Google Nik Collection For Photo Editing Goes Free To Download

If you are a serious photography fan, you might have heard of the Google Nik collection. The Nik Collection is made up of seven desktop plug-ins that have a range of photo editing capabilities. The collection includes Analog Efex Pro, Color Efex Pro, Silver Efex Pro, Viveza, HDR Efex Pro, Sharpener Pro and Dfine.

Those applications allow photographers to edit their photos and include filter applications for improving color correction, the ability to retouch photos, and the ability to add creative effects to photos. The tools also allow the user to sharpen images and adjust color and tonality of images after they are taken. The only people who are upset about this software suite going free are those that paid for it.

Google says that it will be refunding the purchase price for everyone who has purchased the Nik Collection in 2016. If you purchased the collection in 2015 or before, you are out of luck. Some commenters on Google's announcement have stated that they paid $250 for the suite previously. Those refunds will land in the coming days according to Google.

Other complaints about the Google announcement focus on the lack of updates for the software. Google hasn't said if the Nik Collection will be updated with new features or support. Some fear that Google making the Nik Collection free is a sign that it plans to abandon the software and updates may never be added. If you did purchase the software in 2016, you don't have to do anything to get your refund, it will be automatically issued. Exactly how refunds are issued Google doesn't say, presumably as refunds to the credit cards used for the purchase.

SOURCE: Google