As regular readers will know, we are big fans of the Nik Collection from DxO here at AP – it offers a wide range of very useful editing plug ins for Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom and DxO PhotoLab. Our favourites include Silver Efex Pro for black and white editing, Analog Efex Pro for old-school film effects and Perspective Efex Pro, which is one of the best tools around for correcting perspective and converging verticals. As well as plug-ins, you can use the tools in the Nik Collection as stand-alone applications.

It is hard to believe that the software has been around for 25 years, and to mark its silver jubilee, DxO has released its latest 3.3 version. This version includes a pack of 25 new Presets for Color Efex Pro and Silver Efex Pro. They are are divided into five series, each with five Presets: “Classic Portrait Color,” “Classic Portrait Black & White,” “Light & Bright,” “Wildlife,” and “Street.”

Nik Software originally launched the Nik Collection, then it was acquired by Google and offered as a free download. While free, it was never a good fit for the search engine goliath and it languished, until DxO brought it under its wing, issuing a slew of welcome updates over the last couple of years.

This update is also compatible with MacOS Big Sur and the 2021 versions of Adobe’s host applications. “The new presets showcase five photography genres, specifically colour portraiture, black-and-white portraits, landscape photography, wildlife photography, and street photography,” said a spokesperson. “These are the five most popular genres among expert and amateur photographers alike. Color Efex Pro, which already includes a number of creative colour Presets and recipes, and Silver Efex Pro, which continues to set the standard for black-and-white conversion, are the two Nik Collection plugins photographers turn to the most.”

Version 3.3 of the Nik Collection is a free update for existing Nik Collection 3 users who bought it after it launched back in June. Owners of Nik Collection 2 or earlier DxO versions can upgrade for £69 via their user accounts. For customers new to Nik, the full price is £125. Full details and a free trial here.

Further reading
Get the most from Nik Collection 3