One of the sadder developments for serious photographers was the purchase of Nik Software by Google. It was done so that Google could leverage Nik’s Snapseed technology into its Photo offering. However, the excellent Nik tools were orphaned in the process. Now that has finally changed. DxO Labs, makers of OpticsPro, FilmPack, and ViewPoint, has acquired the entire Nik Collection. This will result in at least three pieces of good news for Nik fans:

PhotoLab and the Future of the Nik Collection

First, the Nik Collection is now available for download from DxO.

Second, U-Points have found new life as Control Points in DxO’s new PhotoLab image editor. Building on the previous 11 versions of DxO OpticsPro, PhotoLab is an updated, enhanced, and renamed version. The biggest new feature is Local Adjustments, which can be created using Control Points, Auto Masks, Brushing, or Gradients. They allow a full complement of tweaks to be made to specific regions in an image. You can download a trial version of PhotoLab 1.0 directly from DxO. Its regular price will be $129 for the Standard version, and $199 for the Elite version (that includes PRIME noise reduction and some other important features), but there are upgrade prices and introductory special pricing ($99 and $149) that will cut that down when you’re ready to buy. Upgrades start at $69.

Third, DxO will be updating the Nik Collection in 2018. They’re starting to gather input from photographers on which features and fixes they most want to see. You can register to be notified about the specifics.

I had a lot of fun demoing the new PhotoLab 1.0 at Photo Plus Expo. The Local Adjustments worked great, and the rewritten Len Sharpness feature provided even more detail than previous versions.