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Google is giving away Nik Software’s entire desktop collection away for free

by 35 Comments

Screen Shot 2016-03-24 at 2.19.12 PM

Nik Software, now owned by Google, has announced today that their entire Nik Collection is available for free, to everyone.

Citing their goals to focus on long-term investments in their photo editing tools for mobile devices, Nik says the desktop versions of their plugins, which range from sharpening tools to analogue filter applications, will be available without cost to photographers around the world.

This, of course, is a move that’s easily subsidized by Google’s acquisition of Nik Software, meaning profits from their desktop programs aren’t of much interest to Google.

Starting March 24, 2016 the entire Nik Collection will be free to download. This includes Analog Efex Pro, Color Efex Pro, Silver Efex Pro, Viveza, HDR Efex Pro, Sharpener Pro and Dfine.

For those who have purchased the collection in 2016, Nik says you will receive a refund, which will be issued back in the ‘coming days’.

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  • Quite literally bought this 5 months ago, annoying.

    • You can get your money back..

    • 12/21/2015 was my purchase date. I emailed the asking to be grandfathered in for the refund, so we’ll see.

    • Wow, great customer service. I sent them an email explaining and they’ve already confirmed I’ll be getting a refund.

    • Flodder

      start crying kiddo.

      what should they have done instead to make YOU happy?

      refund everything since google took over?

      make it not free?

      are you braindead, totally egocentric or just envious?

      • Jason Lingle

        Says someone that probably never paid, and if you did, it was your Dad’s money. Want to be mean? Here’s a gesture for you, eat turds.

    • Frank Nazario

      You will be refunded the money bro… chill.

      • Jason Lingle

        No he won’t. Only those that paid in 2016.

  • phenomenal!

  • Nothing’s really for free, perhaps google has an idea with the end-user’s conditions

    • Frank Nazario

      nope .. this is totally free… they purchased it thinking that they profit marging and sales would be there… once they discovered they where not instead of killing the project they presented it to their userbase to download… great gesture from Google.

      • Jason Lingle

        What, great gesture? My butt still hurts from paying them $160 in December. Too bad it was a week before January, then they would have cared that I wasted my money.

  • Great program,used it for years ! Love the Silver effex

  • pandacongolais

    How could they write this :

    “Some of our Services allow you to upload, submit, store, send or
    receive content. You retain ownership of any intellectual property
    rights that you hold in that content. In short, what belongs to you
    stays yours.”

    and this :

    “When you upload, submit, store, send or receive content to or
    through our Services, you give Google (and those we work with) a
    worldwide license to use, host, store, reproduce, modify, create
    derivative works (such as those resulting from translations, adaptations
    or other changes we make so that your content works better with our
    Services), communicate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and
    distribute such content. The rights you grant in this license are for
    the limited purpose of operating, promoting, and improving our Services,
    and to develop new ones. This license continues even if you stop using
    our Services …”

    in the same paragraph ?

    If I buy a saw in a store, can they write that anything I cut with it stays mine, but that they can come home, take it for their own purpose ?

    • Keith

      SOME SERVICES… is NIK a service?
      Is it really so hard to use your brain?

      When you don´t want Google to use your work … don´t upload to their Online Services.
      Has nothing to do with the NIK Plugins.

  • great gesture by Google…wonder what is in it for them?

    • Frank Nazario

      to use their services, Google+, Photos, Drive… etc etc they are integrating everything that you need for them to become a one stop solution to anything web.

    • Jason Lingle

      To laugh at all the people that actually trusted in them and purchased it from them. Google has a cynical view and loves to take advantage of people I suppose?

  • Carl

    I am confused. I thought Google had been distributing the Nik collection for free shortly after they acquired the collection.

    • Frank Nazario

      They did… I had that version … this one has a TON of bug fixes.

  • Carl

    Also, has Google ever updated this software?

    • Flodder

      bugfixes mostly.. but yes they have

  • if its free why do you need to pay first and hope for refund

    • Flodder

      you are not the brightest bulb are you?

      • Lancaster

        Go flog your flodder.

    • Katherine Mann

      Glenn, the software is free as of March 24, 2016. If you purchased the suite for $150 in 2016 they will refund your money automatically. You don’t have to pay first and hope for a refund. I think it’s pretty clear. Got it now?

  • Mark Niebauer

    Wow! SMoking deal!

    • Keith

      NIK is one of the most praised tools.

      Tonalcontrast and the Detail Enhancer alone are worth the money.

      Viveza has won many awards.

      Silver Efex is used by some of the most famous digital B&W Photographers.

      The sharpening tool runs circles around Lightrooms “crissel” sharpening.

      Elia Locardi and other PRO Photographer hate Lightrooms sharpening so much they never use it.

  • Frank Nazario

    This is amazing!!!! LOVE this! My photography software toolbox is now complete! Thanks Google and Nik !!!!!!

    • bharath

      How to use this software?

      • Frank Nazario

        It is very intuitive Nik did an amazing job at user experience. You will figure it out in a matte of minutes… but if you do not there are PLENTY of YouTube videos from users that will go from basic to advanced techniques…. yes!

      • Frank Nazario

        you tube it… there are a ton of video tutorials of how to maximize the use of it… 🙂

  • From what i have heard after being bought out by Google the NIK plugins will possibly no longer be updated …Great set of plugins and they are 64bit so they should be very useful for a loooong time

  • In originally paid $500.00 for the collection right before Google bought it. Amazing. Love NIC HDR pro.

  • Katielee4211

    That’s great. Once I get a new computer…

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