Nik Collection 7 brings improved masking and selections

DxO has announced the new Nik Collection 7, the latest iteration of its popular photo editing toolset. Having acquired Nik Collection from Google in 2017, the company immediately set about rewriting it. All of it.

Last year, they finally managed it with Nik Collection 6.3. Now we’ve got a new major release with Nik Collection 7, bringing improvements to its masking technology, updates to Nik Color Efex, and the usual performance and workflow improvements.

Nik Collection 7 – A creative suite of plugins

The Nik Collection has been around for a while. It’s passed through several pairs of hands before arriving at DxO. But the company gave it the oil change and engine rebuild it needed. Nik Collection 7 is a collection of seven different Photoshop plugins, each with its unique advantages.

• Nik Color Efex
• Nik Silver Efex
• Nik Analog Efex
• Nik Viveza
• Nik Dfine
• Nik Sharpener
• Nik HDR Efex

There doesn’t seem to be a massive amount of changes on the list for specific apps, but the collection as a whole seems to have seen a bit of a performance and workflow overhaul. It introduces the company’s U Point technology, which they say is a “smarter way” to make local adjustments.

Speed and Workflow improvements across the board

Other features include a new colour picker for more accurate colour selection. Also, improvements to luminosity masks to target specific brightness levels. But it seems that the company has been focusing more on performance.

DxO says that the entire plugin suite benefits from performance and workflow improvements. Opening and reading files is now up to 30% faster. While this might not sound like a lot, when processing a few hundred images, it can add up really quickly.

Users now have the ability to switch between plugins seamlessly. This will save a lot of time in workflows that use multiple Nik Collection plugins. You can also now “Quick Export” straight from the plugin without having to go back to the main Photoshop UI.

Price and Availability

DxO Nik Collection 7 is available to buy now for $159. Users of previous Nik Collection versions can upgrade to Nik Collection 7 for $89. For new users, a free 30-day trial is also available to download.

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