"First they buy it...then they dump it!" - Google abandons Nik Software

First they buy it, then they make it free, then they dump it!

Back in 2012, Google acquired Nik Software (established 1995), the company behind an impressive and powerful array of Photoshop plug-ins – to bring the very popular photo editing app, Snapseed, into the fold, which at the time was seen as a competitor to Instgram. Over the years, these have become the mainstay of many a professional photographer, to not only speed up their workflow, but also apply a range of post-production effects from B&W conversions, sharpening, image enhancement, and a myriad of filters.

In 2016, Google made a decision that both delighted and surprised the market when they made the entire collection free. Yes, free! Over the last few years, the price dropped from US$500 to US$150 to nothing. Many were curious about the motivation, but nonetheless countless photographer repeated the benefit. The party, however, is now over. Google let slip that they will no longer be updating the Collection or adding new features via a banner on the Collection's website.

Seven applications are included in the Collection, and at the price, they're a bargain! They are: Analog Efex Pro, Color Efex Pro, Silver Efex Pro, Viveza, HDR Efex Pro, Sharpener Pro and Dfine. Currently they are compatible with Mac OS X 10.7 through 10.10, Windows Vista, 7 & 8, Adobe Photoshop CS4 through CC2015 and Lightroom 3 through 6/CC. Users have also reported that the Collection also works on Windows 10.

So, what does all this mean? Well, you'll be fine with the Collection for the time-being, but you could well run into trouble and unexpected issue when you upgrade either your operating system or Photoshop. One way to keep the Collection alive is if Google decides to make the code open source, but only time will tell.