NIK Collection 4 is hitting the virtual streets today with some updated tools and some welcome changes to its GUI.
The popular NIK Collection came back from the dead when DxO rescued it from Google, which was letting it languish. Since then, DxO has actively improved the software suite, and it's being used by a lot of pros and serious amateurs.
The NIK Collection contains more than 250 presets and has some improvements in its unique U Point local adjustment feature, which lets you select parts of an image without masking.
The latest version also offers what are called Meta Presets. These presets are Adobe Photoshop actions that combine the filters and settings of several Nik Collection plugins into one. They make it possible to edit photos by applying a series of presets from several plugins in just one click. Nik Collection 4 comes with a series of 10 Meta Presets. It's a big leap over the earlier versions, and I think is going to be useful to many power users.
NIK Collection 4 also offers some improvements in workflow. The Last Edit function, which lets users re-apply the last preset they used in one of the Nik Collection plugins while using Adobe Photoshop, has been extended to include Adobe Lightroom Classic. In addition, the new Smart Copy and Paste feature lets users selectively re-apply the effect of a plugin to one or several images directly in Adobe Lightroom without having to launch the software suite’s interface.
One of the most useful tools from NIK has been Silver Efex, which is arguably the very best plugin for creating black and white images. Nik Silver Efex now includes ClearView technology, which was first offered in DxO PhotoLab. This technology removes haze and enhances local contrast. The results are impressive: in just one click, users can eliminate haze, all while revealing more natural objects, edges, details, and transitions. 
I gave the NIK Collection a spin on my iMac, and liked what I saw. DxO has reduced the amount of sliders, and there are some powerful tools like the ability to change a color, of say a garment, without changing anything else.
The interface has been cleaned up, and you can get to the tools you want to use more directly.
Nik Collection 4 (Windows and macOS) is now available for download on the DxO website here for a special price of $99.99 instead of $149, and $59.99 instead of $79 for the upgrade until June 30, 2021.
Photographers who already own Nik Collection 3 by DxO or a previous version can upgrade their software by signing into their customer accounts. A fully functional, one-month trial version of Nik Collection 4 is available on the DxO website.
There's also a 30% off coupon available (NIKCOLLECTION4), so the upgrade from Nik 3 to Nik 4 only costs $41.99 instead of $59.99.
Charmed. Thank you.
Crap! Wish I'd known that an hour ago.
Maybe it will make you feel better when I tell you that I used that code to purchase an upgrade. It took a grand total of $3 off the price of the software. Not 30%.
Yes same here. The 30% discount code gave a 3 euro discount..
wow is their website slow. Maybe they are getting slammed for orders, but it sucks how bad it is.
Wow. A new version of Photoshop crashes. Can’t wait!
I was very disappointed with the last upgrade. It was a few presets and a new app for perspective which I’ve never used. All the main apps were identical. Very vague explanations of improvement in this version. Part of the sell is again more presets which are simple for them to add. Upoint has changed but not sure is it a major improvement or not.
On a side note - it hasn’t come up on this site the issue with Photoshop on windows with the latest update where the icons for extensions have turned to a non distinct grey box with no fix date promised. Pretty sloppy update from Adobe.
Here's a follow up. I did the upgrade. They warn you that when you install the new version, your old version is wiped out. Also it doesn't work. You or at least I have to run a filter, such as the Silver Efex filter, and then rerun it by doing a ctrl F. Also the selective tool ALWAYS crashes. I don't know if others are having these problems.
On the plus side, I do enjoy the extra control in Viveza and Silver Efex. Been getting good results.
If you use both of these often, I think the upgrade is an improvement. I got it for $41.99 with the coupon code
NIKCOLLECITON4.
If you use Silver Efex with dynamic filters in Photoshop, do not upgrade for the moment!
Filters created previously with Silver Efex Pro 2 cannot be opened and modified with version 3. Photoshop considers that they are two different filters, and not one being the upgrade of the other. And the upgrade uninstalls version 2.
I bought it and installed it and have had alot of problems with it. My screen is 4K and on installation and opening photoshop the screen is taken over by the Nik Collection. I couldn't get rid of it. Eventually I reduced screen resolution and I could turn it off. Viveza and Silver Efex are not working. It says there is not enough memory when there is. Not sure what can be done about it. So a bit of a failure so far. Some of the apps still have a screen resolution issue.