30 YEARS
OF INNOVATION
& CREATIVITY
PRODUCT MANAGER
JOSH HAFTEL / NIK SOFTWARE
THE BEGINNING
“Silver Efex Pro was our love letter to one of the most unique forms of photographic expression”
"When I first joined, digital photography was still in its infancy. Most digital photographs were scans of film, and most photographers we tried to sell our product to were not interested in post-production. Over time, as digital photography advanced, people warmed to the idea of post-processing. The plugin landscape for digital photography blossomed, and photographers had an amazing range of different tools that they could add to their toolkit.
Back then, most photographers were using the Magic Wand tool in Photoshop to make selections, and the result was very artificial-looking edits. We envisioned a way to make selections more naturally, and U Point technology was born. At the time, many plugins were cheesy and gimmicky, and Silver Efex Pro was our love letter to one of the most unique forms of photographic expression — black-and-white photography."
INITIAL STEPS
1995
The earliest software created by the team originally behind Nik Collection was Nils Efex! and Nils Type Efex!, and included textures for Photoshop that reproduced the effect of physical filters placed in front of the camera.
1995
THE FIRST PLUGINS
1999
Between 1999 and 2002, three new programs were added and the Collection started to take shape. Nik Color Efex Pro! gave photographers unique control over color; Nik Sharpener Pro! was the first solution dedicated to controlling sharpness; and Nik Dfine rewrote the book on noise reduction.
1999
U POINT TECHNOLOGY
2004
In 2004, Nik Color Efex Pro 2.0 became compatible with Nikon Capture 4. This marked the beginning of the collaboration between Nik and Nikon, and led to the development of U Point™ technology. By creating the first system capable of performing local retouching with control points placed directly in the image, it was a revolution for image processing.
2004
SILVER EFEX PRO
2008
In 2008, two new plugins were added to the suite. Josh Haftel, Product Manager at Nik Software at the time, explains: “Silver Efex Pro was our love letter to one of the most unique forms of photographic expression, black-and-white photography.”
The other addition was Nik Viveza, a powerful tool for making quick changes to tone and color, both globally and locally.
2008
ENGINEERING DIRECTOR
ARAVIND KRISHNASWAMY / GOOGLE
THE GOOGLE ERA
“It has been fantastic to see the evolution and investment in the Nik Collection”
"Over the last several years, making U Point even better for local adjustments, the modernization of the UI, unifying the user interface across all the plugins, and the improvements to boost performance.
These advancements demonstrate DxO’s commitment to continuing the Nik Collection legacy in providing photographers with a powerful and efficient suite of editing tools.”
GOOGLE TAKES THE REINS
2012
In 2012, Google repackaged the software suite to create the “Google Nik Collection.” In 2013, the creative suite continued to expand with the addition of Analog Efex Pro, which offered a wide array of presets capable of reproducing the style of analog cameras.
2012
DxO TAKES OVER
When Google announced that it was no longer planning to support Nik Collection, the photographic community was distraught. On news websites and in discussion forums, photographers expressed their dismay, and more than 15,000 people from around the world signed a petition asking Google to find a solution and keep Nik Collection alive.
Fortunately, this was not the end: in October 2017, Google announced that it had sold the Nik Collection suite to DxO Labs, one of the most innovative and successful software companies in consumer imaging.
2017
PRODUCT MANAGER
BORIS OLIVIERO / DxO LABS
THE FUTURE
“It’s truly an honor to lead the latest evolution of Nik Collection.”
“The suite is one of the most iconic and powerful photo editing solutions available today. Following DxO’s complete rewriting of the plugins,
we’re now entering a new chapter, with innovative features on the way that will further unleash photographers’ creativity, while preserving the fast, professional workflow that people rely on, whether working in color or black & white.”
COMPATIBILITY
2019
In 2019, DxO released Nik Collection 2, the first major update to the software in 3 years. In addition to improved Photoshop and Lightroom compatibility, photographers could now use the Collection with DxO’s own software, DxO PhotoLab. DxO also introduced 40 new filters and high-resolution display support for Windows users.
2019
REBUILT BY DxO
The huge task of rebuilding it from the ground up was complete: millions of lines of code were rewritten in a modern software environment. The suite became fully compatible with the latest version of Windows and macOS, and integrated smoothly with Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom. As a result, the suite has greater stability and efficiency than ever before, and now has a coherent, unified feel for a refined editing experience.
2022
30 YEARS OF NIK
2025
Today, Nik Collection is bigger, bolder, and more powerful than ever, complete with a fresh set of plugin icons for 2025, and ready to help photographers achieve their artistic vision like never before!
2025
