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DxO has announced the latest release of its Nik Collection of plug-ins. The Nik Collection 5 includes eight plug-ins that can be used as standalone applications or with a host application, including Adobe Lightroom Classic, Adobe Photoshop and DxO PhotoLab. The new release includes major updates to two plug-ins, Color Efex and Analog Efex. The updated plug-ins include redesigned user interfaces and improved U-Point technology.
For fans of the Nik Collection, the revamp to Color Efex and Analog Efex will look familiar, as Viveza and Silver Efex underwent similar changes last June as part of the Nik Collection 4. The redesigned user interface looks much more modern and offers improved usability. Part of the improved UI is the ability to easily rename and save control points, making them easier to manage. You can also save Control Points as part of a Preset, which you can apply to additional images.
Control points utilize U-Point technology, which allows for highly-localized, customizable editing without creating masks manually – U-Point creates the masks for you. Last year, DxO added Luminance and Chrominance Color Selectivity sliders to Viveza and Silver Efex, which are now incorporated into Color Efex and Analog Efex. These sliders allow the user more control over how control points interact with the color and brightness of pixels within a selected region, allowing for much more – or less – precision.
Color Efex has more than 50 creative filters and 20 image recipes. Each filter has six modes you can use to change visual effects. And, of course, you can adjust the strength of different filters, stack them and use control points for a huge amount of flexibility. In Nik Collection 5, Color Efex incorporates ClearView technology, first introduced in DxO PhotoLab, DxO’s all-in-one photo editing software. Using the ClearView slider, you can easily cut through mist, haze and fog, giving your images more detail and contrast. Color Efex also includes 29 brand-new authentic film grains, which DxO developed using real-world film stocks in its lab.
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Like Color Efex, Analog Efex includes the new UI and improved U-Point technology. The available effects are inspired by more than 160 years of historic photography and let you reimagine your digital photos using looks inspired by classic cameras, lenses and film processes. You can also add different effects to your photos, like burnt edges, scratches, light leaks or grain.
With Nik Collection 5, half of the plug-in suite has been fully modernized, including popular plug-ins like Viveza, Silver Efex and now Color Efex and Analog Efex. The other four plug-ins are Perspective Efex, HDR Efex, Dfine and Sharpener. Perspective Efex now supports more than 20 Fujifilm cameras and 40 lenses, although it retains the older look and feel.
Nik Collection 5 is available now and costs $149 for new users. Owners of Nik Collection 3 or 4 can upgrade for as little as $79. For the first time, Nik Collection 5 also includes DxO PhotoLab 5 (Essential Edition). For more information, visit DxO.
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This article comes from DP Review and can be read on the original site.
