Nik Collection 6.3 – The end of a six-year journey to rewrite Google’s code

It’s a milestone version release of the Nik Collection for DxO software today. They acquired Nik Collection from Google in 2017 and immediately set about making it their own. Six years later, that task has been completed, with every line of code rewritten.

The new Nik Collection 6.3 (buy here) release also brings some great new features, including an improved sharpener, HDR Efex, and searchable presets. It also now adds support for high DPI displays and multiple monitor setups.

Nik Collection 6.3 – Nik Rewritten

Since acquiring the Nik Collection from Google in 2017, DxO has been on a mission to update it to the latest technology and make the code 100% their own. The release of Nik Collection 6.3 marks the completion of that mission.

In October 2017 DxO Labs acquired the Nik Collection from Google. Six years later, the huge task of reauthoring is complete, with every line of code rewritten for the latest technology. The release of Nik Collection 6.3, the suite is fully compatible with Windows, MacOS, and Apple Silicon, it works harmoniously within Adobe Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, Lightroom Classic, DxO PhotoLab, and Affinity Photo, and is faster and more reliable than ever before.

We are hugely proud of this achievement. With this work complete, we can now focus solely on adding exciting new features and technology. Our talented engineers are committed to making Nik Collection the indispensable creative companion to every passionate photographer’s workflow.

Jérôme Ménière, DxO Labs CEO

The completion of the rewrite means that DxO has a mammoth task out of the way. This should let them focus on being able to add completely new features to Nik Collection instead of having to update the old ones to the new spec.

Nik Collection 6.3 – What’s new?

DxO says the latest editions of Nik Sharpener and HDR Efex Pro include a host of updates to make them “more powerful and easier to use”. They have a new interface to match the rest of the Nik Collection plugins, with positional controls for sliders to optimise your workflow.

New features include:

• Control Lines add flexibility when making broad adjustments, letting you harness the power of Control Points
• Control Point diffusion lets you regulate the strength and style of adjustments more easily
• Control Points and Control Lines can now be inverted, giving you huge flexibility
• Color Selectivity sliders allow Control Point and Control Line editing to be tied to specific colors and tones in an image
• Re-namable Local Adjustments let you stay on top of complex edits, and local adjustments can now be saved as Presets, giving you quick access to frequently used sharpening or HDR recipes.

The update also adds new workflow improvements, including:

• Turn your edits into a Smart Object at any stage from within the plugin, giving you fully non-destructive editing in Photoshop
• Call on any of your last 15 Nik Collection edits and apply them with a single click
• Presets can now be searched for by name, so you can instantly find your favorite edits
• Hi DPI & Multiscreen support lets you work with all screen configurations
• Affinity Photo is now automatically detected as part of installation.

1,574 new DxO Optics Modules

The new Nik Collection 6.3 release also brings with it some new Optics Modules. 1,574 of them to be precise. These new optics modules cover the recently released Canon EOS R100 (buy here) and Sony ZV-1 II (buy here).

It also adds a lot of new lenses to the list:

• Leica APO Vario-Elmarit-SL 90-280mm F2.8-4 (L-mount)
• Leica Vario-Elmar-SL 100-400mm F5-6.3 (L-mount)
• Nikkor Z 400mm F4.5 VR S
• Nikkor Z 400mm F4.5 VR S with Z TC 1.4x
• Nikkor Z 400mm F4.5 VR S with Z TC 2x
• Nikkor Z DX 24mm F1.7
• Panasonic Leica DG Vario-Elmarit 12-35mm F2.8 ASPH (Micro Four Thirds)
• HD Pentax-FA 50mm F1.4
• Pentax smc FA 50mm F1.4 Classic
• HD Pentax-FA 35mm F2
• Sigma 16-28mm F2.8 DG DN | C (L-mount)
• Sigma 24mm F3.5 DG DN | C (Sony FE)
• Sigma 50mm F1.4 DG DN | A (Sony FE)
• Sigma 50mm F2 DG DN | C (Sony FE)
• Sigma 90mm F2.8 DG DN (Sony FE)
• Sigma 23mm F1.4 DC DN | C (Sony FE)
• Sigma 16mm F1.4 DC DN C (Nikon Z DX)
• Sigma 30mm F1.4 DC DN C (Nikon Z DX)
• Sigma 56mm F1.4 DC DN C (Nikon Z DX)
• Sony FE 50mm F1.4 GM
• Viltrox 13mm F1.4 (Nikon Z DX)
• Viltrox 13mm F1.4 (Sony FE)
• Viltrox 13mm F1.4 XF (Fujifilm X)
• Viltrox 20mm F1.8 Z (Nikon Z DX)
• Viltrox 35mm F1.8 FE (Sony FE)
• Viltrox 35mm F1.8 Z (Nikon Z)
• Viltrox 50mm F1.8 Z (Nikon Z DX)
• Viltrox AF 24mm F1.8 Z (Nikon Z DX)
• Voigtländer APO-Lanthar 35mm F2 Asph (Nikon Z DX)
• Voigtländer APO-Lanthar 50mm F2 (Nikon Z DX)
• Voigtländer Nokton 23mm F1.2 X (Fujifilm X)
• Voigtländer APO-Lanthar 50mm F2 Asph (Sony E)
• Voigtländer Nokton D23mm F1.2 Asph (Nikon Z DX)

This brings the total number of DxO optics modules up to over 86,000. So, you can be sure they’ve probably got your camera and lens combo in there somewhere!

Price and Availability

The Nik Collection 6 is available to buy now for $149. Owners of Nik Collection 4 or 5 can upgrade to Nik Collection 6 for the price of $79. Existing Nik 4 and 5 owners should log into their DxO account and do the upgrade from there.

Nik Collection 6 does not require a subscription and can be installed on up to three computers.