pro, Silver Efex and Output sharpener are the tools I use more frequently. Viveza, rarely. They have come a long way if you compare with the free versions. As for as PureRAW is concerned, I use DXO Elite and version 5 comes with it and a very good tool. If you have never used any of them, I'd say try them for free first and make your own mind, Honestly, you might enjoy the upgrades.
Only thing that I don't like about DXO is, their shady packaging of features into different tools and force you buy them. In my opinion, some of the features that are there in Nik 9 (depth mapping, color grading for example) should have been there as part of Photo Lab as part of RAW processing. If they can have it in NIk V9, they definitely can have in PL. That is just one example that I say, a shady bundling of features.
guywithgas wrote:
I don't use on a regular basis, but every now and then based on photograph. ColorEfex Pro, Silver Efex and Output sharpener are the tools I use more frequently. Viveza, rarely. They have come a long way if you compare with the free versions. As for as PureRAW is concerned, I use DXO Elite and version 5 comes with it and a very good tool. If you have never used any of them, I'd say try them for free first and make your own mind, Honestly, you might enjoy the upgrades.
Only thing that I don't like about DXO is, their shady packaging of features into different tools and force you buy them. In my opinion, some of the features that are there in Nik 9 (depth mapping, color grading for example) should have been there as part of Photo Lab as part of RAW processing. If they can have it in NIk V9, they definitely can have in PL. That is just one example that I say, a shady bundling of features....Show more →
No argument here - it's clear that the "own it forever" model only works for DXO if they can force you to buy multiple products. PureRAW is the exception.
pete478888 wrote:
I went from the pre Google and free Google version to Nik collection 8, and will upgrade when 10 comes out. Its a great tool set. Only problem for me is the additional tif it generates, although there is an option to make the changes editable.
Robin Whalley has some very good youtube videos about various nik collection tools.
Here for instance the depth tool in the latest version
a good one about Nik Viveza (in combination with Affinity Photo).
Also check out his videos about silver efex pro and color efex pro like this one
There are also multiple video out about the excellent Photoshop integration for those using Photoshop.
Unfortunately it lacks the real integration in DXOs own Photolab, like Filmpack. C1 requires a roundtrip too. Best integration is into Photoshop.
Dave Kelly has a video for each Color efex pro tool.
Thanks - I'll check these out. I think SFX is the most compelling of them all, the rest I feel like are shorcuts or repackaging of adjustments you could make in Photoshop (not that that's a bad thing, it's just a question of value vs time saved).
