Downloads: Download of the day: Google Nik Collection

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Download of the day: Google Nik Collection

Google Nik Collection is a set of seven stunning, fully customizable filters to make your photos look amazing. The toolkit – which originally retailed for US$500 (about £390, AU$650) – is available to download completely free, and can be used as Photoshop plugins or individual apps.

Note that Google Nik Collection won't appear in your Programs list once it's installed. Instead you'll need to open Windows Explorer and navigate to C:\Program FilesGoogleNik Collection. Once you're there, all the filters are easy to use, and you can create your own desktop shortcuts for quick access in the future.

Why you need it

Google Nik Collection's filters give incredible results, and are far superior to the options you'll find in other free photo editing software. The apps support batch processing, and as well as dozens of great-looking presets, each one includes a set of sliders that let you fine-tune colours, contrast, noise, vignette effects and much more.

The collection includes:

• Analog Efex Pro, which recreates vintage film effects
• Color Efex Pro, for enhancing the colours in your pictures
• Dfine, for reducing image noise
• HDR Efex, which combines multiple exposures to create high dynamic range images
• Sharpener Pro, which sharpens photos for realistic or artistic effects
• Silver Efex Pro, for creating sublime black-and-white conversions
• Viveza, which lets you adjust individual colors in an image using a system of 'control points'

With all these powerful tools at your disposal it's easy to make ordinary photos look great, and good photos look stunning.

Key features

• Seven premium photo filters
• Can be used as Photoshop plugins or standalone apps
• Fully customizable effects
• Support for custom profiles

Works on

Windows Vista, 7, 8.1, 10

Price

Free