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Nik Collection by DxO

Eight editing plugins covering black and white conversion, film emulation, sharpening, noise reduction, and local contrast, with the control point masking that made the set famous.

Version 9.1.0 1.68 GB Windows 10 / 11 (64-bit) Updated 5 days ago

Overview

What this release is

The Nik plugins have survived three owners and two decades because of one idea. Control points let you place a marker on an image, set a radius, and have an adjustment apply only to the tones and colours similar to what sits under that marker. No mask is drawn, no selection is made, and the edge handling is better than a hand painted mask would be on anything organic.

Silver Efex is the reason many photographers install the set at all. Black and white conversion with proper film emulations, grain that behaves like actual grain rather than digital noise, and the toning and border options that finish a print. It remains the strongest tool of its kind by a clear margin.

The rest of the set covers the technical work. Dfine for noise reduction, Sharpener for capture and output sharpening, Viveza for local tone and colour, Color Efex for the large filter library, Analog Efex for older camera and lens looks, HDR Efex for tone mapping, and Perspective Efex for geometric correction.

Everything installs for Photoshop and Lightroom, and each plugin also runs standalone. Adjustments are non destructive when launched through a smart object, and the recipe system saves a full stack of filters to reapply across a set of images.

Feature set

What you get

Control points

Place a marker and adjust only the tones and colours similar to what sits beneath it, with no mask drawing.

Silver Efex

Black and white conversion with film emulations, believable grain, and full toning and border options.

Color Efex

A large filter library covering colour, contrast, and light effects that stack in any order.

Sharpener and Dfine

Capture and output sharpening alongside noise reduction tuned per image rather than by preset.

Perspective Efex

Geometric correction for converging lines, distortion, and volume deformation at wide angles.

Recipes

Save a full stack of adjustments and apply it across an entire set of images.

Changes in this build

What changed

Rebuilt interface across the whole set with consistent panel behaviour
Faster rendering on high resolution files, particularly in Color Efex
New film emulation presets added to Silver Efex
Improved smart object round tripping from Photoshop
Fixed the plugin registration that failed on installations upgraded in place

Installation

How to install it

Close Photoshop and Lightroom before installing.
Extract the archive to a short path with real time protection disabled.
Run setup as administrator and tick the hosts to register the plugins with.
Apply the included licensing step before opening a host application.
Open a host and confirm the plugins appear under the filter menu and in the export options.

Hardware

System requirements

Processor	Intel or AMD, 64-bit, 2 GHz or faster
Memory	8 GB minimum, 16 GB recommended
Graphics	2 GB VRAM with DirectX 12
Storage	4 GB free space
Display	1920 x 1080, calibrated panel recommended
System	Windows 10 version 22H2 or Windows 11

Package

Release information

Title	Nik Collection by DxO
Version	9.1.0
Developer	DxO Labs
Category	Photo Editing
Platform	Windows 10 / 11 (64-bit)
Package size	1.68 GB
Interface languages	Multilingual (6 interface languages)
Release identifier	BS-09010001
Listed	4 years ago
Last rebuilt	5 days ago
Total downloads	212,435

Questions

Before you start

Can the plugins run without a host?

Yes. Each one also runs as a standalone application from the start menu.

Are edits non destructive?

Through a smart object in Photoshop, yes. Applied directly to a layer, they are baked in.

Do recipes from older versions load?

Most do. A few filters were reworked and their settings may need adjusting after import.

Why do the plugins not appear in Lightroom?

Lightroom was not ticked during setup. Run the installer again and select it.